These days several countries (including Germany, where I am situated) are heading towards some kind of lockdown due to the Corona pandemic. Nonetheless, new group members arrive and I have the feeling that I do not have enough good ideas for the question:
How to welcome new PhD students or postdocs to the group during a lockdown?
Many things are not available like meeting in the halls, getting coffee together, going to lunch together… Of course, virtual group meetings work, to some extent, but apart from that?
For the sake of clarity you may consider the following circumstances:
- Office spaces may still be used, but only one person per office is allowed.
- Many people work from home, some are using offices in a shared fashion to avoid meeting in person.
- The new PhD students may have just moved to the city from someplace else.