“The most important thing is staying in touch”
© 2020 EPFL
Managing something as large as the School of Life Sciences is a challenge at any time – but especially during a lockdown. The school’s dean, Gisou van der Goot, spoke with us about how she’s been able to keep the labs going without losing her cool, her rigor or her sense of humor.
“I haven’t been back to campus since 13 March,” says van der Goot. “But you can manage things well remotely. You have to do things differently, but it works. For instance, I hold video calls with staff at all levels using Zoom, and occasionally hold improvised faculty meetings. The most important thing is staying in touch.”
It helps that her colleagues are all working hard to keep things going as smoothly as possible. “I’m lucky to be surrounded by excellent people,” she says. “Right after the lockdown was announced, my assistant – Caroline Guinchard – set up a daily 9am Zoom call with all our school’s secretaries. They are key people in the labs, and thanks to these calls, we’ve been able to keep the lines of communication open and tackle small problems before they became big ones. I also have great IT managers, facilities managers, and staff who take care of our lab animals. We’re all doing our part to make sure we can keep working and stay in touch, even remotely. And when an issue does arise, I try to clarify things immediately, whether through email or an online forum.”
Every morning Caroline Guinchard, secretary of Gisou van der Goot, hosts a coffee Zoom
Informing employees, and reassuring them
To help lighten the mood during the lockdown, van der Goot often added cartoons to her emails; she also asked a friend to design colorful personalized wallpaper for her screen. All these efforts have been especially appreciated by Manuela da Silva, a secretary in Anne-Florence Bitbol’s lab who was hired just two weeks before the lockdown started. “People have been really supportive, asking me how I am, if I need anything,” says da Silva. “I’ve watched three Town Hall meetings, and the one where Dean van der Goot spoke answered all my questions. I took that opportunity to write her an email to thank her.”
Van der Goot remembers that email well: “One frustrating thing when you lead a team is that people think you don’t need any feedback. But managers are still human beings who have a lot to learn, regardless of their position. So we appreciate employees who take the time to tell us how we’re doing.”
Manuela Da Silva, secretary, appreciated that we often hear from her
The specific needs of each lab
One of van der Goot’s priorities – during the lockdown and while it’s being eased – has been to understand and accommodate the specific needs of each lab at her school. “We looked at the guidelines and applied them based on the needs and possibilities of each lab, while also ensuring the necessary level of safety,” she says. “I replied personally to each professor who sent me a plan for bringing people back into his or her lab. I think it’s important to maintain that one-to-one communication. Because the truth is, we sort of left them on their own to manage things.”
The specific needs of laboratories have been taken into account, such as that of Johan Auwerx ©Alain Herzog
Advantages of the lockdown
“For the past two years, I’ve been involved in climate-related campaigns on campus, trying to reduce work-related travel, which makes up a huge proportion of EPFL’s carbon footprint,” says van der Goot. “We’ve shown that experts can take part in thesis defenses remotely, and that meetings can be held via video conference. Going forward, no one will be able to say that we always need to be physically present.”
She adds: “But remote working also requires trust among colleagues. Not everyone has that attitude yet. Some professors still haven’t warmed to the idea. But I think remote working makes it easier to juggle all aspects of your life better. There’s a chance we may have to keep at it like this for a while longer.”
Like many of us during the lockdown, van der Goot had to carve out space in her home for an office. “I work in my son’s bedroom now,” she says. “It’s great – I have a big screen. It’s actually the third workstation I’ve set up at home, because each time I find somewhere, my kids end up taking it over. First I set up an office in the basement, but my daughter needed that space to study for her university exams. Then I moved into the attic, but my son decided that’d be a great place for him. So I moved into his room. Because of the lockdown, we’ve rediscovered our home and made use of every nook and cranny.”
Research on COVID-19
“We are pursuing some interesting avenues of research,” says van der Goot. “The new coronavirus is an enveloped virus, which is a textbook case in the field of cellular biology. We’ve started studying the virus’s proteins to better understand how it infects human cells. We’re really optimistic and excited about the prospects. Many of our school’s labs are studying this virus, and I think that will further enhance our culture of sharing lab instruments and discoveries.”