Sponsored Activities and Research Catalyst Program (SPARC) 25-26
Goal: To support faculty in new and continuing research projects, ultimately to support follow on funding.
Over the last several years, ECU has recorded an impressive and growing portfolio of sponsored activities. Total awards set a record $85.6 million in 2023. By 2028, our goal is to top $100 million in sponsored projects annually. A noteworthy feature of ECU’s funding portfolio is that nearly half of the awards support community engaged research, outreach, educational and/or service projects. This feature exemplifies ECU’s mission. With a focus on how sponsored programs impact issues of importance to eastern North Carolina, ECU is making strides to transform our region. Additionally, external funders increasingly prioritize interdisciplinary teams for funding. ECU has seen growth in funding for such teams and will continue to support and facilitate team-based scholarly activities.
In 2022, REDE launched the Sponsored Activities and Research Catalyst Program (SPARC) to support scholarly activities that lead to submission of competitive extramural proposals. This program provides up to $10,000 in seed funding for projects to build the capacity to enhance and support proposal development and submission. SPARC participants will be encouraged to participate in a variety of curated professional development experiences. A SPARC writing accountability group will be encouraged.
Up to ten projects may be selected for SPARC during FY25, for funds in FY26. The funds can be used for scholarly activities including supplies, travel, participant incentives, student assistantships or other expenditures required to support the project. The budget may include up to a total of $4,000 for reassigned time and/or summer salary for up to two faculty included on each project team (i.e. max. $2,000 each).
Faculty designated as either fixed-term or tenured/tenure-track are eligible for participation in this program. Startup program recipients with funding during FY25 or FY26 may not participate in SPARC. A focal point of this program is to encourage faculty with limited grant experience to develop competitive extramural proposals. Thus, faculty with no funding history and/or those with few intramural awards over the past five years will be given priority for participating in SPARC. Interdisciplinary efforts across departments, schools, colleges, and/or centers/ institutes are strongly encouraged. Requests to collaborate with faculty at other institutions to prepare competitive proposals also will be considered; however, no funds will be transferred to other institutions.
Applications will be evaluated on strength of project, need for funding, potential return on investment, broader impacts, previous funding history, and interdisciplinarity (see Rubric below).
Program participants are expected to prepare and submit at least one extramural, competitive grant proposal within six months of the award period, OR will provide selected SPARC participants access to an external grant reviewer for proposals resulting from SPARC projects.
Applications must be submitted via Smartsheet. Requested information includes the following:
- Faculty member name(s) and contact information
- Name and contact information of chair for each faculty participant
- Project description that addresses the rubric (1,000 words; 7,500 character maximum)
- At least one extramural funding program for a planned submission resulting from seed projects including a link to the relevant Request for Proposals or other grant application guidelines
- A budget including budget justification (on provided SPARC Budget Form), including a spending timeline for expenditures in FY26
- Proposals are due March 3, 2025. They will be evaluated on the rubric by a panel of grant-experienced faculty from across the campus.
- Funds will be available beginning July 1, 2025. All summer salary requests will be paid in 2SS 2025. All funds must be expended by June 30, 2026. No project extensions will be granted.
- All awardees will be required to update their Scholars@ECU profiles before the funding is provided.
For more information, contact the Office of Research Development at whitety23@ecu.edu or farwellm@ecu.edu.
FY25-26 proposals are due March 3, 2025
SPARC Rubric
| Strength of Project | Potential ROI | Broader Impacts | Need for Funding | Funding History | Interdisciplinarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-5: Addresses a significant problem in a compelling way; translation to practice or intervention is clear | 4-5: Specific funding opportunity identified with achievable deadline; strong plan for review | 4-5: Clearly addresses an institutional mandate or societal/regional problem with high potential to affect change | 4-5: Clearly articulates how the seed funding will be translated into results that will lead to funding success | 4-5: No or little funding at ECU | 4-5: Strong team with faculty that add diverse skills to the project |
| 2-3: Sound but not distinctive or translation to practice/intervention not evident | 2-3: Some funding possibilities but not clearly identified; review plan moderate | 2-3: Potential to address an institutional mandate or societal problem | 2-3: Potential for seed funding to support future funding | 2-3: Ratio of intramural to extramural awards is less than or equal to 2 | 2-3: Faculty from multiple departments; unclear or low disciplinary diversity |
| 0-1: Weak, not distinctive | 0-1: No opportunity for future funding cited; review plan weak | 0-1: No relationship to institutional mandates or significant problem in society | 0-1: No relationship between seed funding and future funding | 0-1: A number of intramural awards with few or no extramural awards | 0-1: Single discipline |