RESCUE them! - Being in an international PhD’s shoes during the pandemic
Everyone, every day, has to make decisions. We are used to make small, insignificant decisions that barely affect our lives, which mostly pass unnoticed. But we also make big, life-changing decisions as the one of enrolling in a PhD program abroad. While the amount of experiences gained with such a choice – in and out the research labs – is priceless, difficulties could come, at times. And there are times that are tougher than usual, as the one we have been through, we are experiencing right now, and we are going to face for the upcoming period: the coronavirus crisis.
The Covid-19 pandemic hit on us in several ways, and it had a major impact on international PhDs. With the introduction of restrictive measures and the initial lockdown, many concerns have arisen. Maintaining a good mental and physical health, caring for the beloved ones in their home-country, adapting to new ways of working remotely are just few examples of the new challenges of this 2020. In addition, the limited time of PhD contracts further complicates the issue, leaving PhD candidates in fear that the long break we had (with no guarantees for what is going to happen in the future) could compromise the success of their project.
Being an international PhD candidate myself, I wanted to seize the moment, and ask my fellow international colleagues to share their thoughts and experiences. All of them started living in the Netherlands between last and this year, as all of them are conducting their research as part of the RESCUE COFUND Marie S. Curie PhD program (more information about it here).
How was living and working abroad during the lockdown? Were they able to go back to their home-country? What can be done in the future if the pandemic hits strongly, again? Read their answers!
With the initial measures imposed, there was a deep change in daily routines and social interactions. All of sudden, even doing groceries required some levels of adaptation.
“The fact we were in a lockdown and some of our regular activities were halted, that was a game-changer. It may sound a bit off, but every time I am watching a series or a movie and I see people hugging, shaking hands or even walking in less than 1.5 m distance, my heart skips a beat”
Living on their own, sharing a studio with their partners, or a flat with other people: the time spent at home was not exactly the same as before.
“I live alone in a studio apartment, and I felt that, in the absence of a normal daily work routine, it was very hard to maintain a regular structure throughout my day: during the lockdown I would get up and start working at irregular and often late times and go to sleep very late. Being in the same space the whole day for two months also led to the days of the week blending together. With work returning to a semblance of normality many of these effects are reversing, but some persist to this day”
And working from home turned out to be not always as easy as it sounds.
“Apart from the obvious delay in practical work due to the impossibility of accessing the lab, the lockdown led to a decrease in motivation and to a blending of work and free time, which made both focusing during work and relaxing after work considerably harder. There was more work-related stress, mostly due to a sense of inactivity”
But they found their way to get through: trying to work at best, from home, in such a weird time.
“Knowing that I overcame the situation in a good way, I was proud with myself. And appreciated myself for the small achievements”
Some of them did not have the chance to visit their family yet, even with the relaxation of rules in the Netherlands and possibly at their home country. The situation is still changing, and it remains difficult to predict whether and when they could go back home.
“The stress of worrying about your family’s wellbeing affected my concentration. […] Currently I wish to go home but it is not possible at this moment of time which is upsetting”
Not only the Bad and the Ugly, but also the Good
Despite all the difficulties, the last months were an opportunity to develop new coping-mechanisms, find different ways of working and tasks, as well as appreciate more things that we usually give for granted.
“The lockdown did come with some positive aspects, such as making me pick up some hobbies which I was neglecting, along with starting some new ones. It also allowed me to work on self-improvement, which is always easy to neglect until you're forced to live with yourself 24/7 without the usual distractions and activities of normal life”
“I appreciated quite a lot to be free to organise my days like I wanted to (why not go running in the middle of the day?). But now that I have pipets in hands again, I realise that I missed the lab, which is good for a PhD student”
And even if it could seem a paradox in the time of social-distancing, some bonds grown closer.
“Before the lockdown I called my family every 1 or 2 weeks. The lockdown actually helped to be more in contact with my parents, calling them almost every other day”
Some help came also from work and institutions. Utrecht University, the UMC, and the RMCU provided information and guidelines and supported their employees, with a particular focus on PhD candidates.
“From arranging Zoom calls with PhDs from the RM PhD Program, to assessing how much distressing was this pandemic, or finding new ways to find new sources of funding or extensions for our contracts… I think in that regard our institution did all the best it could and indeed they looked after us”
There are no guarantees that a second lockdown will not happen. And even if things remain as in the current moment, the “new normal” may still feel odd. International PhD candidates are not the only ones struggling with the pandemic, but they are very susceptible for their specific condition. The contingency of the current situation, that I wanted to witness with this post, exposed their fragility and needs be the occasion for (re)discussing these problems. Indeed, the Graduate School of Life Sciences recently offered new courses (“Balance – Coping with Stress and Pressure” and “Transparent Communication and Interaction”, for instance) and sponsored the possibility to receive support by the PhD-psychologist.
It cannot be only bad. We can make use of this time to learn where the difficulties lie and find out, together, new strategies to address these problems for the upcoming time. In the meantime, it could be helpful to know that you were (and are) not alone.
“Knowing that other people were in the same conditions was nice. It helped not feeling alone”
This blog is written by Alessandro Cutilli, PhD candidate in Regenerative Medicine (2019-current).