SPARK is a Horizon2020 co-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie doctoral training programme that supports 20 interdisciplinary PhD students at Queen’s University Belfast. PhD students funded within Marie Skłodowska-Curie programmes have the title of Early Stage Researcher (ESR).
Queen’s welcomed its first Cohort of 10 ESR’s in January 2018 and the second between October 2018 and January 2019.
At its core, the SPARK Programme is driven by the need to develop future leaders whose skills combine disciplinary excellence with a capacity for interdisciplinary, intersectoral and international (3i) working that creates genuinely disruptive thinkers.
These are the thinkers who will have the edge in a highly competitive, global job market. Because they have not only disciplinary expertise but also the intellectual flexibility required to respond to a constantly changing professional environment and broader socio-economic landscape. In essence, SPARK combines ground-breaking research projects with higher level skills development at cohort level which seeks to produce creative thinkers and problem-solvers.
SPARK researchers are based in academic Schools or research institutes across all three of Queen’s Faculties: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS); Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS); and Medicine, Health and Life Sciences (MHLS).
In addition, the researchers are trained as a cohort via The Graduate School at Queen’s University Belfast to be Thinkers, Leaders, Innovators and Communicators who are Future-Ready. The Graduate School has developed a vision for a unique partnership between Academic Schools/Research Institutes and The Graduate School which enables our early career researchers to stand out as ‘what’s next thinkers’ and supports postgraduates to develop their potential, through a tailored developmental journey.
The objectives of the Spark programme are
• To attract talented international researchers to Queen’s University Belfast
• To create future leaders and researchers who are driven by the ethical imperative to impact positively on the needs of society
• To follow the EU Principles on Innovative Doctoral Training by providing a tailored programme in research training including transferable skills.
• To adopt a Bottom up approach with truly cross disciplinary projects
• To allow researchers to network across disciplines and create synergies
• To provide high quality supervision, mentoring and career guidance
• To Produce Thinkers, Communicators, Innovators, and Leaders who are Future Ready
