The purpose of a sabbatical is to enrich and renew a university employee’s academic life by allowing them uninterrupted time to think and do research. According to its Biblical origins, the sabbatical, or Sabbath, is a break from work, or a rest, of a few months to up to a year. In many parts of the world, this originally religious idea has been transformed into a cherished academic tradition, a period of “rest” for a university academic, a relief from the everyday stresses of teaching, supervision and administration – and often, upholding its Biblical roots, every seventh year.
Two types of sabbaticals
Here at the Department of Biology, we encourage two types of sabbaticals – those of the more traditional type where the academic is relieved of their normal duties for *a period of several months to a year* in order to pursue academic research at a foreign university (so-called “external sabbaticals”), and short-term “internal sabbaticals” that involve academics swapping units within the department for 1 to 2 weeks.
In both cases the goal of the sabbatical is to be given undisturbed time to think, to learn new methods and techniques and to make new contacts and friends. And it is not only the academic who benefits from the intellectual stimulation typical of a sabbatical. The department benefits too, via the new inspiration and creativity that returns with the academic at the conclusion of the sabbatical.
You find further information and details regarding how to proceed at our internal website.
Unfortunately, we can only offer external sabbaticals to teachers but internal sabbaticals in one form or the other can probably be arranged for anybody working in the department. However, through Erasmus+ all employees have the oppurtunity to visit one of Lund Unviersity’s partner universities in Europe. More information about Erasmus+ at LU’s Staff Pages.
