Scientific training is challenging. Postgrads, graduate students and postdocs may have to move across the country or the world, develop new analytical skills, and network for their future career while juggling the rest of their academic pursuits. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the usual pressures. Graduate students and postdocs 
The retreat, the first of its kind, took place on Zoom over October 5 and 6, a few weeks after the department-wide retreat. The program included a keynote lecture by Professor Akiko Iwasaki, a session with organizational consultant and co-founder of Organizational Performance Group, Lauren Freebairn-Smith, a panel on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a career panel with members from several industries. The retreat was open to postgraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and research assistants affiliated with the Department. Such groups are not usually the focus of traditional departmental retreats, and planning the program around them engendered a clear sense of intention in each facet of the design.
Jessica Moore, a Ph.D. candidate who works in the Greco lab and who helped organize the event, describes the focus as productive community building. “I was hoping for an event that would create bridges between labs, lead to new collaborations and creative ideas, and foster community among all of our department's trainees.”
Moore is part of an organizing committee with nine other trainees: Ritu Acharya, Maria Benitez, Neha Bhat, Daniel Burkhardt, Jiaying Chen, Anupama Hemalatha, Damir Musaev, Valerie Tornini, and Haoyang Wei. The committee proposed their idea for a retreat to the Department in the fall of 2019. Around the same time, Moore says, university-wide climate surveys highlighted a desire for a greater sense of community within the department. The organizing committee incorporated this feedback into their plan and sent an additional survey to the department.
A trainee-specific retreat offers a unique opportunity to improve the experience of everyone within the department, Moore explains. The environment of scientific training is often characterized by a pressure to produce. The desire to make a good impression, particularly on those in positions of authority such as PIs, can stifle the willingness to ask questions, to admit frustrations, or to take a much-needed break. Moore says the goal was to offer a “no-pressure” space where postgrads, students and postdocs could “focus our efforts on improving the environment we do science within, developing professional skills to bring back to the lab, and creating genuine connections with our peers.”
The retreat was originally going to be held in the spring. Trainees would have met at West Campus and engaged in team-building activities and in-person social hours. However, Moore says that when she and the organizing committee realized they had to revise their vision, they focused on the advantages of an online format. “We were able to host speakers and panelists irrespective of their location in the world,” Moore says. “Additionally, we were able to invite the company, Sporcle, to host a virtual trivia event that was a fun social activity and break in the day.”
Moore says she is happy with how the retreat went this year. Many of its attendees are as well. Moore received an array of positive feedback that showcases the different elements that people took from the retreat. Many enjoyed Freebairn-Smith’s lecture on “Sensemaking during the COVID crisis,” an honest reckoning with the stresses of being a trainee in a year of unpredictable and unprecedented challenges. The career panel was particularly popular, and attendees also expressed an appreciation for the chance simply to meet other members of the department.
The retreat came at an important time. The idea predated COVID, but the pandemic has highlighted the importance of the event. In a period marked by social distancing, maintaining a sense of community is more essential than ever. Moore says that she and other department trainees look forward to continuing their work, both throughout the year and with more trainee retreats in the future.