Why doing a sabbatical?

Here are a few arguments: shake things up, make a difference, discover other cultures, get new skills, or educate oneself further? And “It is better than quitting,” right?

I am one of these extremely privileged academics who could spend ten (yes one-zero!) months focusing (academically speaking) on something else! Since a few years, I have been following the research path of colleagues and friends who are scientists from African countries, mainly French-speaking Africa. I am so admirative of their spirit, energy, and smartness that I am convinced we can all learn a lot from their vision of the future. Because I also want to contribute to making the world of science more open and inclusive, I chose to focus on the French-speaking African academic world!

My sabbatical started in November 2020 at the University of Kinshasa (the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and ended in August 2021 at at the laboratory of medical genetics, University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah of Fez, Morocco. During these 10 months, I recorded a series of podcast featuring young and experienced French-speaking African scientists. Are you interested in listening these interviews in French? Just click here.