Challenges for graduate students' mentors during COVID-19 pandemic.

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic results in the suspension of universities' academic laboratory activities. This brought a difficult time for graduate students majored in molecular biology and their mentors, since the student's thesis progress relies on the data from wet experiments in the lab. Even facing the challenges during the pandemic, mentors could still play an active role. This COVID-19 crisis requires mentors to have more thinking, innovation, and sharing in guiding graduate students.

When the COVID‐19 pandemic broke out suddenly at the end of January 2020 in China, , it was just before the arrival of the Chinese New Year, the graduate students just started their winter vacation. For labs doing molecular biology research, there are usually animals that need to be maintained. It was originally arranged that graduate students and mentors would come to the lab for a certain period of time for maintenance, but due to the sudden emergence of the COVID‐19 and the huge panic it brought about, these could not be carried out on time.

Due to the pandemic, it was unknown when graduate students can return to universities and start lab experiments to complete their thesis project. At the beginning the mentors were anxious, but the graduate students felt very happy to be at home for the long vacation. However, after a period of time, due to the long‐term inability to carry out work at home, the graduate students also became anxious about whether they could graduate on time. It was indeed a very difficult time.

As responsible mentors, we have also felt the pressure brought about by the COVID‐19 pandemic. During the pandemic, the Drosophila strains we were experimenting on were all lost during the 4‐month closure period due to lack of care, so that we needed to reorder and cultivate at the beginning of the semester. At the same time, due to the logistics control during the pandemic, this process was also very time‐consuming. Another problem we encountered during the closure of the school was that some experimental data of students remained in paper records, and students had to wait until they returned to school to process the data. This also caused some students' anxiety. In addition, the speed of ordering kits during the pandemic was relatively slow, which had an impact on some projects that require kits. Therefore, experiments that can be carried out with the existing reagents in the laboratory and can be tested with the instruments and equipment owned by the laboratory are relatively easy to implement. Experiments that require equipment outside of their own laboratory will be more difficult due to restrictions on personnel mobility. However, if reagents or animals need to be purchased, especially those imported from abroad, basically the experiment must be stopped.

Based on the experience of our laboratory, we give the following suggestions, hoping to help biological experimenters who are facing the risk of COVID‐19 or in future emergencies. First of all, we can increase the project‐related literature reading during the pandemic, make a detailed plan for the next project, anticipate possible problems and save time. Secondly, while graduate students are restricted to doing experiments in the laboratory, they can do some project‐related data analysis on their own equipment, just like some meta‐analysis based on machine learning and deep learning. The use of machines and networks for data analysis and processing is very safe and does not need to bear the risk of COVID‐19. Third, during the COVID‐19 epidemic, online meetings have largely replaced offline meetings, and teams can arrange regular online meetings and group discussions to create a positive team atmosphere and enhance team cooperation, thus effectively reducing the stress and negative emotions caused by COVID‐19. Fourth, pay attention to the timely conversion of experimental data from paper records to electronic records, and the storage of data from lab computers to the cloud (online), so that in case of emergency, lab members can still access the data and analyze it. Fifth, pay attention to the storage of experimental reagents and materials to avoid interruption of the experiment due to emergency situations. At the same time, the designed experiment cycle should not be too long to avoid interruption. Due to the limited working time and number of personnel in the laboratory during the epidemic, do not plan an experiment that requires multiple people working together at the same time and place. Sixth, although the COVID‐19 epidemic has been brought under control, new mutations are still emerging. It is still possible that the laboratory will be closed again. For the research group engaged in biological experiments, it is also an effective guarantee to consider launching some projects mainly based on data analysis to deal with emergencies.

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, the lab experiment will indeed be greatly affected. Facing such a huge challenge to mankind, we can still take the initiative and do what we can. After the COVID‐19 pandemic was effectively controlled in China, our graduate students returned to campus in May 2020. The start‐up of animal experiments took a while, and the progress of the experiment was slowed for sure. However, graduate students were aware of the complexity and repetitive nature of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Therefore, they cherished the opportunity to do experiments in the lab, and plan the experiments more seriously.

Finally, the COVID‐19 pandemic may coexist with humans for a long time. As mentors and advisors of graduate students, we need more thinking, innovation, and sharing in the way and strategy of guiding students. Mentors need to enrich their own knowledge reserves, implement academic guidance that conforms to the needs of the times, and conduct influential academic guidance behaviors for graduate students.