Collision Incubator

Tuesday, April 14, 2020 | 11:00 AM–12:30 PM


SPARC Collision Incubator – April 2020

COVID-19 is an unprecedented global crisis and will require an unprecedented response.

In response, many US Government and private funders have issued special calls for research, education and community engagement projects to help our country, state and university respond and recover from this emergency. The faculty at the University of Minnesota are well positioned to receive this funding, a critical step in our own recovery and long-term resilience. However, these calls are unusual and often issued on short timelines.

To help faculty navigate and pursue this changing landscape of funding, the University COVID Action Network (U-CAN) under the Strategic Partnerships and Research Collaborative (SPARC) hosted a Collision Incubator Event on Tuesday, April 14 through Zoom.

Goals of the Collision Incubator:

1. To review current COVID-19 funding calls

2. To strategically bring interdisciplinary teams of faculty together for high impact COVID work

3. To help faculty find appropriate calls to their area of expertise.

4. To support teams to submit proposals to likely calls.

SPARC supports UMN faculty and students to fund and manage large-scale and muti-college work. Recently established under SPARC, the U-CAN is a grassroots coalition of willing faculty, staff and students focused on helping the front-line heroes at the University, state and country respond and recover from the COVID Pandemic.

If you were unable to attend the meeting, please feel free to view the presentation recording or download the slides.

Presentation Recording

Future Events

The Strategic Partnerships and Research Collaborative plans to host several Collision events like this over the next few weeks with targeted areas of focus.

Please sign up for our newsletter to receive information on future events.



Interested in learning more about COVID-19 funding and volunteer opportunities?

Join the University COVID Action Network for more information.


Contact SPARC at sparc@umn.edu if you have any questions.