Laura Maiorino arrived in Cambridge in late 2019, one of more than 1,400 postdoctoral scholars from around the world who join MIT each year to launch their careers in the company of other outstanding researchers. Within months, of course, the pandemic struck: labmates were working in shifts and taking meetings over Zoom. “Even connecting within your research group was hard, and trying to find a network and community beyond your group was almost impossible,” Maiorino says. For many, the MIT Postdoctoral Association (PDA) has been a lifeline, organizing small community…
