Mentoring program SPARK Poland
What is SPARK? Who we are, what we do?
The basic research early-stage projects often fail during development, no matter how promising the science is. There is very little funding available for such projects and they are quite unlikely to attract investors on their own without reaching some significant milestones first.
Therefore, SPARK programs provide the education and mentorship necessary to advance research discoveries from the bench to the bedside. Our aim is to increase the maturity of academic discoveries towards practical solutions that can address unmet needs in the field of life science and healthcare.
SPARK Poland is an initiative that supports translational projects so they can be effectively implemented into clinical practice by matching scientists with volunteer industry professionals. The program follows the same principles that have been the cornerstones of SPARK at Stanford since it was established by Professor Daria Mochly-Rosen and Kevin Grimes in 2006 for advancing new biomedical research discoveries into promising new treatments for patients.
SPARK Poland is an official members of SPARK Global network.
SPARK 1st call
The fundamental idea of SPARK is to bridge the gap between the idea in the laboratory and the clinical practice. Therefore, SPARK not only provides educational and mentoring advice but also helps to find appropriate financing for most promising translational projects. In cooperation with Technology Transfer Offices, we support SPARKees in obtaining local and international financial support as well as actively search and reach out to industry sponsors.
SPARK Poland program is a two-year intensive systematic mentoring with experienced experts and practitioners combined with access to funding for research.
The SPARK Poland mentoring program will allow three winning scientific teams to validate ideas for novel therapies, potenatial drugs, vaccines, materials, diagnostic tests and other medical devices.
The goal of the SPARK Poland is to create an exemplary mechanism to turn ideas for biomedical inventions into products that help patients.
Participation in the SPARK Poland program provides researchers with a number of benefits that may accelerate the development of ideas for novel therapies or medical devices.
- Funding up to PLN 300,000
- Budget for materials needed for experiments, as well as external services that can supplement other funding,
- Flexibility to adjust the budget to meet changing project needs.
- Access to experienced mentors
- Consultation with experts in biomedical product development to address key issues and develop optimal research strategies,
- Access to mentors and experts from around the world, as well as content resources from institutions that participate in the SPARK program worldwide,
- Periodic consultations (every 2 months) to support the decision-making process and prepare for presentations to potential scientific and business partners from around the world.
- Ongoing support by the Project Manager
- Assistance in project management, coordination of activities and contact with internal and external stakeholders,
- Monthly meetings to provide ongoing strategic, business and administrative support.
- Direct confrontation with the market
- Participation in the networking event tailored to the specific needs of the project,
- Training in Design Thinking to help properly align the product with market needs.
- New competences
- Practical experience in developing highly regulated products.
We plan information webinar on March 7th 10:00 if you are interested please register here.
If you have questions concerning SPARK Poland 1st call contact us at spark@nencki.edu.pl
Mentorship
Each project selected in the SPARK Mentoring Program gains a tailored mentoring team of experts and specialists who will individually prepare the project team for further development, help to build a plan of next steps and milestones, and guide the team though the path towards clinical implementation of their research.
Moreover, as a SPARKee you can reach out for individual advice of SPARK mentors and experts throughout the whole SPARK world network.
International networking
Thanks to the close collaboration of SPARK units all over the world, our SPARKees may benefit not only from knowledge and expertise of local experts but also reach out to any SPARK mentor in SPARK Europe or SPARK Global.
SPARK Poland is a part of SPARK Europe and cooperates on the daily basis with:
- SPARK BIH
- SPARK Denmark
- SPARK Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University
- SPARK FLI
- SPARK Finland
- SPARK Norway
- SPARK Tel Aviv
- SPARK Zürich
Education
Among the SPARK programs and activities, you will find:
- Education Meetings – monthly SPARK Europe webinars organised by one of the network members with scientists and industry specialists who share with our SPARKees their knowledge, field expertise and experience from commercialisation and translational projects
- Mentoring Program – mentoring events including individual workshops, trainings and meetings with experts for most promising translational projects selected for SPARK program and award
- Design Thinking Courses – workshops tailored for selected translational projects preparing for their way into commercialisation
- SPARK Poland internal trainings and workshops
- Additional meetings, webinars and events organised by SPARK Europe network members
- Platform with past webinars and materials you can learn from