Spark is fellowships foundations program meant to help students make the most of the time at Penn State. The Spark Program offers first-, second-, and third-year students the opportunity to learn about fellowship opportunities, high-impact educational experiences, and University resources, while providing them with the tools to develop into competitive fellowship applicants.
Background
The Spark Program at Penn State is a joint initiative between Penn State University Libraries and Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring (URFM). Originally developed by the Office of Fellowships and Scholarships at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, the Spark Program was launched at University Park in spring 2018.
The Spark Program is a voluntary seven-week educational experience for first and second year students meant to increase exposure to competitive fellowships (funded awards and/or engagement opportunities, such as Fulbright, Goldwater, and the Erickson Discovery Grant). The Spark Program will cover everything from "what is a fellowship?" to interactive workshops that will sharpen students' skills and enhance their undergraduate experience at Penn State and beyond.
Eligibility
First-, second-, and third-year students at all Penn State campuses are eligible to apply. No prior knowledge or experience with fellowships is required. Interested students must submit a brief application (see Participate in the Spark Program) to be considered for the program. Participants must commit to attending at least six of the seven workshops.
Few of the fellowship opportunities introduced cover the expenses of medical, dental, law, or pharmacy school. Therefore, the Spark Program may not be as relevant for students who plan on pursuing these career paths. Additionally, the majority of the fellowships covered in the program are available to U.S. citizens only.
Program Overview
Whether your goal is to travel the world, engage in research, or make a difference in your community, Spark -- and fellowships -- can help you make the most of your time at Penn State. Participants of the Spark Program are introduced to such topics as identifying a faculty research mentor, writing a personal statement, and applying for national and international fellowships. The program is designed to give participants the opportunity to develop their critical thinking and technical writing, envision their future, and create a plan to help them along their envisioned path, ultimately helping participants develop into competitive candidates for major fellowship opportunities at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
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Tentative Program Schedule |
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Week 1: Welcome to the Spark Program and an overview of fellowships. |
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Week 2: Student panel with Spark alumni, fellowship recipients, and Undergraduate Research Ambassadors. |
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Week 3: "What are your strengths?" workshop with Career Services. |
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Week 4: Choose your own adventure: Community and civic engagement. |
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Week 5: Oh the places you can go! Globalizing your undergraduate experience. |
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Week 6: Research roundtable with research mentors. |
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Week 7: Telling your story through application materials. |
Participate in the Spark Program
Spark will be hosted on Tuesdays from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. and will begin January 30, running through March 19. The program will be hybrid, and applicants will be able to preference a modality (e.g. in-person or virtual). Applications are welcome from all campuses. Participants are expected to attend at least six of the seven sessions to earn a completion certificate at the end of the program.
Application and Decision Timeline:
September 6, 2024 – Application Opens
October 1, 2024 – Application Deadline
October 6, 2024 – Decision Notification
October 9, 2024 – First Session
The application cycle for the Fall 2024 program is now CLOSED!
Interested first, second, and third year students can submit their application by Oct. 1 .
Previous Cohorts
SPRING 2022
Fatimah Almaskin
Kshitija Banala
John Black
Ariana Braun
Jaimee Cabili
Nicole Chen
Ethan Convis
Emma Enos
Aloura Gavalis
Arushi Grover
Winfield Horning
Jenna Lugo
Cory Ly
Lorenza Mannino
Kelley Melanson
Emma Neely
Tara Orzech
Angie Pares Alicea
Amber Penley
Wendy Petty
Rory Rafferty
Nick Richardson
Zoe Rigas
Kathryn Rizer
Alina Rodriguez
Shannon Sager
Michael Salomon
Abigail Seltzer
Maya Sinha Roy
James Stephens
James Talmadge
Nijae Thomas
Zachary Yenser
Kaitlyn Zajkowski
FALL 2021
Tomi Adetayo
Temilade Adeyemo
Bakhshi Ahmed
Abdulelah Al Ahmed
Derek Baldwin
Fahmi Bin Mohd Nadzri
Katie Blyler
Kalina Boshkovska
Michael Cattell
Julia Chen
Tianjie Chen
Declan Crowley
Leah Davis
Lorena De La Rosa
John Gilroy
Joshua Gonsalves
Vaidhai Gupta
Shayla Heitczman
Nikhila Kumar
Jenna Leadbeater
Wei Li Loo
Richard Lu
TJ McCoy
Morgan McNulty
Simran Mukhi
Junsang Park
Khushi Patel
Naqiyah Peatiwala
Natalya Radovic
Ananya Reddy
Fatima Riarh
Rose Rowe
Eric Shoch
Ronak Singh
Juan-Rodrigo Solares
Sae'Awzha Williams
SPRING 2021
Sarah Alexander
Ahmad Alrefai
Julia Briselli
Caroline Conroy
Gabrielle Davis
Christina DeAngelo
Peyton Harris
Shana Hartwick
Jamie Kantorczyk
Sanika Kinare
Sonia Kumar
Muggs Leone
Yuan Li
Michael Licata
Alexandra Loomis
Caroline Most
Meghan Nguyen
John Park
Graham Pease
Meghan Quaid
Hedaya Sharbaji
Sabrina Smith
Shixing Yuan
Alexandria Ziegler
Luke Zwicker
FALL 2020
Hamza Al-Aufi
Alex Benedict
Amelia Dodoo
Ernesto Estremera Jr.
Rachel Foster
Jessica Garcia
Katelyn Lopez
Catlin Lowes
Erica Mi
Shruti Natal
Abhinav Pandey
Harshika Thard
Sharon Wu
Jianan Ye
Casey Zanowic
SPRING 2020
Olivia Cordano
Janiyah Davis
Nicholas Evans
Mya Haynes
Charlize Kenyatta
Abby Mikalauskas
Aubrey Miller
Colleen Nersten
Carley Anne Palkon
Cassidy Pitts
Kyra Pond
Nicholas Ryan
Michael Saylor
Allan Smith
Caeden Smith
Jada Spady
Ian Stahley
Julia West
Katerina Wood
Jarod Yu
Katon Zhang
FALL 2019
Ishaan Anavkar
Katie Kohlman
Sam Kupp
Daniela Lopez Melean
Kelly Matuszewski
Katie McRury
Julia Montevechi
Julen Omaechevarria
Oliva Piechocinski
Carita Reid
Jay Sim
Renee Sollenberger
Ava Sullivan
Harry Weidner
SPRING 2019
Nathan Bickus
Leah Bilker
George Gines
Gabrielle Henrichs
Travis Jalowiec
Yiming Jiang
Victoria LaRow
Emma LeMay
Ethan Liebross
Xavier Mack
Vanshika Madaan
Javier Montaner
Bram Nealon
Hudson Pepper
Scott Pike
Clarissa Pun
Oliver Rose
Renee Sollenberger
Victor Suhendra
Olivia Tancredi
Ashley Wagner
Xinrui Zhou
FALL 2018
Danielle Bradley
Erin Brown
Sofia Capece
Jessica Fantasia
Gabrielle Herman
Jacob Iwinski
Phoebe McClincy
Uchenna Nwodim
Katie Pighini
Steven Schneible
Skyler Sites
Abigail Slate
SPRING 2018
Bianca Borda
Amanda Byrd
Cali Carper
Natalie Cummings
Alexa DeLuzio
Garrett Drum
Josh Forrest
Luke Guyer
David Kennedy
Sam Landmesser
Lauren Lipson
Chris Long
Aubrey McElrath
Michael Miller
Haley Myer
Kaleigh Quinnan
Charles Ryan
Lucy Spicher
Anastasia Wagner
Kelly Wallert
Owen Wing