Eligibility and project requirements
The target group for SPARK Denmark ranges from Ph.D. students to experienced professors from any university in Denmark. Researchers can apply for enrollment in the SPARK Denmark program, and the research group leader must co-sign the application.
The intention is that the majority of enrolled researchers will be faculty, given the 24-month enrollment, which means that Ph.D. students will have to apply very early in their PhD-project period.
Projects enrolled in the SPARK program will have to demonstrate the necessary potential to enter the commercial or clinical phase upon completion of the program.
The project must be within the field of Life Science in the areas of therapeutics, diagnostics, health tech, MedTech, or industrial biotech. Examples of projects could be, e.g., lead optimization of a drug candidate for a novel target, developing a prototype for a novel medical device, or scaling up a biotechnology.
SPARK Denmark will not cover the salary of the main applicant (PI).
Applicants may apply for funding for salary for research assistance, employees, or project consultants at all staffing levels, including project management (e.g., technical and administrative assistance).
SPARK projects will be selected based on the following criteria:
- addressing an unmet need,
- offering a novel solution,
- feasibility for reaching one of the success criteria within the enrollment period.
The success criteria for full SPARK projects graduating from the program are:
- create a spin-out,
- establish collaboration with the industry,
- advance to clinical testing,
- secure additional funding.
