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How to boost your research: take a sabbatical in policy

Academic researchers have a unique opportunity to benefit society — and their research — by spending time in government.
By
  1. Jordan Dworkin

    1. Jordan Dworkin is the programme lead for metascience at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington DC.

“For 20 years, I thought my job was, as a basic scientist, [to] publish papers and throw them over the wall for someone else to apply. I now realize that there’s no one on the other side of the wall, just a huge pile of papers that we’ve all thrown over.” These words from sociologist Duncan Watts at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia will resonate with many researchers who are frustrated by the difficulties of translating good science into good governmental policy.

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Nature 626, 694 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00479-w

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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