The University Sabbatical Scheme replaces both the existing University Sabbaticals and the Learning and Teaching Project Awards.
In a ground-breaking approach in the sector, and supporting our connected strategy development between Education and Research and Innovation, this scheme builds on the strengths of the Research sabbatical and the Learning and Teaching Projects, and combines both with increased funding and better access for all members of staff.
1. Education (Learning and Teaching) – administered by Anglia Learning & Teaching
2. Research and Knowledge Exchange – administered by RIDO
3. Doctoral Completion – administered by RIDO
Sabbaticals may last up to 75 days and applicants may apply for up to £15,000.
For the call for Education Sabbatical projects this academic year, we will be adding the option to submit proposals to deliver already-identified projects, which are drawn from the Education Action Plan. We will provide a list of titles and descriptions of these targeted projects shortly.
The University Sabbatical Scheme is open to all individuals and teams at our University. Both full-time and part-time staff, including staff from partner institutions and part-time hourly paid, are eligible for support. Academic staff may make proposals, either individually or in teams; and Professional staff may co-lead (with an Academic co-lead) or be part of a team proposal.
Funding will be made subject to acceptance of the conditions, which includes any necessary ethical approval being granted by the relevant authorities and the signature of the Deputy Dean of Faculty/Director of Service.
Our Heron page has detailed information on conditions and eligibility criteria (login required).
A proposal should:
Please email [email protected] or [email protected] to discuss potential sabbaticals and the development of proposals for Education (Learning and Teaching) Sabbaticals.
Please contact [email protected] to discuss potential sabbaticals and the development of proposals for Research and Knowledge Exchange or Doctoral Completion Sabbaticals.
The call for proposals is now open.
Proposals to supporters for supporting statements by: 7 March 2025.
Full applications (including supporting statements) to AL&T/RIDO by: 14 March 2025.
The Anglia Ruskin University Associate Teaching Fellowship (ARUATF) Scheme is designed to reward those who have demonstrated their ongoing commitment to learning and teaching, and to offer opportunities for further career development.
Colleagues who obtain funding for a learning, teaching and assessment related (pedagogic) project, either from internal or external sources, will be granted an Anglia Ruskin University Associate Teaching Fellowship (ARUATF) award on successful completion of the project and following dissemination of the findings and submission of a case study to Anglia Learning & Teaching.
The Anglia Ruskin University Associate Teaching Fellowship (ARUATF) Scheme is designed to reward those who have demonstrated their ongoing commitment to learning and teaching, and to offer opportunities for further career development.
Colleagues who have joined us from other universities who have also successfully bid for, and carried out, a pedagogic project will be eligible to apply for an ARUATF on provision of evidence of success and dissemination.
Projects to be used as evidence must have been completed within the previous five years.
Colleagues achieving an ARUATF will:
All teaching staff and those working in the support of learning and teaching who have full-time, fractional and/or associate lecturer contracts are eligible to be considered for this internal awards.
Having attended a workshop about using Playmobil pro at the Playful Learning Conference in 2021, I could see the potential for using a playful approach in my own teaching at ARU. I applied for, and was awarded, an ARU Education Sabbatical. I was supported by colleagues from Centre for Innovation in Higher Education to develop my proposal for the sabbatical, which helped to improve my project. I used the funding to train as a Playmobil pro facilitator and to purchase sets of Playmobil pro.
I disseminated the findings of my Education Sabbatical at the 2023 ARU Engage Conference, and at an international conference in Montreal. I also had an article published about using Playmobil pro to develop conceptual understanding and will soon have a blog published by the British Educational Research Association about my project.
Overall, being awarded an Education Sabbatical has been a really good opportunity. The funding gave me the opportunity to receive the training and purchase the Playmobil pro resources I needed. Through the project, I learnt how to support the professional development of colleagues, and disseminating my work led to me attending my first international research conference.
I can thoroughly recommend applying for an Education Sabbatical.
Receipt of team Education Sabbatical funding, which financed our Inclusion Health research team to undertake research and engagement activities, has been transformational by supporting our activities in this field of study, which is gaining traction in terms of policy and practice pertaining to healthy life expectancy.
The overall focus of the sabbatical is to help us to provide medical students with effective grounding to work with non-traditional client groups (i.e., Refugees and Asylum seekers; homeless people; vulnerable migrants; LGBT+ populations; Gypsies, Travellers, Roma, Showmen and Boaters; and other ‘unheard’ or ‘silenced’ populations) and embed this into their learning.
We delivered two symposia in June and October 2023 (co-supported by QR funding and NHS England) to showcase our emergent research findings. Over 150 individuals participated in the symposia, and we have utilised learning from this project to support successful funding bids focusing on student learning, and the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers.
Our research has attracted interest both nationally and internationally and has supported discussions with the Medical Schools Council, the Faculty of Homeless and Inclusion Health, and numerous civil society groups. We have also strengthened relationships with international partners including the University of Pecs (Hungary) WHO reporting centre on migrant health, and the EU Public Health Association Migrant and Ethnic Minority Health section, and colleagues in Dublin who have led the way on Inclusion Health curricula development.
We are currently completing interviews and analysis of findings from the research supported by the team Sabbatical and PPIE funding. We are currently embedding the learning into student elective placement opportunities and developing publications and guidance for other medical schools.
The team will disseminate our findings at the prestigious Faculty of Homeless and Inclusion Health Conference in April 2023, having been invited to co-lead a workshop discussion, and will be engaging with NHS England, the Medical Schools Council and other colleagues to explore ways of taking forward the learning from these activities.
We actively encourage other researchers, whether individuals or teams, as it allowed us to commence work on this important topic, by providing funding and time to support our team to develop this new area of learning, teaching, and research within ARU.
Team: Professor Sanjiv Ahluwalia (School of Medicine); Professor Margaret Greenfields (School of Allied Health and Social Care); Sophie Coker (PhD student Faculty of Business and Law/Research Assistant, AHSC) and Kristina Church (Research Administrator, SoM)