"I miss climbing"
Romain Jacob, co-president of VMITET, the association of the Scientific Staff at ITET and postdoctoral researcher at Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory (TIK) about his personal situation and on how VMITET supports its members.
Most D-ITET members, like all ETH staff, currently have to work from home in order to slow down the spread of the coronavirus.
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How do you personally experience this special situation?
Like everyone else, I guess. Having to work from home full-time is a new experience, but I try to make the best out of it. As Switzerland is not in complete lock-down, we can still go out to take a bit of fresh air (with all due cautions) which helps keeping the spirits up! My friends and family in France are not allowed to go further than 1km away from home and not more than one hour; compared to that, our situation is not that bad!
You announced via the D-ITET mailing list that you are looking for a new tenant for your apartment. So you cannot stand the old one any more having to stay there all the time?
Haha! That's a good one :-) Well, yes and no. For a while, my wife and I have been musing for a larger flat (with balcony!). Our current flat is very close to my wife's job, which is about to end, so we thought it would be a good time to move. But to be honest, the current pandemic situation does not make it so easy...
What is the most difficult for you right now?
For me, what's challenging is to isolate my work from leisure while I am staying at home all day; I need some kind of way to "cut". In the morning, my trick is "dressing-up": while I'm in pyjamas, it's relax time; once I got dressed, I start working.
And or course, I miss climbing... I usually do a lot of sports; now I go running early in the morning and do some work-out at home, but that's not quite the same...
Are there any positive experiences or ways of working that you will probably keep after the corona crisis?
Hum... I think there are some tasks for which isolation is not so bad; for example, paper writing. It's easier to focus and be productive when you are not constantly distracted by all the activity around you. Last fall, when I was writing my dissertation, I spent some days hiding in an empty office to stay focussed; that was very helpful. But research is not only paper writing! To get feedback or quickly discuss things, being able to just knock on your colleagues' door is very valuable.
Personally, I think the department has done a great job in informing widely and regularly about the situation, what was (likely) to come, and how to prepare as well as possible.
«Now (and always) the scientific staff is standing together! If anyone feels depressed or stressed by the current situation, the VMITET counseling service offers attention, support, and confidentiality!»Romain Jacob, postdoctoral researcher and co-president of VMITET
You are co-president of VMITET, the association of the Scientific Staff at ITET. How is the mood among the researchers? Are you in touch with many of them?
I have to admit I don't really know. The main contact between VMITET and its members are the monthly apéros, which are obviously not taking place at the moment. However, now (and always) the scientific staff is standing together! If anyone feels depressed or stressed by the current situation, the VMITET counseling service [1] offers attention, support, and confidentiality. AVETH, the ETH-wide equivalent of VMITET, is also organizing online meditation sessions [2] and opened a chat room on Discord [3]. Support is there if you are feeling blue, do not stay on you own!