Leading a lab through pandemic-induced uncertainty

PhD training teaches you to adapt to unknowns. Uncertainties about finishing your project within the deadline. Delays in receiving grants. Doubts about publishing a paper after it has been rejected or gone through multiple rounds of reviews. Nevertheless, the uncertainties caused by Covid-19 were on a different level, typified by fear and anxiety. Fear can be mitigated by understanding the unknowns. Anxieties often stem from not doing things that we care about – whether that’s doing research or supporting our mentees.

I started my lab in 2016, in a teaching-heavy university where we are passionate about research and try to run our lab on a par with those at research-focused institutes. Nevertheless, it has always been extremely challenging to find time to solely devote to research and mentoring the four students who currently make up my group. With the ongoing pandemic, these challenges became much worse.

As we were completing some crucial experiments, the pandemic lockdown halted our work completely. In a state of confusion and reeling under uncertainty, our priority was our safety and wellbeing. I asked my trainees to back up their data, and then unplugged and boxed up our lab equipment. We headed home with no accurate date for when we could safely return to our lab.