In a recent Nature article, Sarah Wild profiles the strategies that university department leaders use to balance their research and administrative roles. Leaders emphasized the importance of prioritizing research by making research time “sacred” and adhering to a set schedule. Glenn Geher (State University of New York) referred to this as “holy time,” noting that meeting with students for research kept him motivated. Wild also highlights how sabbaticals helped those who had been in administrative roles transition back to full-time research. Teboho Moja (New York University) mentioned that her current sabbatical is allowing her to focus on deprioritized work, while Geher stated that a sabbatical helped him feel ready to “hit the ground running” on research.
