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The Research Leave Policy is effective from 1st September 2025 and was previously known as Sabbatical Leave.
Contents
- Purpose
- Scope
- Definitions
- Research Leave
- Qualifying Service
- Policy
- Planning and Applying for Research Leave
- Return from Research Leave
- Monitoring and Review
- Status of Policy
- Application Form
Purpose
1. This policy defines Research Leave, the parameters within which staff on Teaching and Research academic contracts may apply for this leave and the process to be followed when doing so.
Scope
2. The policy applies to all staff with a Teaching and Research academic contract in the position of Lecturer, Associate Professor and Professor and Clinical Lecturer, Associate Clinical Professor, and Clinical Professor (This also includes staff who continue to hold the title of Reader).
3. Eligible staff who are still within their probationary period may apply and take any approved research leave once they have completed six terms (two years).
4. Teaching only staff and Research only staff are not eligible for Research Leave. Teaching staff are not contractually required to undertake sustained research in the same way or to the same extent as Teaching and Research colleagues, while research staff have formal research built into their job description and do not require relief from teaching to undertake their research. Under the UCL Teaching Concordat, teaching staff are afforded up to 15% of their FTE to undertake scholarship and research to underpin research-based education.
5. Requests for unpaid leave including career breaks, are out of scope and should be considered in accordance with the unpaid leave guidance and Career Break Policy.
Definitions
Research Leave
6. Research Leave is defined as a form of paid leave for eligible staff free from teaching obligations (except PGR supervision and marking, unless previously agreed), clinical sessions and administrative duties, to undertake research related to an individual’s academic field. There are two types:
- Ordinary Research Leave of one term may be requested to enable eligible staff to maintain the high calibre of research (to include impact-related activity and innovation and enterprise activity where applicable) for which UCL is renowned.
- Returners Research Leave - Research active academics returning from periods of family leave such as Maternity Leave/Adoption Leave, Shared Parental Leave or unpaid Extended Carer's Leave (where a single period totals more than 3 months’ duration within any 12 month period), are automatically entitled to take one term of ‘Returners Research Leave’. This leave enables staff to re-establish their research after an absence.
Qualifying Service
7. Ordinary Research Leave may be granted for a period of one term after six completed terms (two years) of qualifying service with UCL.
8. Eligible staff may apply to take two terms at once after having completed twelve terms (four years) of qualifying service. However, this is not guaranteed and is at the discretion of the department and faculty. In exceptional circumstances, staff may apply to take three terms of Research Leave (after 6 years of qualifying service), but this is not recommended. The granting of research leave is always discretionary.
9. ‘Qualifying service’ is the length of employment at UCL on a Teaching and Research academic contract. Previous service in a different role at UCL, or at a different employer will not count towards the qualifying service.
10. Any period when the member of staff is absent from their eligible role will not count towards the six terms of qualifying service. Examples include while on Returners or Ordinary Research Leave, internal or external secondment, sickness absence (not related to a disability), research fellowships where teaching has been bought out, funded research projects where teaching ceases, and unpaid leave. The qualifying service will be paused for the duration of the absence.
11. Absences due to a disability or any type of family leave (maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, and ordinary parental) will not pause or reset the qualifying service.
Policy
12. Ordinary Research Leave is not an entitlement and is granted subject to an application and approval by the Faculty. Deans, HoDs and colleagues will need to take account of workloads, financial considerations, and the need to stagger research leave, teaching and administrative cover provisions before applications can be granted. The approved list of Heads of Departments can be found on the UCL website. The Dean will provide oversight of the process and final approval. A Dean, Vice-Provost or Provost may also grant such leave for eligible staff that they line manage and any non-standard, or exceptional requests which are outside of this policy. In exceptional circumstances, staff may make ‘direct route’ applications.
13. It is recognised that the need for Ordinary Research Leave to maintain the high calibre of research for which UCL is renowned varies between disciplinary areas and departments.
14. Clinical Academic staff will need the support of the relevant Clinical Director or Medical Director at the NHS Trust where they hold an honorary appointment for the proposed period of Research Leave. The financial implications for any NHS recharge towards their salary for the period of research leave should be discussed and made explicit.
15. At the end of a period of Ordinary or Returners Research Leave, eligible staff are expected to produce a report on the outcomes of their Research Leave and how this supports research strategy, normally within 4 weeks of their return.
16. Departments should hold an up-to-date Research Leave rota, which should be discussed with individual colleagues at appraisals. Workforce planning should identify Research Leave as a priority and provide adequate teaching cover to enable it to happen.
