Sir

As married academics on sabbatical leave from the University of California, Davis, we would like to add some comments to your Naturejobs feature on the subject ('The seven-year itch' Nature 448, 834–835; 2007). We felt that you overlooked the importance of academics being role models for people in the developing world, where education is often less than perfect, and meeting the challenge of solving problems in the developing world, where medical, poverty and conservation issues often reach their zenith.

We have moved from California to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for our sabbaticals. Here we can interact with Tanzanian academics, work with local non-governmental organizations, use the Internet to write a book, and continue our field work. We hope to expand our intellectual horizons and those of Tanzanian colleagues, and perhaps bring fresh perspectives to developing-world problems. Broadening academic influence outside first-world universities is an important social responsibility. We urge other sabbatical wannabes to take up similar challenges and opportunities.