Spark symposium turns training
The procedure for the SPARK grant changed as per June 2022; deadlines for applications are no longer applicable, including the deadline of September 2022 that was earlier communicated. Please read below how to register for entering SPARK phase 1 and 2 in September 2022.
Motivation for adjusting the Spark procedure per May 2022
As per May 2022, the procedure has been adjusted. We have done this for two reasons:
We noticed that there was reduced interest in pitching ideas at the Spark symposia, which had been originally set up to help researchers interested in applying for a Spark grant to find team members from other disciplines and institutions. Finding research team members with whom to develop unusual collaborations is not easy, and experience teaches us that it takes time and effort to build creative, fruitful and joyous interdisciplinary collaborations.
The complexity of interdisciplinary research requires the awareness and use of a specific set of competences for which not all academics are optimally prepared. As such, we have re-envisioned the Spark grant as an individual and collective interdisciplinary learning space designed to better equip CUCo-supported research teams to take up the challenge of unusual collaboration.
The result is a two-phase co-learning journey called ‘Spark’:
Spark phase 1
Developing interdisciplinary research competences and finding research team members
The first step in the learning journey – what we call Spark phase 1 – comprises four half-day workshops that serve the dual purpose of i. developing interdisciplinary research competences, and ii. connecting researchers with one another as potential Spark collaborators.
Participants enter Spark phase 1 with ‘unusual’ research interests that excite them and – while they may perhaps already have some team members in mind – they are open and keen to meet others within the Spark phase 1 training cohort and to explore developing a research idea together. The idea emerges within and through the interdisciplinary collaboration, rather than being the starting point.
Participation in these workshops is a mandatory step in the Spark process for at least two members of an eventual Spark team that will develop in phase 2; the rest of whom are not required to take the workshops.
The workshops will be held in person at CUCo’s Nest at the Utrecht Science Park from 13:00 – 17:00h CET on:
Monday, 12 September 2022
Monday, 19 September 2022
Monday, 26 September 2022
Monday, 3 October 2022
Please note that the workshops will be offered twice a year; if the dates of 2022 do not match your calendar, you may join in the next run in March/April 2023 (dates TBD).
Spark phase 2
Assembling a team and developing a research topic
After completing the four half-day workshops, a set of (at least) two participants that found an interesting connection with each other will enter Spark phase 2. They will assemble a team from across the EWUU alliance institutes covering different disciplines to further explore a project idea. This team should meet the eligibility criteria (see below).
The team submits a proposal for a process for collaboration that meets the Spark criteria (see below), to which the CUCo Board provides feedback and recommendations. The team will accordingly be supported with the €9,000 grant, which can be used, for example, to finance meetings and events, assistants or other support, facilitators, field trips, etc. Additional members may be added to the team throughout Spark phase 2 in line with the team’s needs.
Throughout Spark phase 2, teams will be supported by CUCo-provided process coaches, at the individual as well as the collective level. With these coaches they will be able to 1) explore, 'test' and reflect on individual and group competences; 2) set individual intentions with the project; 3) co-create a common working language; 4) work towards a joint grant proposal and/or deliver an unusual project output that brings together topic- and/or process-specific insights acquired throughout the collaboration.
You can apply for the Spark learning journey via the call for registration.