2025-26 SPARC Seed Grant Awardees Announced
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This story was first published by the UMass News Office.
The offices of the Provost and the Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement have announced that 21 teams have been awarded a total of $577,000 in Strategic Partnerships to Advance Research and Creative activity (SPARC) seed grants, which are designed to empower creativity, support interdisciplinary collaborations, strengthen the campus’ areas of excellence, and, ultimately, attract external funding and bring other forms of recognition to UMass Amherst faculty.
SPARC seed grants are awarded across four tiers to teams of faculty members and librarians, with strong preference for teams that include members from at least two different schools/colleges within the university. The projects proposed by each team are expected to represent a new direction or aspect of interdisciplinary collaboration, align with one of the themes of interdisciplinary excellence, and generate significant and tangible outcomes that “spark” continued momentum in research and creative activity.
The SPARC fund was announced in December 2024 as a single program to streamline and replace the Interdisciplinary Research Grant (IRG) and Large-Scale Integrative Research Awards (LIRA) programs that were offered for the past two academic years. More information about SPARC can be found on the Provost’s Office site.
Among the 21 teams selected for the 2025-26 awards, six included faculty members from the College of Engineering:
A Non-Viral and Non-Invasive Gene Therapy Strategy to Halt Tau Propagation
Team: Jingjing Gao (Biomedical Engineering) and Jennifer Rauch (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)
From Macroscale to Microscale – Understanding Synthetic Material Fatigue In Marine Ropes and Underwater Cables
Team: Krish Sharman (Mechanical & Industrial Engineering) and Greg Grason (Polymer Science & Engineering)
Improving Mobility in Aging Adults with Wearable Robotics
Team: Meghan Huber (Mechanical & Industrial Engineering), Wouter Hoogkamer (Kinesiology), Douglas Martini (Kinesiology) and Sarah Roelker (Kinesiology)
Sustainable and Environmentally Safe Materials for Soft Snake Robots
Team: Gina Olson (Mechanical & Industrial Engineering) and Munkaila Musah (Environmental Conservation)
Development and Analysis of a Novel National Inventory of Parcel-Level Drinking Water Infrastructure
Team: Jay Taneja (Computer Science), Emily Kumpel (Civil & Environmental Engineering), and Nelson da Luz (Civil & Environmental Engineering)
University of Massachusetts Amherst Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (UMass-MRSEC)
Team: Al Crosby (Polymer Science and Engineering), Jessica Schiffman (Chemical Engineering) and other key personnel from the College of Natural Sciences and the College of Engineering