Research assistants working on the CoronaNet Research Project wake up each day across the globe dutifully collecting government responses and policies related to countering COVID-19. Identifying policies from official government websites and newspaper articles, researchers then carefully document the procedures and schemes into the database.
Muhannad Alramlawi from NYU Abu Dhabi Class of 2020 was working with NYUAD Assistant Professor of Political Science Robert Kubinec on a project when Kubinec shared information on this new CoronaNet Research Project. With COVID-19 still classified as an epidemic, Kubinec began working with researchers from various universities to track government responses and their COVID-19 testing rates.
Keen to work on the new CoronaNet Research Project, Alramlawi told Kubinec, “I am all in.” Alramlawi was one of three researchers collecting data when the virus was declared a pandemic in early March by the WHO. The project grew exponentially with more than 500 research assistants located around the world working on this collaborative effort. Their aim is to understand government policies worldwide in their approach to control the spread of COVID-19.
Alramlawi was the regional manager for the North Africa region tasked with checking in regularly with his group for updates. Tasked with also taking on the policies implemented for Jordan, any new data was updated after scouring information online.
The economics major was glad to be a part of this research project that has impactful and timely information. “The dataset being compiled will help researchers and policymakers understand and combat COVID-19 and future pandemics,” Alramlawi said. The data is currently being used by several research groups, including the World Health Organization.
Muhannad Alramlawi’s research position was one of many from NYU Abu Dhabi’s Post-graduation Practical Training Program (PPTP). The program allows faculty to appoint graduating seniors to work full-time on faculty research projects in the summer following their graduation, giving the graduated senior time to transition into the real world while providing the faculty with support in research.
Learn more about NYUAD’s undergraduate research.
