Unless otherwise specified by your scholarship’s conditions, scholarship recipients are entitled to the following categories of leave:
- Recreation Leave
- Sick Leave
- Parental Leave
- Leave without stipend (Suspension)
Any calculation that affects your scholarship's duration or your leave entitlements assumes that you conduct your research and studies from Monday to Friday every week, regardless of your actual pattern of work. For example, if you are absent for a week, you must use 5 days of leave.
Recreation Leave
You are entitled to 4 weeks (20 days) paid recreation leave each year of the scholarship. Recreation leave may be accrued, but must be taken during the period of your scholarship. Your advisory team and school postgraduate coordinator must approve any request for recreation leave; your scholarship duration is not adjusted; you do not need to inform Research Scholarships.
Sick Leave
You are entitled to 2 weeks (10 days) of paid sick leave each year of the scholarship. Sick leave may be accrued, but must be taken during the period of your scholarship. Your advisory team and school postgraduate coordinator must approve any request for sick leave; your scholarship duration is not adjusted; you do not need to inform Research Scholarships unless the period of sick leave exceeds 2 weeks, in which case the conditions in the following paragraph apply.
In addition, you are entitled to 12 weeks (60 days) of paid sick leave within the duration of the scholarship for periods of sick leave that exceed 2 weeks in duration. You must apply on a Leave Request Form for paid sick leave of more than 2 weeks in duration, and attach a medical certificate; your advisory team and school postgraduate coordinator must endorse your request; and the Dean, UQ Graduate School must approve your request. When approved, your scholarship stipend payments continue for the period of leave, your scholarship duration is increased, and your candidature is interrupted for the period of leave.
You must make your application within 4 weeks of the end of your period of sick leave and your return to research. However, sick leave requests that will retrospectively change your enrolment status as at a census date (March 31 or August 31) cannot be approved unless they are received within three weeks of the census date (that is, by April 21 for the March 31 census date; by September 21 for the August census date).
If you exhaust your sick leave entitlements and cannot return to research, you must apply for leave without stipend from your scholarship.
Parental Leave
If you are the primary carer for a child you may take up to 12 weeks (60 days) paid parental leave during your scholarship. If you are the partner of the primary carer for a child you may take up to 1 week (5 days) paid parental leave.
Paid parental leave must commence:
- in the period commencing no earlier than 6 weeks before the birth of the child; and
- no later than the birth of the child.
The paid leave must be taken in one continuous period.
Paid parental leave may not be taken within the first 12 months of the scholarship: instead, you must request leave without stipend from your scholarship.
You must apply on a Leave Request Form for paid parental leave, and attach either a medical certificate (as proof of pregnancy) or an appropriate document containing proof of birth or adoption; your advisory team and school postgraduate coordinator must endorse your request; and the Dean, UQ Graduate School must approve your request. When approved, your scholarship stipend payments continue for the period of leave, your scholarship duration is increased, and your candidature is interrupted for the period of leave.
If you exhaust your parental leave entitlement and require a longer period of parental leave, you must request leave without stipend from your scholarship.
Leave without stipend (Suspension)
Unless otherwise specified by your scholarship's conditions, you may suspend (take leave without stipend from) your scholarship for up to a total of 12 months for any reason. You must apply on a Leave Request Form to suspend your scholarship; your advisory team and school postgraduate coordinator must endorse your request; and the Dean, UQ Graduate School must approve your request before your scholarship is suspended.
Your candidature is automatically interrupted when you suspend your scholarship unless you advise that you wish to remain enrolled while your scholarship is suspended. Note that periods of enrolment while your scholarship is suspended may affect the duration of your scholarship.
Requests that will retrospectively change your enrolment status as at a census date (March 31 or August 31) cannot be approved.
The normal total period of suspension permitted throughout your scholarship duration is 12 months. A request that would take your total period of suspension over 12 months would usually be approved only because of documented ill health or caring responsibilities: work commitments are not considered an appropriate reason for such a request. You cannot suspend your scholarship for more than a total of 24 months.
You are usually not allowed to suspend your scholarship within the first 6 months of scholarship duration. However, if there are exceptional circumstances which are beyond your control, you may be allowed to suspend your scholarship within the first 6 months.
You can suspend your scholarship if you are in the process of transferring from the MPhil program to the PhD program, or you have submitted your MPhil thesis for examination and have applied for admission to the PhD program. Normal limits on periods of suspension apply.
If you do not resume research work or extend your period of suspension at the end of an approved period of suspension, your scholarship will be terminated.
International students should contact the International Admissions Section for advice regarding visa implications for the proposed suspension.