{"id":7090,"date":"2026-07-16T11:20:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/graduateschool\/professional-development-2\/i_spark\/"},"modified":"2026-11-09T16:02:39","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T22:02:39","slug":"i_sparc","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/graduateschool\/students\/professional-development\/i_sparc\/","title":{"rendered":"i-SPARC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"aligncenter uwm-c-img--center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"85\" src=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2026\/07\/I-sparc-logo525X85.png\" alt=\"i-SPARC logo\" class=\"wp-image-7351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2026\/07\/I-sparc-logo525X85.png 525w, https:\/\/uwm.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2026\/07\/I-sparc-logo525X85-300x49.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-interdisciplinary-scholars-partnering-for-action-and-research-with-communities\"><strong>Interdisciplinary Scholars Partnering for Action and Research with Communities<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"h-i-sparc-aligns-graduate-education-at-uwm-with-milwaukee-s-and-wisconsin-s-pressing-challenges\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>i-SPARC aligns graduate education at UWM with Milwaukee&#8217;s and Wisconsin&#8217;s pressing challenges.<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>i-SPARC<\/em> is a graduate school-community partnership program where community organizations define real-world challenges, and UWM scholar teams respond to these challenges through applied research, innovation, and collaboration. Graduate students from across the university are selected annually to be members of the interdisciplinary <em>i-SPARC<\/em> teams that uniquely align with projects identified for the year. <em>i-SPARC<\/em> strengthens UWM\u2019s role as a community-engaged research institution by aligning graduate education with Milwaukee and Wisconsin\u2019s pressing challenges. The i-SPARC program includes training in Team Science, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Design Thinking, and Scholarly Communication, providing a great compliment to the scholars&#8217; formal academic training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Impact for Graduate Students:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Apply your expertise to real-world problems<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Collaborate across disciplines<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gain hands-on experience creating impact in Milwaukee and Wisconsin<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add experience and products to your CV\/resume<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Earn an honorarium at end of project<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make an impact as a UWM i-SPARC Scholar!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What does being an i-SPARC Scholar require?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This is an <strong>in-person<\/strong> program with activities occurring on campus and in the community.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Academic year commitment (2-semesters)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>4-6 hours of commitment per week (time investments will vary across weeks)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Commitment to being a team member, working with and learning from the community partner and students from other disciplines<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Interest in applying your skills to real-world problems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reporting to the Graduate School for mentoring and advisement for this project<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deliverables include, but are not limited to: A public presentation at the end of the project, a written report\/technical paper for the partner organization, and other potential scholarly products (with approval of the Graduate School and the partner organization).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"uwm-p-notice uwm-p-notice--info\"><div class=\"uwm-p-notice--content\"><div class=\"uwm-p-notice--title\">Applications to participate<\/div><div class=\"uwm-p-notice--message\"><strong>Applications are currently closed for this year<\/strong> <strong>and will re-open for AY 2027-28 in late sprint or early summer<\/strong><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>UWM Graduate School i-SPARC staff: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bryan Porter, Dean <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Victoria Moerchen, Associate Dean, i-SPARC Director <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Riley Harrison, Fellowships &amp; Outreach Coordinator, i-SPARC co-Director <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>UWM Contributing faculty:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ilya Avdeev, PhD Director, Lubar Entrepreneurship Center <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sarah MacDonald, PhD Training &amp; Dispute Resolution Specialist Community Empowerment and Institutional Inclusivity <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Benjamin Trager, PhD Director of Community Engagement and Experien al Learning Center for Student Experience and Talent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"h-i-sparc-community-partners-and-scholar-cohorts\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">i-SPARC Community Partners and Scholar Cohorts<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"uwm-p-card-grid uwm-l-grid uwm-l-grid--equal-y uwm-l-grid--2\">\n<div class=\"uwm-p-card uwm-p-card--gold uwm-u-mb-40\"><div class=\"uwm-p-card--body\"><div class=\"uwm-p-card--content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2026\u201327<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2026\/11\/2026-27-Community-Partner-and-i-SPARC-Projects.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Community Partner and i-SPARC Projects.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2026\/11\/2026-27-i-SPARC-Scholar-Bios_copy-for-website.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">i-SPARC Scholar Cohort Bios<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Interdisciplinary Scholars Partnering for Action and Research with Communities i-SPARC aligns graduate education at UWM with Milwaukee&#8217;s and Wisconsin&#8217;s pressing challenges. i-SPARC is a graduate school-community partnership program where community organizations define real-world challenges, and UWM scholar teams respond to &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9839,"featured_media":0,"parent":7085,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"class_list":["post-7090","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"uwm_unpublish_requested":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.8 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - 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