A&S Research Leaves, Summer Research Award, Teaching Innovation Award, Data Hub Affiliate Program and Grants
The following resources relate to A&S leaves, awards and grant assistance for faculty travel, research and other forms of academic development.
UPDATED 10/7/2025
Research Leaves
Competitive Research Leaves - Baylor’s research leave policy is described in BU-PP 715. The College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office oversees the process of recommending faculty for research leaves. Applications are due annually by November 1 and evaluated by the A&S Research Leave Committee, who then makes recommendations to the Dean for submission to the Provost. Research Leaves provide faculty with one or two semesters of time to focus on a research project with no other teaching or administrative responsibilities. Faculty taking a research leave must return to their regular appointment for at least one academic year. Faculty are eligible to apply for one semester of research leave following three years of consecutive full-time service at Baylor. Faculty who have served full-time at Baylor for six years without a research leave are eligible to apply for a two-semester research leave.
Automatic Research Leaves - Currently, A&S awards one semester of research leave automatically to a tenure-track faculty member in their fourth or fifth year after a successful tenure review in their third or fourth year, respectively.
Application and Submission Instructions for A&S Competitive Research Leave F 2026 - S 2027
Summer Research Awards
The College of Arts & Sciences launched a new internal funding competition, the A&S Summer Research Award Program, in Summer 2022. This program supports faculty who seek to submit external research proposals or external fellowship proposals in the following academic year. Applications are due annually by October 1 and evaluated by the A&S Summer Research Award Committee. A&S strives to distribute the awards evenly among ranks of tenure-track and tenured faculty and across disciplines in A&S, with preference given to projects with a high potential of successful funding from external funding agencies and foundations.
Tenure-track and tenured faculty are encouraged to apply for Summer Research Awards (SRAs) to support their research over the summer in amounts up to $15,000. These awards will support travel, student stipends, supplies and other relevant research expenses in support of the Research Project.
Faculty awarded an SRA are expected to submit a grant proposal or fellowship application for external research funding in the academic year following the award. Details of the intended external funding opportunity are a required component of the SRA application.
Application and Submission Instructions for A&S Summer Research Award 2026
A&S Teaching Innovation Award Program
The A&S Teaching Innovation Program is a competitive, internal award program for all regular and senior lecturers, clinical faculty, and tenured and tenure-track faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences. This program is designed to support faculty who seek to enhance and innovate their pedagogy through workshops, conferences, the development of new course preps, or other methods in the following academic year.
The A&S Teaching Innovation Committee welcomes submissions from all disciplines throughout the College. Awards are available as stipend or funding for programming. The committee will give preference to projects that employ new and innovative teaching methods, including strategies designed to impact diverse student populations and proposals that address the creative/ethical incorporation of AI tools and methodologies. Applications are due annually by October 15 and evaluation of proposals will be conducted in consultation with the Academy for Teaching and Learning.
Application and Submission Instructions for Teaching Innovation Award for Summer 2026
Data Hub Affiliate Program
The newly formed Baylor Data Science Hub (BDSH) Committee invites applications from tenure and tenure-track A&S faculty for the A&S Summer Data Hub Affiliate Program, an initiative to advance data-driven research and innovation across the university. This competitive program will award a small cohort of faculty affiliates with a budget of up to $15,000 to work on impactful, collaborative projects in data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and related fields that have a high potential of being successfully funded by external funding agencies and foundations. Applications are due annually December 15.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON GRANTS FROM THE BAYLOR PROVOST’S OFFICE