Supporting Partnering for Advanced Research teamworK (SPARK) Program
Offered by the Office of Research
- Synopsis and Key Dates
- Purpose
- Program Format
- Eligibility
- Program Application Process and Evaluation Criteria
- Application Submission Procedures
- Past SPARK Award Recipients
- Contact Information
- FAQ
Synopsis and Key Dates
Teams receiving a SPARK award can obtain up to $100,000 funded through four $25,000 installments.
- Applications are due by 5:00 pm ET on September 19, 2025.
- An internal selection committee will screen all applications to select a subset for development into oral presentations. Based on this selection, oral presentations will be solicited in October 2025.
- Selected applicants will be notified of funding decisions by November 1, 2025.
Purpose
The SPARK Program empowers Purdue-led research to achieve national prominence by providing faculty teams with the necessary internal resources to support critical research development activities. These internal resources will include support for project strategy, teaming, and proposal development. The goal is to enable the Purdue teams to be highly competitive in large center competitions. Here, “large center” is defined as any project with anticipated total external funding value of ≥ $7,000,000 (including indirect costs) over the course of the award. Large center-level teams will likely require many additional internal and external partners; the goal of this program is to solidify and propel the core nucleus of Purdue investigators to effectively build teams and strategies.
Program Format for 2025-2026
The SPARK Program will support teams composed of up to 4 core faculty investigators to target a one specific funding opportunity. This funding opportunity must be identified in the application (see criteria below). The ceiling on funding for each team is $100,000. The individual budget is at the discretion of the proposing team, although it is anticipated that the funds will be used for the activities described during each SPARK Phase listed below. If prospective teams have questions about permissible budgets, they can contact Emily Stevenson (steve201@purdue.edu).
For 2025-2026, the program is open to any center-level/program-level targeted funding call. We anticipate this funding call will have a deadline between October 2026 and October 2027.
Phase 1: Research and Benchmarking
November 1, 2025: Installment 1 of $25,000
Activities and funds should be focused on road-mapping / market research efforts. This could include organizing and hosting an on-campus workshop for key personnel.
Deliverable: Road-mapping / market research report - due by March 1st, 2026.
Phase 2: Team Building and Planning
March 15, 2026: Installment 2 of $25,000 (based on positive review of Phase 1 deliverable)
Teams should work with the Office of Research proposal writing team to develop a concept paper for discussion with program managers and work plan for key items discovered in Phase 1. Funds can be used for faculty summer salary, team building events, and/or visits to program managers.
Deliverable: Concept Paper and Work Plan - due by June 1, 2026.
Phase 3: Execution - I
June 15, 2026: Installment 3 of $25,000 (based on positive review of Phase 2 deliverable)
Activities should focus on the execution of a work plan, proposal planning/writing work with the Office of Research team, generating preliminary data, and strategic development of team structure.
Deliverable: Rough proposal budget; Proposal outline with writing assignments; high level organization chart and governance structure - due by September 1, 2026.
Phase 4: Execution - II
Proposal due date minus 6 months: Installment 4 of $25,000 (based on positive review of Phase 3 deliverable)
Teams should continue activities from Phase 3 in actively working towards proposal submission. Funds can be used for course buyout, generating preliminary data, graphics support, or other proposal activity to support the submission.
Deliverable: Proposal submission
Note: If proposal due date is within 6 months prior to the start of Phase 3 (i.e., prior to December 15, 2026), Phase 3 and Phase 4 funds can be distributed concurrently in a single $50k installment.
Eligibility
The SPARK team may include tenure/tenure-track faculty, research faculty, or clinical faculty from Purdue Main Campus (West Lafayette, Indianapolis), Purdue Fort Wayne, and Purdue Northwest. The majority of team members must demonstrate evidence of existing collaboration (see criteria below). No faculty may serve as the lead PI on more than one SPARK application per cycle, and no faculty may be a PI or co-PI on more than two applications per cycle. If any faculty are listed in a manner that violate either of these criteria, the submission(s) will be returned without review.
