Let it go

At lunch on 17 March 2020, a departmental email appeared in my inbox with immediate instructions for all researchers and staff. ‘Stop teaching, safely quench reactions and collect your belongings. The building will close at 5:00 pm for the foreseeable future.’ I stood with friends and colleagues at the end of the day and offered strange goodbyes. The UK entered a national lockdown one week later.

The subsequent months were extremely difficult for everyone on many different levels. From a practical perspective, there is only so much working from home a synthetic chemist can do. In July, new regulations allowed our research group to divide and alternate on a strict ‘bubble’ rota that maintained 50% lab occupancy. This was to ensure that we could all operate in a safe working environment. For the next nine months, we met on Zoom and did the best we could with screensharing and capricious internet connections. Finally, in April 2021, after approval from our health anf safety department, we were allowed to ‘pop’ the bubbles and mix once again.