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  • CAREER COLUMN

How I carved out a career as a ‘pracademic’

Julian Kirchherr craved a role with real-world impact. A career that straddles academia and management consultancy helped him to achieve his goal.
By
  1. Julian Kirchherr

    1. Julian Kirchherr is a partner at McKinsey & Company and an associate professor at Roskilde University, Denmark.

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When I was growing up, many teenagers dreamed of becoming a chief executive, but I always wanted to be a professor. I imagined writing papers that would shape how businesses operate and how governments think. But roughly a decade later, as a 28-year-old assistant professor of business sustainability, I found myself standing for too long in the shower one day, feeling beaten down and generally out of control. I was caught in a system that demanded ever more grant applications and highly cited papers.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01744-2

This is an article from the Nature Careers Community, a place for Nature readers to share their professional experiences and advice. Guest posts are encouraged.

References

  1. Axt, M., Baldassarre, B. & Kirchherr, J. Ecol. Econ. 236, 108679 (2025)

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  2. Kirchher, J., Reike, D. & Hekkert, M. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 127, 221–232 (2017).

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  3. Straub, L. et al. J. Clean. Prod. 410, 137027 (2023).

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  4. Kirchherr, J. Circ. Econ. Sustain. 3, 167–172 (2023).

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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