The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) Supporting Pathways for Advancement, Research, and Knowledge (SPARK) award program receives funding from the ACES Office of Research. This grant encourages creativity and interdisciplinary collaboration between ACES early career faculty and other research partners to conduct research to generate/gather preliminary data and results for use in obtaining external funding. Inter- or intra-departmental/college collaboration is expected.
The Office of Research anticipates funding 4 proposals through this solicitation for this fiscal year. This year’s call is open to tenure- and nontenure-track assistant professors who will not be considered for promotion prior to September 2026. The Principal Investigator (PI) must have a primary appointment within ACES.
The expected product of the SPARK grant program is the generation of preliminary data or results to support a fundable extramural interdisciplinary research proposal .
For additional details and the evaluation criteria, please see the SPARK Request for Proposals.
The budget template can be downloaded HERE (xlsx).
The deadline for submission of SPARK proposals is February 16, 2026 no later than 5:00 PM CT.
Eligibility
The lead Principal Investigator must be a faculty member with a primary appointment in the College of ACES. In order to streamline the funding process, the lead PI should have an active Hatch project related to the proposed activities. You can apply without having an active Hatch project. If you receive the award, you will need to have a Hatch project that has overlapping objectives with your SPARK proposal in order to receive the funds.
PI Requirements
- The lead PI must have a primary appointment within the College of ACES.
- PIs and their respective units are fully responsible for any overages if the funding request is calculated incorrectly
- The PI is responsible for consulting with the relevant offices and meeting all requirements
- To the best of the PI's knowledge, all the information provided in the application is correct.
Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation