School of English
Guidelines for the allocation of Research Leave
The following principles will be considered by the School of English Research Committee when
allocating research leave:
i. Date of last research leave (faculty are encouraged to apply for leave after 6 consecutive teaching
blocks, although leave is not guaranteed).
ii. If someone receives funded leave from an AHRC or Leverhulme award etc., the period of this
award will not count towards their leave; however, the teaching blocks accrued before and after the
award will count towards their leave. Periods of unpaid leave will be counted as though the staff
member was teaching.
iii. Strength of leave application. ‘Strength’ is defined both quantitatively (i.e., will applicants publish
work in internationally refereed journals; will their research outputs contribute to the overall
research profile of the School); and qualitatively, in terms of the degree of planning, innovation and
ambition in an application.
iv. ‘Research-active’ status of applicant. ‘Research-active’ comprises two or more of the following:
inclusion in the last REF; number of papers in international refereed publications; conference papers
given; external grant applications activity; productions and/or collaborations (theatre, poetry, film,
dance, etc); interactive and/or digital projects.
v. Outputs and achievements during last period of research leave. ‘Outputs’ include digital/online
exhibitions; productions and/or collaborations as in (iii); website/interactive/digital projects; dvd/cdroms of completed projects; sound/video/live installations.
vi. Following research leave, all colleagues must submit a report within one month of return
demonstrating that the specified outcomes of their leave have been achieved.
vii. If during the course of research leave the member of faculty finds that their project is differing
significantly from that proposed in their leave application; they must write to the Research
Committee at the earliest opportunity to explain the change to the expected outcomes of their
research leave.
Updated January 2014
School of English: Guidelines for Research Leave Allocation