Career Guide 12 June 2020

Coronavirus and scientific careers

This collection of resources offers advice from Nature’s global community of working scientists on how to cope with the coronavirus’ impact on scientific careers.

Advice

Four years on: the career costs for scientists battling long COVID

Many with the condition have found ways around their health problems, but they say more employer support is needed.
- Shi En Kim
Career Feature18 Mar 2024 Nature
How pandemic lockdowns changed workplace friendships

Hybrid work environments have altered how we connect with colleagues. But building work friendships can protect against burnout and make you more productive.
- Lola Brown
- Ruth Gotian
Career Column3 Jul 2023 Nature
Track post-conference COVID infections

Organizers should evaluate the risks of COVID-19 infections at conferences and communicate those to attendees, says James Kirchner.
- James Kirchner
Career Guide16 Dec 2022 Nature
Transforming waste into soap

Pharmacologist Janetti Francischi drew on folk wisdom and chemistry to turn used cooking oil into microbe-fighting soap during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Patrícia Maia Noronha
Career Q&A30 Jun 2022 Nature
How I found a way to balance research integrity with people’s welfare

Laura McCosker faced ethical dilemmas when the need to distribute COVID vaccines disrupted her research plans.
- Laura McCosker
Career Column4 May 2022 Nature
How PhD programmes embraced hybrid working during the pandemic

After two years of COVID-related delays, five doctoral candidates share lessons they learnt.
- Natasha Gilbert
Career Feature21 Mar 2022 Nature
How hybrid working took hold in science

Two years since COVID-19 forced labs to shut down, group leaders describe how academic research has changed, perhaps forever.
- Kendall Powell
Career Feature11 Mar 2022 Nature
Trapped in a hotel room: my scientific life in the pandemic

Jen Lewendon’s move from the United Kingdom for a postdoc restricted her travel and led to extended stints in quarantine. Here’s what the experience taught her.
- Jen Lewendon
Career Column26 Nov 2021 Nature
Stagnating salaries present hurdles to career satisfaction

Fewer than half of respondents to Nature’s 2021 salary and satisfaction survey feel positive about their prospects.
- Chris Woolston
Career Feature16 Nov 2021 Nature
Scientists count the career costs of COVID

As the pandemic continues, researchers are coming to terms with what they’ve learnt and lost so far, finds Nature’s global survey.
- Chris Woolston
Career Feature10 Nov 2021 Nature
How I wrote a pop-science book

Much of John Tregoning’s pandemic year was spent writing a book about infectious disease. Now that it’s out, what has he learnt?
- John Tregoning
Career Column15 Oct 2021 Nature
Five hundred days between pay cheques: the road I took to revive my career

A global career move left one member of a scientist couple unemployed during the pandemic. Here’s what he learnt.
- Nuwan Bandara
Career Column26 Aug 2021 Nature
How Zoom helped the neurotypical world hear my autistic voice

Anya Lawrence says pandemic videoconferencing has brought her closer to her colleagues and others in the world of science.
- Anya Lawrence
Career Column25 Aug 2021 Nature
UK academics seethe over universities’ cost-cutting moves

A survey of faculty and staff members uncovers anger and fear over job cuts and other measures following the pandemic.
- Natasha Gilbert
Career News9 Aug 2021 Nature
Researchers’ career insecurity needs attention and reform now, says international coalition

Postdocs and PhD students around the world require professional training to prepare them for a possible career outside academia, finds the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- Chris Woolston
Career News8 Jun 2021 Nature
How COVID changed schools outreach

Since lockdowns closed classrooms and labs, scientists have devised online activities to inspire the next generation of researchers.
- T. V. Padma
Career Feature7 Jun 2021 Nature
How COVID-19 has stomped on scientists’ travel plans

It could take years to reveal the true impact of closed borders, cancelled travel plans and vaccine delays.
- Chris Woolston
Career Feature21 May 2021 Nature
How new principal investigators tackled a tumultuous year

Starting a research group as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold across the world presented extra challenges.
- Nikki Forrester
Career Feature17 May 2021 Nature
Six lessons from a pandemic PhD student

If you’re starting a doctoral programme later this year, particularly if your institution is still facing COVID-19 restrictions, Ciara O’Brien has some advice.
- Ciara O’Brien
Career Column6 May 2021 Nature
How the pandemic is reshaping undergraduate research

Students share lessons and skills they have learnt during COVID.
- Nikki Forrester
Career Feature4 May 2021 Nature
‘Less pipetting and more thinking’: scientists carry on through the pandemic

Researchers worldwide have turned to analysing data, planning experiments and writing and reviewing more papers as their lab time has been disrupted, a global survey finds.
- Chris Woolston
Career News22 Apr 2021 Nature
Pandemic measures disproportionately harm women’s careers

Family responsibilities incurred by shutdowns — and existing bias — disrupted the mental health, productivity and work–life balance of US female academic scientists, finds study.
- Sara Reardon
Career News29 Mar 2021 Nature
Pandemic burnout is rampant in academia

