The application process
All applicants must complete the research sabbatical application form.
There are two application rounds each year:
- Round 1: The deadline for Round 1 of 2023/24 applications is Tuesday 7 November 2023
- Round 2: The deadline for Round 2 2023/24 applications is Tuesday 20 February 2024
All applications will require support from the HoD and Dean. Please ensure your HoD/Director of Institute is aware of your intention to submit an application for research leave, so they can sign off on your form in a timely manner.
Where more than one member of staff is applying from the same Department, Faculty or School, the HoD and Dean will be asked to rank those applications.
The Research Sabbatical Committee will appraise all applications to ensure each period of research leave contributes towards the delivery of the University strategy, objectives for research and associated KPIs.
The Research Sabbatical Committee will make recommendations to the PVC-R.
Research sabbaticals usually start on 1 August or 1 February.
If you have applied for a sabbatical before
If you have been awarded a Sabbatical which you had to put on hold due to personal or research-related reasons, please contact vco-sabbatical@bath.ac.uk at your convenience.
Staff with sabbaticals already awarded with an intended start date of 1 August 2020, whose awards were put in abeyance due to COVID should re-apply using the revised application form so they can articulate how the sabbatical leave will contribute towards the delivery of our research strategy. In the event of applications of equal quality, those previously awarded will be given priority.
Staff with applications awaiting consideration for sabbatical leave from February 2021 (or who submitted applications to the March 2020 round) should re-apply using the revised application form and their applications will be considered in competition with other applications.
Doing a Sabbatical with IPR
If you wish to apply for sabbatical leave at the University of Bath Institute for Policy Research (IPR), please complete the University of Bath application form for sabbatical leave, which includes a separate section for sabbatical leave at the IPR.
End of sabbatical report form
Successful applicants will be expected to submit a sabbatical report 12 months after the sabbatical ends.
Download the end of sabbatical report form.
Further information
EDI-related data on applications and on approved sabbaticals will be collected at the decision-making stage and used for reporting purposes.
Find out more information about the sabbatical leave scheme.