The Things We Miss Most About the Lab

We know it’s been a difficult time for everyone, and some people are even a little cautious about returning to life in the lab. But factoring in health and safety concerns for everyone involved – and when the time is right - it’s still nice to think about our first day back. Maybe you’ve even drawn out plans on a whiteboard, or have created a color-coded binder that Leslie Knope would be proud of.

With those factors in mind, GoldBio recently asked researchers like you about their excitement for resuming work in their labs again, along with the thing they're looking forward to the most.

Although your research is still the top priority, the first thing that most of us want to do, based on your feedback, is to catch up with our labmates. After all, we miss in-person interaction. And some professors or principal investigators want to see their students, lab technicians, and postdocs too. It’d be nice to schedule lab meetings and discuss research projects without Zoom’s 40-minute time limit; those virtual meetings certainly can’t replace the value of face-to-face communication.

Some of the top and most common responses are highlighted below. It was fun to hear what researchers are looking forward to, ranging from the smell of the lab and its background noises, to one’s heartfelt apology to their cells for locking them in liquid nitrogen for so long.

We hope that everyone continues to stay safe, and thanks to all who took a couple minutes to give us their input.