The ‘Qualtrics XM Platform’ and its ‘Qualtrics CoreXM’ tool were used by Frontiers to survey more than 23,500 scientific researchers in 153 countries about the impact Covid-19 has had on them and their work.

Frontiers was granted free access to the platform and the publisher has released the results of the survey in an online paper, called The academic response to Covid-19.

Qualtrics’ platform has already been used in contact tracing for Covid-19 and to help governments prepare for the distribution of a potential vaccine for the virus.

Kamila Markram, chief executive and co-founder of Frontiers, said: “Scientists are under extraordinary pressure to deliver answers and a lack of precedent and preparation, combined with severe political and social pressures, has made this an incredibly challenging time for them.

“Along with the disruption faced by most of the world’s population – lockdown, remote working, isolation and anxiety – many researchers have felt an added pressure to understand, cure and mitigate the virus.”

Tim Farmer, head of CoreXM solutions strategy for Europe, Middle East and Asia at Qualtrics, said: “Our goal is to use the XM Platform to help both businesses and the academic community to not only survive but to thrive as they navigate the pandemic in a way that helps them create a safe and sustainable environment for customers, employees, institutions and citizens.”