Fellowships and awards are an excellent way to supplement your planned sabbatical leave - whether it be by funding a portion of your salary while on sabbatical, providing the funds you need to travel to a research site, or living in a residential or international setting to complete your sabbatical project.
The Office of Sponsored Projects supports your fellowship and award proposals, regardless of if they are submitted and awarded directly by you - or by the institution on your behalf. Please reach out early and often to plan for funding for your leave!
The below sections provides some context on the common characteristics of fellowships, logistics to consider, and OSP resources available to you. At the bottom of this page, you'll find a filterable, curated list of fellowship opportunities as a place to get started.
The most important thing when searching for a fellowship is to start early! Please contact your Sponsored Research Officer today to develop your fellowship funding plan - we recommend starting the process 1.5-2 years in advance of a planned sabbatical.
We look forward to working with you!
Looking for information about the Fulbright Scholar Program? click here!
As you identify funding opportunities, you'll notice some fellowships proposals and awards are submitted directly from you (vs. through Seattle University) and awarded directly to you (vs. SU). Both are excellent options but may require different logistics to consider (such as who pays the taxes) - see the section on this webpage about logistics for help thinking these through.
Regardless of the proposal submission requirements, the OSP is available to provide proposal preparation and review to help best position your proposal for success. Reach out early and often!
Some fellowships offer residential experiences where you can live on-site for weeks or even months to accomplish the goals of your fellowship. In planning for a residential fellowship, it is important to coordinate the timing of your approved sabbatical leave, as well as the duration of the fellowship (many are based on a 6 month or 'semester' model which can be more complicated to plan around if you are not intending on a year long sabbatical). Please contact your Sponsored Research Officer for assistance in navigating the timing of your fellowship proposal, award, and planned leave.
As you review fellowship funding opportunities, pay close attention to the eligibility requirements and targeted (if any) demographic of the opportunity. Some fellowships may be targeted toward faculty who obtained their PhD within the last 3 or 7 years, others may be targeting a particular field or demographic (women, people of color, etc.). These should be clearly stated within the funding opportunity description and eligibility sections. While this may make you ineligible for some opportunities, it will narrow the pool of applicants for those specific to you! Please contact a Sponsored Research Officer for help with identifying funding opportunities.
You may also find our Funding Opportunity Screening Sheet as a great resource to determine if a fellowship is a good fit for you!
The deadline for many fellowship opportunities occur in the fall, in the year prior to the fellowship (e.g. October 2023 for fellowships beginning in fall 2024 or January 2025). Given the complexity of planning a fellowship to coincide with your upcoming sabbatical, we encourage you to begin your search for and proposals to fellowship opportunities one and a half to two years ahead of your sabbatical.
Setting up a 'research roadmap' in anticipation of your sabbatical is a great way to plan ahead without feeling overwhelmed. Click the next section to get started on your roadmap, or contact your Sponsored Research Officer today - reach out early and often!
A research roadmap is a coordinated plan for your research agenda that maps the activities required to achieve your ultimate scholarly goals, accounting for your capacities and resources.
The roadmap breaks down big goals (such as funding your sabbatical) into tangible, day-to-day activities and serves as an accountability and decision-making tool.
It tracks deadlines and is a living document, constantly readjusted to match your reality and account for the unforeseen.
The OSP has a host of resources on this topic in this folder -
Before you begin searching for fellowship opportunities, think about what needs to be funded in order to enable your sabbatical research -
Thinking through your unique needs, will help to identify the funding opportunities most suited to your research.
Read on to learn about the resources available to you to Find Funding.
The OSP offers a wealth of resources to assist in your funding search -
When planning for a sabbatical or off-cycle leave, it is important to consider the logistics of doing so -
While the OSP won't be able to solve these logistical questions, we'll be happy to help you think through them and identify the SU resources needed to enable a fellowship leave.