Program Application Process and Evaluation Criteria
The following categories will be used to evaluate the 2-page SPARK application (see Cover Page):
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Merit and Impact. Describe what high-level challenge is being addressed and how this effort will target a significant gap relative to other current efforts. Describe how the proposed research will alter the foundational landscape of the field of study. What is the significance/broad societal relevance of this work? Detail the complementary or unique nature of the proposed center relative to any existing external centers that would be seen as competition.
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Project Approach and Management Plan. Provide details on the approach to addressing the problem specific to the funding solicitation. Additionally, provide details on the center organization and management envisioned.
- Team Strength. Provide rationale for team composition and leadership and describe any history of working together productively. If this evidence is not strong, detail the plan for setting up a productive collaboration. How will the team have a larger impact than the sum of its parts? Describe any specific external partners that have been, or will immediately become, engaged with the core Purdue team.
- Appropriateness of Funding Opportunity. For the specified funding opportunity, briefly state how it is suitable to your team and technical vision. Please verify your eligibility for the funding opportunity.
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Impact on Existing Purdue Resources and Budget. Explain how, if funded, the proposed team fits within the existing Purdue research enterprise without duplicating current efforts on campus. Explain what the SPARK funding will enable your team to accomplish that would not be possible otherwise. Provide a SPARK rough order of magnitude (ROM) budget; Sponsored Programs Services should not be involved at the pre-proposal stage.
Administrative Burden
To minimize administrative workload, no letters of support will be considered for the application submission stage; however, it is strongly recommended that the proposing investigators informally discuss their applications with their unit heads and ADRs before submission. Teams that are invited for oral presentations need to work with their unit heads and ADRs to have documentation that the unit and college are supportive of this endeavor, especially in the context of the proposed budget.
Support, Expectations, and Evaluation of Progress
In addition to the internal funding provided by the award, the selected SPARK teams will be prioritized for the Office of Research proposal preparation services (team strategizing, grant writing, and graphic design support) and a pre-award specialist experienced in large-scale center funding mechanisms will be assigned to the team. If the targeted funding opportunity is a limited submission, as defined by the specific federal agency, the Office of Research will run a limited submissions process, once the funding solicitation is released. The SPARK team will be required to go through the limited submission process.
The SPARK teams will provide the stated deliverables for each SPARK Phase and meet with the Office of Research leadership to ensure that the team is being supported fully and that the team is making appropriate progress towards their proposal goals. Teams will be expected to meet with Office of Research staff at the end of each SPARK Phase. Deliverables should be e-mailed to sparkresearch@purdue.edu by 5pm on the stated due dates. Any failure to meet these expectations will result in funding being revoked.
Project expenditures will be reviewed relative to the approved budget. Changes in personnel or redistribution of funds among budget categories or project partners require prior approval through standard university processes.Application Submission Procedures
Applications must be submitted directly to the InfoReady link here:
https://purdue.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1990671
The deadline for submission is 5:00pm on September 19, 2025. Applications will only be accepted through the InfoReady portal. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Guidelines for preparation of the body of the application:- Use the application cover page.
- Please address the evaluation criteria in a document. The document should be single-spaced and not exceed two (2) pages in length when using 1-inch margins on all sides and with 11 pt font.
- Sponsored Program Services should not be involved at the application stage.
Contact Information
For questions, please contact sparkresearch@purdue.edu.
FAQ
Q: Can funds be budgeted for graduate student or postdoctoral researcher support?
A: Funds may be budgeted as determined by the proposing team to fit the needs of the project. However, teams are encouraged to consider using the funds for the suggested activities listed during each SPARK Phase and freeing faculty time to execute necessary steps for a competitive proposal submission.
A: Please work through your departmental business office to discuss an internal prior approval. The PI’s responsible cost center should submit the prior approval request to sparkresearch@purdue.edu.