Planning and Applying for Research Leave
Returners Research Leave
17. Eligible staff who are planning on taking at least 3 months’ family leave and wish to take a term of Returners Research Leave should meet with their Head of Department and complete the Research Leave Application form (to document dates and expected outcomes) at the same time as applying for Parental or unpaid Extended Carers’ Leave.
18. Six completed academic terms of qualifying service is not a pre-requisite to taking this leave.
19. This leave is normally taken during the next full term immediately after the absence unless the returner asks to defer it to the following term.
Ordinary Research Leave
20 An individual's aspirations for Ordinary Research Leave and its intended outcomes should be discussed as part of the professional development discussion within the Appraisal process.
21. For Research Leave intended for the following academic year and in order to ensure that teaching can be allocated in a timely fashion, Heads of Department should inform all staff of the Ordinary Research Leave application cycle at the beginning of the Autumn Term, or in the previous Summer Term if this better suits the department and/or faculty timetable. All applications for Ordinary Research Leave must be submitted by the department’s published deadline.
22. Faculty level scrutiny of Research Leave applications will take place after this, and all staff who applied will be notified of the outcome by the published deadline. This oversight is to ensure that all applications meet the criteria, that periods of Research Leave are staggered throughout the academic year, and that teaching and workload will not be unduly affected.
Criteria
23. The following criteria will be considered in relation to applications for Ordinary Research Leave:
- The applicant will have completed six academic terms of qualifying service by the start of the Research Leave.
- Any previous Research Leave should have resulted in an appropriate outcome.
- The application must outline clear research objectives which will further the individual's research.
- The applicant commits to completing all necessary and/or agreed marking, where possible before Research Leave commences There may be occasions where the individual will have to undertake further marking while on Research Leave.
- The applicant commits to continuing supervision of their PhD students during Research Leave. Exceptions to this will be considered by the Departmental Graduate Tutor where continued supervision is not possible or realistic, with reasonable alternatives put in place in advance of the Research Leave commencing.
Approval
24. Ordinary Research Leave applications should ideally have the support of the HoD, and all applications will be considered together after the published deadline. The Faculty / Department will have a finite capacity to support Research Leave and may need to prioritise which cases can be supported in any given year, whilst also taking into consideration the other factors contained in paragraph 12.
25. If the HoD does not support the application, they should outline on the application form the reasons why and give the applicant a copy. The application will still be considered by the Dean and Director of Operations to ensure that the reason for turning down the application is fair and objective, and eligible ‘direct route’ applications will be considered.
26. The relevant School Finance Team will be consulted by the HoD regarding the cost of any Ordinary Research Leave cover before agreements on Research Leave applications are reached.
27. he Dean will review applications in consultation with the Director of Operations and the Faculty Research Leave committee before a decision is confirmed.
28. Oversight reviews may include but are not restricted to factors such as eligibility of the employee to take leave, proposed objectives and expected outcomes, stated benefit of research to employee/Department/UCL, and/or reason(s) given for approval/rejection.
29. The HoD (or Dean) will be responsible for arranging cover for teaching and administrative responsibilities while the employee is on Research Leave.
30. The impact on students should be considered to identify any necessary mitigations, and students who will be assigned to other staff members should be informed of the change before the period of Research Leave commences.
31. HoDs and Deans will not normally be granted Research Leave during their tenure. However, exceptions can be made by the Dean or Provost. HoDs and Deans will be entitled to an additional term of ‘out of cycle’ Ordinary Research Leave when they step down, in addition to the term(s) they will have accrued.
32. After applicants have been notified of the outcome, all forms must be forwarded to HR Services via MyServices@ucl.ac.uk to place on the employee’s HR file. All employees who take Research Leave should record their leave dates on MyHR.
Return from Research Leave
33. A report that re-states the intended outcomes and confirms what has been achieved during each period of Research Leave should be submitted to the HoD within four weeks of the academic’s return to work.
34. HoDs (and/or the Departmental Research Leave committee) will review the report and discuss with the returning staff member the outcomes if necessary. How these will benefit and feed into the academic’s future research and contribute towards their professional personal development will be discussed at appraisal.
35. Where the type of research undertaken makes outcomes less visible, such as a longer-term project in its initial stages which may yield fewer concrete outcomes, it may be useful for the member of staff to provide a memo on progress or samples of writing to provide some additional context to the report.
Monitoring and Review
36. Research Leave granted through this policy must be recorded on each employee's MyHR record, so it can be monitored for equal opportunities purposes. Faculties will also monitor for EDI and staff equity purposes.
Status of policy
37. This policy is not contractual and may be varied from time-to-time following consultation with the recognised Trade Unions.
Application Form
