% Hide header texts and use the header space for text.
\setuphead[chapter][header=high]
+% But not for the abstract, acknowledgements and toc
+\setuphead[title][header=empty]
% Insert completely empty pages to put new chapter headers on the right
% page (i.e., not headers and footers).
\startfrontmatter
\input Titlepage
+\input Chapters/Abstract
+\input Chapters/Acknowledgements
\completecontent
% Force a page break so the headers will not apply to the last page of
\stopbodymatter
\startbackmatter
\completepublications
+% The stopbackmatter inserts a non-empty right page, it seems
+\page[emptyright]
\stopbackmatter
\stoptext