diff --git a/examples/async_pcb_insert_drq/async_drq_randomized.py b/examples/async_pcb_insert_drq/async_drq_randomized.py
index bdc5dac6..52bf7f83 100644
--- a/examples/async_pcb_insert_drq/async_drq_randomized.py
+++ b/examples/async_pcb_insert_drq/async_drq_randomized.py
@@ -5,9 +5,12 @@
 import jax
 import jax.numpy as jnp
 import numpy as np
+import pynput
+import os
 import tqdm
 from absl import app, flags
 from flax.training import checkpoints
+import threading
 
 import gymnasium as gym
 from gymnasium.wrappers.record_episode_statistics import RecordEpisodeStatistics
@@ -88,6 +91,29 @@ def print_green(x):
     return print("\033[92m {}\033[00m".format(x))
 
 
+PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG = threading.Event()
+PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG.clear()  # clear() to continue the actor/learner loop, set() to pause
+
+
+def pause_callback(key):
+    """Callback for when a key is pressed"""
+    global PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG
+    try:
+        # chosen a rarely used key to avoid conflicts. this listener is always on, even when the program is not in focus
+        if key == pynput.keyboard.Key.pause:
+            print("Requested pause training")
+            # set the PAUSE FLAG to pause the actor/learner loop
+            PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG.set()
+    except AttributeError:
+        # print(f'{key} pressed')
+        pass
+
+
+listener = pynput.keyboard.Listener(
+    on_press=pause_callback
+)  # to enable keyboard based pause
+listener.start()
+
 ##############################################################################
 
 
@@ -95,6 +121,8 @@ def actor(agent: DrQAgent, data_store, env, sampling_rng):
     """
     This is the actor loop, which runs when "--actor" is set to True.
     """
+    global PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG
+
     if FLAGS.eval_checkpoint_step:
         success_counter = 0
         time_list = []
@@ -130,6 +158,18 @@ def actor(agent: DrQAgent, data_store, env, sampling_rng):
                     print(reward)
                     print(f"{success_counter}/{episode + 1}")
 
+            # if pause event is requested, pause the actor
+            if PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG.is_set():
+                print("Actor eval loop interrupted")
+                response = input("Do you want to continue (c), or exit (e)? ")
+                if response == "c":
+                    # update PAUSE FLAG to continue training
+                    PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG.clear()
+                    print("Continuing")
+                else:
+                    print("Stopping actor eval")
+                    break
+
         print(f"success rate: {success_counter / FLAGS.eval_n_trajs}")
         print(f"average time: {np.mean(time_list)}")
         return  # after done eval, return and exit
@@ -209,6 +249,28 @@ def update_params(params):
             stats = {"timer": timer.get_average_times()}
             client.request("send-stats", stats)
 
+        if PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG.is_set():
+            print_green("Actor loop interrupted")
+            response = input(
+                "Do you want to continue (c), save replay buffer and exit (s) or simply exit (e)? "
+            )
+            if response == "c":
+                print("Continuing")
+                PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG.clear()
+            else:
+                if response == "s":
+                    print("Saving replay buffer")
+                    data_store.save(
+                        "replay_buffer_actor.npz"
+                    )  # not yet supported for QueuedDataStore
+                else:
+                    print("Replay buffer not saved")
+                print("Stopping actor client")
+                client.stop()
+                break
+
+    print("Actor loop finished")
+
 
 ##############################################################################
 
@@ -219,6 +281,7 @@ def learner(rng, agent: DrQAgent, replay_buffer, demo_buffer, wandb_logger=None)
     """
     # To track the step in the training loop
     update_steps = 0
+    global PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG
 
     def stats_callback(type: str, payload: dict) -> dict:
         """Callback for when server receives stats request."""
@@ -305,6 +368,33 @@ def stats_callback(type: str, payload: dict) -> dict:
 
         update_steps += 1
 
+        if PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG.is_set():
+            print("Learner loop interrupted")
+            response = input(
+                "Do you want to continue (c), save training state and exit (s) or simply exit (e)? "
+            )
+            if response == "c":
+                print("Continuing")
+                PAUSE_EVENT_FLAG.clear()
+            else:
+                if response == "s":
+                    print("Saving learner state")
+                    agent_ckpt = checkpoints.save_checkpoint(
+                        FLAGS.checkpoint_path, agent.state, step=update_steps, keep=100
+                    )
+                    replay_buffer.save(
+                        "replay_buffer_learner.npz"
+                    )  # not yet supported for QueuedDataStore
+                    # TODO: save other parts of training state
+                else:
+                    print("Training state not saved")
+                print("Stopping learner client")
+                break
+
+    # Wrap up the learner loop
+    server.stop()
+    print("Learner loop finished")
+
 
 ##############################################################################