This study adopted Jarzabkowski's (2005) qualitative, activity-based strategy as practice method to investigate leadership and management of interdisciplinary work. Interviews were conducted with 10 academics in Australia and the United Kingdom. Challenges raised by leaders of academic work can be grouped at various levels according to which problems arose. First, faculty in both countries spoke of the influence of national policy context on facilitating and impeding interdisciplinary research, particularly how interdisciplinary research is quantified under assessment schemes. At the institutional level, policies related to promotion and tenure greatly affected researchers' attitude towards interdisciplinary research, particularly for junior academics. Third, leaders at the department level and in research centres had a significant influence on the ability to create management structures to foster and promote interdisciplinary research. This study provides indicators of effective practices, suggests a number of key institutional challenges and proposes a future research agenda.