It’s been several months now after the quarantine ended here in France and much has happened after it. Looking back, I was relieved that the regular face-to-face work at ONIRIS resumed after more than 3 months of quarantine or confinement in France. However, as of the time of writing, other ESRs are still in the process of resuming their face-to-face work. Emerging from the quarantine was a relief and a nice experience for it allowed me to move outside again and get in touch with acquaintances again. In a way it’s regaining life again and the recovery of my regular working hours. Living in quarantine blurred the day and night for me, perhaps it is one of the side effects of the uncertainty that surrounded the COVID-19 situation. The resumption of work was done gradually and was at first limited to certain researchers only. Moreover, the university face-to-face instruction only came after the summer vacation.
Relocating Ph.D. work from my dorm workspace to the office seemed a little bit fulfilling because the things that I have faced before seemed over for now and I have been facing new issues and topics to be incorporated in the next chapter of my thesis. Resuming my work at the office made me realize that I am now at the next stage of my Ph.D. research and was able to continue to work despite the setbacks caused by the quarantine lockdown period. Nevertheless, I still don’t consider what I have previously finished as a closed work as it is still part of my new ongoing activities and will be considered as I progress with my Ph.D. work. Indeed, the adage in academia that work never really ends still looms at the back of my mind. But I know that with the help of my supervisors, I can finish these with their inputs and guidance.
It’s been several months now since the resumption of face-to-face work but the COVID-19 situation is far from over and my fellow ESRs know it and is reflected in our discussions on our upcoming deliverables and collaborations. Much uncertainty still surrounds our secondment and training if we will be able to physically attend them as restrictions for inter-country movement within the EU still exist. Nevertheless, we still hope that when the epidemic is over, a considerable time still remains for us to pursue these programs as originally envisioned in the project or we might have to continue implementing our contingency plans along the way. For my part, we have already been doing some of these contingency plans since the resumption of face-to-face work. As of the moment, we are collaborating remotely with our partner institution, Al Safi Danone. I was supposed to do my secondment during the third quarter this year but given the current situation, we have decided to conduct regular meetings and correspondence with our partner and process data remotely. This situation might not be the best condition for working but in a way, this is our own way of living under the new-normal conditions as we try to live with the virus.