Back to the future: Researchers, teachers and students on life after the pandemic

“When the pandemic first hit, I basically started to work in the lab on a full-time basis. In part, it was a way to motivate my colleagues to continue their laboratory research. Work cannot be done from home and many felt stressed about getting to their place of work. Several of my colleagues are from countries other than Sweden and questioned the Swedish strategy of dealing with the pandemic. It was very different from how other countries chose to act.

It soon became difficult to obtain materials for our experiments, such as lab reagents and various plastic items. But despite all this, my research was nevertheless only marginally affected. In the first six months, our production rate only decreased by about ten per cent.

One of the explanations for this is that the pandemic freed up time for research. During this period, all meetings, conferences and trips were cancelled. In addition, over time, we became better at meeting digitally.

Today we have sort of the opposite situation: we need to free up time to once again be able to travel and meet other researchers in our field. We see a boom in the number of conferences and seminars and would like to participate in those we see can be beneficial.”

Marianne Farnebo is a researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition.

Erik Johnsson, student: ”It was a big challenge to study at home”

“When the government came up with its recommendation for distance teaching in March 2020, I was in the process of giving a first introductory lecture to about 80 expectant students. After the coffee break, I had to notify the students that we would probably not see each other anymore that term. Many of them went home convinced that the course would not take place at all. But we set off to find ways to transform the practical exercises we planned into effective online teaching.

In fact, we had already planned to develop some teaching in digital form. We now had to develop ways to also make the practical exercises digital. We worked both evenings and weekends to produce films that could be published as the course progressed. We then arranged daily live broadcasts where we did short demonstrations and referred to the recorded films and the literature.

The students were very grateful, especially those who did not think that the course would take place. However, we had to extend the term well into June to allow students to come to campus in small groups to take their examinations. Many already met on their own to study together or with family members. They solved the situation very well.

Something important to us was that the examinations should not have a lower level than usual. The students who were examined at the beginning of the pandemic face the same work assignments as everyone else.

Since 2020, we have varied different forms of hybrid teaching, as restrictions have changed. And it's actually been more challenging than the drastic start of distance teaching. It has not been easy to provide good access to both teachers and premises of the right size on all occasions.

Now we have returned to campus teaching, and we are also working on renewing parts of our recorded materials to ensure that it is of better quality. We are not in as much of a hurry now which makes it easier and the results better. The fact that we have returned to practical teaching together with the students is important because after their education they will meet patients and they also need practice in human interactions.”

Linda Ekenros is a teacher in the physiotherapist programme at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society.

Grace Marshall, master's student: ”We got to know Stockholm better thanks to the pandemic”

“I have met several Swedes who said that they feel sorry for me because I moved here in the middle of a pandemic. But there is no other country I would rather have been in during this period. My friends back home in England had a much harder time than I did.

When my master's programme started in the autumn term of 2021, we could choose between distance learning or lectures on campus. Since I was working for a non-profit organization in Holland at the time, I chose to stay there to continue to help them. So thanks to the flexible start of my studies, I was able to follow the lectures remotely from Holland throughout September.

After moving to Stockholm, I had time to attend lectures on campus for three weeks before the restrictions were tightened again. That short time made it harder to get to know my classmates. But since most people are quite outgoing and social, it still worked out well. We often met at different cafés in town to study. The fact that we were not tied to campus actually enabled us to get to know Stockholm better.

It was more difficult to get to know the teachers responsible for the courses because we did not meet them in other ways than online. However, I am impressed by their ability to switch teaching to online teaching. But I missed being able to talk to them in the same room as in a physical lesson. Of course, it is possible to ask questions even during an online lesson, but it either leads to a greater interruption or the answer often comes much later.

Our master's programme began with two of the most difficult parts of the programme, and it would have been easier to take in and understand if they had been on campus.

I'm now working on my degree project so there's no need to return to campus. After that, I would like to stay in Stockholm, even though my mother is constantly sending me job ads from London.”

Grace Marshall, master's student in Bioentrepreneurship.

Ujjwal Neogi, researcher: ”We restructured all our research to focus on COVID-19”