Eligibility Requirements

The project must be affiliated with an institution and/or organization that would otherwise be eligible for NSF support.

Generally non-US institutions and organizations are not eligible unless partnering with a US entity.

We encourage the Principal Investigator or a senior member of the technical staff to contact us for a preliminary consultation.

The SPARC program does not support projects where the type of activity is one routinely acquired through commercial providers.

When to get in touch.

SPARC accepts requests for collaborative project development on a rolling basis throughout the year.

Normal response time is two weeks from the receipt of the initial contact.

We recommend contacting us at least 8 weeks before the target submission date to the external funding agency.

How many collaborative projects does SPARC develop each year?

SPARC does not formally limit collaborative proposal development. However, please note that some external funding agencies limit the number of proposals in which an organization can act as a PI or co-PI in each funding cycle. Therefore, we encourage you to contact us early if you are interested in collaborating.

How are projects selected?

SPARC selects projects for collaborative development on the basis of the following criteria:

The potential of the project’s research to contribute to anthropologically significant archaeological knowledge

The importance of SPARC collaboration for the likely success of the project

The level of methodological innovation of the project

Opportunities for SPARC team members to gain new skills or work with emerging technologies provided through the project