Remote working, research delays and childcare obligations are taking their toll on scientists, causing stress and anxiety.
- Virginia Gewin
Career Feature15 Mar 2021 Nature
‘Does anyone have any of these?’: Lab-supply shortages strike amid global pandemic

Scientific labs worldwide struggle to find enough sterile gloves and other basics as supply and manufacturing chains break down.
- Chris Woolston
Career News9 Mar 2021 Nature
We’ll meet again: scientists’ post-pandemic wish list

Trapped in a holding pattern, and nostalgic for lab lunches and field trips, researchers share their hopes for a lockdown-free future.
- Chris Woolston
Career Feature1 Mar 2021 Nature
My lockdown literature-review challenge

With his lab closed, Saurja DasGupta had the time to write his first review as sole author. It was rejected. But he persisted, and learnt a lot.
- Saurja DasGupta
Career Column8 Jan 2021 Nature
Rethinking travel in a post-pandemic world

Climate scientists recommend ways to boost the value of virtual conferences and reduce carbon footprints even when travel curbs ease.
- Josie Glausiusz
Career Feature5 Jan 2021 Nature
2020: the year of hard-won lessons

Researchers reflect on a challenging pandemic year and on how lockdowns changed their approach to work and their perceptions of the scientific enterprise.
- Virginia Gewin
Career Feature15 Dec 2020 Nature
What’s your risk of catching COVID? These tools help you to find out

A look at apps that predict the chance of infection and illness depending on what you’re doing and where you are.
- Michael Eisenstein
Technology Feature21 Dec 2020 Nature
Lockdown taught me the value of reading the manual

After his lab shut down, Shubham Tanwar turned to his reading list to banish ‘why doesn’t my experiment work’ frustration.
- Shubham Tanwar
Career Column11 Dec 2020 Nature
Five steps for networking during a pandemic

Here’s how to build your professional support team when you can’t meet others in person.
- Zachary Turnbull
- Ruth Gotian
Career Column11 Dec 2020 Nature
Uncertainty plagues junior researchers from underprivileged backgrounds amid pandemic

Early-career scientists who are members of minority ethnic groups or struggle financially explain how institutions and funders can provide support.
- Carrie Arnold
- Chris Woolston
Career Feature7 Dec 2020 Nature
Inside China’s response to COVID

Researchers and officials reveal how the pandemic has shifted the country’s scientific landscape and global reputation.
- Flynn Murphy
Spotlight2 Dec 2020 Nature
How to manage when your fieldwork is cancelled

As COVID-19 restrictions continue to upend plans for data collection, scientists stuck at home are finding innovative ways to adapt their research questions. Here’s what they’re doing.
- Nikki Forrester
Career Feature27 Nov 2020 Nature
How to shift into COVID-19 research

Scientists who aren’t virologists or vaccinologists can still make crucial contributions to the global effort to battle SARS-CoV-2.
- Amy DePaul
Career Feature20 Nov 2020 Nature
More international students were coming to US universities — then COVID hit

Enrolment in US graduate programmes by foreign students rose in 2019 after a two-year decline, but early numbers suggest that the uptick has halted.
- Sara Reardon
Career News9 Nov 2020 Nature
Don’t let COVID stop your fieldwork: three tips for successful collaborations

Christie Sampson and Steven Vamosi were struck by the kindness of co-workers when coronavirus lockdowns began.
- Christie Sampson
- Steven M. Vamosi
Career Column15 Oct 2020 Nature
Wear your mask, but think about deaf students

Face masks are vital to containing the spread of COVID, but lecturers and universities must find ways to be inclusive, say Olivier Pourret and Elodie Saillet.
- Olivier Pourret
- Elodie Saillet
Career Column6 Oct 2020 Nature
The lockdown tweet that launched a COVID-19 ‘supertracker’

Lukas Lehner wanted to capture how different economies are addressing COVID-19 challenges. His Twitter call-out helped to create a global directory of policy resources based on swarm intelligence, and led to a research project.
- Lukas Lehner
Career Column29 Sep 2020 Nature
Pandemic darkens postdocs’ work and career hopes

Nature’s survey of this key segment of the scientific workforce paints a gloomy picture of job-loss fears, interrupted research and anxiety about the future.
- Chris Woolston
Career Feature8 Sep 2020 Nature
How I managed my work and personal life as a sole parent during the pandemic

Staying connected with other single-parent academics through a Facebook group was one of four steps taken by Antica Culina to survive the lockdown.
- Antica Culina
Career Column26 Aug 2020 Nature
Signs of depression and anxiety soar among US graduate students during pandemic

As coronavirus infection and death rates explode across the nation, a survey reveals a marked increase in graduate and undergraduate students’ mental-health struggles.
- Chris Woolston
Career News18 Aug 2020 Nature
Pandemic harms Canadian grad students’ research and mental health

Survey respondents experience depression, anxiety and programme delays.
- Christine Ro
Career News18 Aug 2020 Nature
Coronavirus lockdown lessons from single-parent scientists

Researchers share tips on how to juggle career obligations alongside childcare and home-schooling.
- Carrie Arnold
Career Feature11 Aug 2020 Nature
The trials of global research under the coronavirus

Researchers share how they have adapted fieldwork and collaborations in the face of travel bans and closed borders.
- Virginia Gewin
Career Feature6 Aug 2020 Nature
I’m not contributing to coronavirus research, and that’s okay

Deanna Montgomery realizes she doesn’t need to be at a laboratory bench to use her scientific experience — or to make a difference.
- Deanna Montgomery
Career Column5 Aug 2020 Nature
What’s on the agenda for post-pandemic meetings?

