Application guidelines
Eligibility and project requirements
The target group for SPARK Denmark ranges from Ph.D. students to experienced professors employed at universities or hospitals in Denmark. Researchers can apply for enrolment in the SPARK Denmark programme.
Projects enrolled in the SPARK programme will have to demonstrate the necessary potential to enter the commercial or clinical phase upon completion of the programme.
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 salary for research assistance, employees, or project consultants at all staffing levels, including project management (e.g., technical and administrative assistance). Salary costs must not exceed 50% of the total budget.
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 enrolment period
The success criteria for full SPARK projects graduating from the programme are:
- create a spin-out
- establish collaboration with the industry, such as a license agreement
- advance to clinical testing
- secure additional soft funding or investment
Submission process and required information
Applications will only be considered if submitted via the application form on this website and if all required information/templates have been uploaded as pdf.
Templates for your application:
Milestone-based funding and obligations
Full-time SPARK projects are enrolled for 24 months in the program. However, in case there is no progress, the set milestones are not met or the data generated doesn’t justify advancing the project further, project enrolment can be terminated. This decision is made by the National Operational Team.
Eligible projects will become part of the SPARK Denmark programme and will be expected to participate in SPARK activities (regular project meetings, workshops, and lectures).