Ask HN: What are some sabbatical programs for working software engineers?

I know about a couple of programs that run for working engineers and gives them time to work and learn something totally new with other like minded people. What are some other programs that serve as good "educational retreats"?

The couple of programs I know about are

The Recurse Center: https://www.recurse.com

Bradfield Sabbatical Program: https://bradfieldcs.com/bsp/

Looking for programs in US.

87 points | by gangahar 2320 days ago

12 comments

  • lazerwalker 2320 days ago
    I can enthusiastically recommend Recurse Center. A wonderful community of amazing people, and a really well-run program.
  • justboxing 2320 days ago
    https://remoteyear.com

    [ Not affiliated, haven't done this, but heard good things about it from friends who work in Thailand, Indonesia and Spain].

    [-]
    • wingerlang 2319 days ago
      I wonder if they do anything regarding visas. I know that you can't legally just go to Thailand and work like this. It's not enforced and people do it without issues. But it feels a bit different when it is all done 'through' a company like this. They don't even mention it in the FAQ.
    • RepressedEmu 2319 days ago
      I'm planning on moving to Thailand for a bit after surviving two years of cubicle life. Would love to connect with fellow hackers while I'm there! Could you help me out?
      [-]
      • wingerlang 2319 days ago
        You might want to add some contact information in your HN profile.

        I live and work in Bangkok. Feel free to shoot me an email.

        [-]
        • RepressedEmu 2319 days ago
          Just added contact info! I thought my email was in my profile already, sorry about that. Email sent!
    • itake 2320 days ago
      same. I did HackerParadise in Arg. Overall the experience was positive, but I thought it was expensive for the city.
  • charlietran 2320 days ago
    recurse center anecdote: one of the engineers on our team did a 8 week sabbatical there to dabble in erlang and machine learning. they had a fantastic experience and enthusiastically recommended it to everyone else.
  • omarish 2320 days ago
    +1 for Recurse Center! Doing a batch right now and I highly recommend it.
  • matt_the_bass 2320 days ago
    Depending upon the rigor your desire and the content, fab academy may be interesting. FYI they have host locations around the world and a yearly global conference.

    Fabacademy.org

  • goldenkey 2320 days ago
    Learn some actual science. Buy a group theory textbook.
  • jgamman 2319 days ago
    I'm going back to uni to get qualified as a high school teacher. if i had the skills I'd complement kicking around on campus again with contributions to the Jupyter notebook (which i think is going to do wonders for high school students).
  • craftyguy 2320 days ago
    I took a sabbatical to wander around SE Asia with my SO. Having a complete (temporary) break from sw engineering really helped improve my performance when I got back.
  • kylezinter 2320 days ago
    Thanks for sharing these, these look very cool. I don't know any other options like this for you unfortunately.
  • maxxxxx 2320 days ago
    I like that idea. I wouldn't mind doing something totally different for a change.
  • efferifick 2320 days ago
    Why don't you make your own curriculum? What do you want to learn?
  • woahitsraj 2320 days ago
    I really like jobbatical

    jobbatical.com