SPARX Call for Mentee Applications

IEEE RAS invites motivated individuals to apply as mentees for the Support Program to foster Academic Relationships and eXchange (SPARX). This initiative aims to bridge the gap between aspiring researchers from developing countries or scholars at risk and experienced mentors in well established robotics laboratories, fostering a collaborative environment that promotes learning and growth. As a mentee, you will have the opportunity to work closely with one of the distinguished SPARX mentors.

An overview of all SPARX mentors and project opportunities is listed on the second section of our Mentee Application form.

Please note, applicants may only be eligible to become a SPARX mentee if they are a senior faculty member (postdoc or beyond) and if they are

• affiliated with and currently located at a university or research institution in a developing country that is eligible for IEEE Electronic Membership (see https://www.ieee.org/membership/join/emember-countries.html) or
• considered a scholar at risk, whereas the applicants may already be part of the scholars at risk network (see https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/). In this case, applicants do not need to be affiliated with a university or research institution in their home country anymore. However, they need to submit a support letter of their host institution indicating their status as scholar at risk together with their CV.

We encourage passionate robotics enthusiasts meeting either of these criteria to seize this opportunity and embark on a transformative journey toward academic excellence and innovation without borders.

To ensure a streamlined submission process, we kindly request all interested mentees to follow the provided instructions and submit their project proposals via the Smart Sheet platform.

Application Form link

Submission Deadline: May 10, 2024

For further information and updates, please visit the SPARX website or contact us at ieee-ras-sparx@ieee.org.