We explore the problem of constructing strong researcher identities that are produced and owned by researchers rather than being produced by the prevailing neo-liberal academic discourse. This is currently important because strong pressures mitigate against it. Such pressures include: the necessity to write and publish in an academic context; for women to choose between family and career; the corporatization of universities and the emphasis on continual efficiency, excellence and productivity, as well as the pressure to focus on the product of research. Through qualitative data collection and analyses we bring into focus how researchers understand themselves, their work, and their process. We video-recorded interviews with eight participants and we present 'slices' of lives showing how researcher identities unfold and emerge in multiple ways. While publishing scholarly articles makes one a productive academic, the sustainability of this is dependent on developing researcher identities. A supportive, collaborative environment provides the seedbed for researchers who produce but also find meaning in what they do. Better quality research is produced because researchers are wholly invested. This conflicts with the neo-liberal notions of the individual who is both productive and entrepreneurial and that in the neo-liberal university each academic is conceived as a corporation responsible for their own personal productivity.