SPARC (Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration)

• The Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC), an initiative of Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, aims at improving the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between top ranked Indian Institutions and globally ranked Foreign Institutions, through Joint Research Projects involving mobility of students and faculty.
• The SPARC Scheme is expected to have a major impact in providing the best international expertise to address major national problems, expose Indian academicians to the best collaborators abroad, enable international faculty to stay in India for a longer duration, provide Indian students an opportunity to work in the world class laboratories, to develop strong bilateral relationships in research, and improve the international ranking of Indian Institutions.

Eligibility

• All Indian Institutions ranked in the overall top-100 or category-wise top-100 in the India Rankings (NIRF-2019) are eligible to apply. 
• The partner Foreign Institution shall be in the top-500 QS-2020 World University Ranking or in the top-200 QS-2019 World University Ranking by subject to be eligible to be supported under SPARC. 
• The project team should contain at least two international Faculty members, two Indian Faculty members and two Researchers pursuing PhD or post-doc level from each side.

Objective of Scheme

• SPARC aims at improving the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian institutions and the best institutions in the world from 28 selected nations to jointly solve problems of national and international relevance in the first phase.
• Under this Scheme, 600 joint research proposals will be awarded for 2 years to facilitate research collaboration between Indian research groups with the best in class faculty and renowned research groups in the leading universities of the world, in areas that are at the cutting edge of science or with direct social relevance to the mankind, specifically India.

Thrust Areas

• A set of 5 Thrust Areas which are Fundamental Research, Emergent Areas of Impact, Convergence, Action-Oriented Research, and Innovation-Driven  and sub-theme areas in each thrust area has been identified.
• A set of Nodal Institutions (NI), from India, for each participating foreign country has been identified.
• The role of an NI is to help and coordinate with willing Participating Indian Institutions to forge an alliance with the Institutions of the concerned participating foreign country.
• Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
  • The IPR developed out of the project will be decided as per norms of the participating Institutes. The Indian Institute will get the benefits out of Patents / Royalty, rather than the foreign institute or the individual faculty.
  • All disputes will have Indian jurisdiction. Any special deviation will be resolved by MHRD through the SPARC Liaison cell and approved by the Apex Committee.

Expected Outcomes of SPARC

• Providing the best international expertise in solving major national problems.
• Help Indian academicians and researchers unravel deep and open research problems with the help of the best collaborators abroad.
• Enable long-term stays for international faculty, which simultaneously facilitates academic interactions, research collaborations, and niche course development.
• Enable a large number of Indian students to be trained in high-end experimental facilities available in the best laboratories in the world.
• Produce a large volume of educational and research content in terms of high-quality journal publications, textbooks, research monographs, patents, demonstrable technologies, products that Indian and Foreign collaborators jointly author.
• Develop strong Bilateral relationships in academics and research with top countries in the world.
• Improve International Rankings of Indian Institutions through a combination of internationalization, research outcomes and academic interactions.
• Create a major International Impact for Catapulting Indian Academics and Research and help make it competitive with the best worldwide.