Conferences could become more affordable, international and inclusive if virtual events become ‘the new normal’.
- Nic Fleming
Career Feature3 Aug 2020 Nature
One scientist’s six-point recovery plan to tackle COVID-19 anxiety

Fernando T. Maestre was diagnosed with anxiety during Spain’s coronavirus lockdown. A change in approach to work, life and parenting helped to restore his health.
- Fernando T. Maestre
Career Column3 Aug 2020 Nature
‘It’s like we’re going back 30 years’: how the coronavirus is gutting diversity in science

The pandemic is sabotaging the careers of researchers from under-represented groups, but institutions can help to staunch the outflow.
- Chris Woolston
Career Feature31 Jul 2020 Nature
University redundancies, furloughs and pay cuts might loom amid the pandemic, survey finds

Academic administrators are mostly optimistic about the effects of COVID-19 on institutional finances, but others predict tough times.
- Madeline Bodin
Career News30 Jul 2020 Nature
How I ran a virtual research retreat during a pandemic

Rob Salguero-Gómez shares how he made the most of lockdown by moving a planned laboratory retreat online.
- Rob Salguero-Gómez
Career Column24 Jul 2020 Nature
Putting patients at the centre of COVID-19 research

Emily Sirotich’s involvement in a global alliance gave people with rheumatic diseases a driving seat in shaping research on how COVID-19 is affecting them.
- Emily Sirotich
Career Column24 Jul 2020 Nature
How I navigated a new job during the coronavirus pandemic

Environmental scientist Sally Brown learnt to connect with others through talking rather than e-mailing, and to not fear asking dumb questions.
- Sally Brown
Career Column24 Jul 2020 Nature
Coronavirus vaccines get a biotech boost

Advances in technology are accelerating the search for drugs to arm the immune system against SARS-CoV-2.
- Amber Dance
Technology Feature21 Jul 2020 Nature
The career cost of COVID-19 to female researchers, and how science should respond

Some funders and journals are trying to support female researchers and others whose publications and positions are at risk.
- Virginia Gewin
Career Feature20 Jul 2020 Nature
Overcoming perfectionism during the pandemic

Desiree Dickerson risked burning out while creating a series of online well-being workshops. During lockdown, she was forced to put her perfectionism in its place.
- Desiree Dickerson
Career Column16 Jul 2020 Nature
Anger and fear meet US government’s ‘unworkable’ move to deport international students who take only online classes

As institutions scale back in-person learning in response to COVID-19, a federal directive requires students from abroad to take on-campus classes or return home.
- Chris Woolston
Career News14 Jul 2020 Nature
The lockdown walk that inspired an experiment

Why do garden plants suddenly become invasive? One scientist couple turned their balcony into a lab to find out.
- Florencia A. Yannelli
- Wolf-Christian Saul
Career Column9 Jul 2020 Nature
Bleak financial outlook for PhD students in Australia

Unable to afford medicines, utilities and housing, some students expect to suspend their doctoral programmes or drop out.
- Chris Woolston
Career News9 Jul 2020 Nature
Why scientists with children who have disabilities need a different career trajectory

As lockdowns ease, Olivier Pourret hopes that academia will take on board lessons about how to redefine career success.
- Olivier Pourret
Career Column8 Jul 2020 Nature
Gearing up for a ‘monumental’ mission to Mars

Engineer and roboticist Zach Ousnamer is helping to prepare NASA’s Perseverance rover for its launch to the red planet.
- Amber Dance
Where I Work6 Jul 2020 Nature
Seeking an ‘exit plan’ for leaving academia amid coronavirus worries

The pandemic is prompting some early-career researchers to rethink their hopes for a university post.
- Chris Woolston
Career Feature6 Jul 2020 Nature
How a team of Venezuelan expats is fighting COVID-19 at home

It started as a small group of friends. Now, hundreds of members around the world are channelling their skills to take on their country’s most pressing needs, say Johanna Figueira and Samir Rachid Zaim.
- Johanna Figueira
- Samir Rachid Zaim
Career Column12 Jun 2020 Nature
How to beat isolation? Academic feedback groups fit the bill, and promote growth as scholars and humans

Researchers share tips for supporting research and life at a distance.
- A. R. Siders
- Cassandra M. Brooks
- Nicola Ulibarri
Career Column4 Jun 2020 Nature

Coronavirus and scientific careers

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