SPARC

The SPARC Scheme will be implemented by the following organization structure and hierarchy:

Apex Committee (AC)

There will be an Apex Committee (AC) for SPARC constituted as follows:

Secretary (HE), MHRD, Chairman
Joint Secretary, ICC, MHRD, Member Secretary
JS & FA, MHRD, Member
Chairman UGC, Member
Chairman AICTE, Member
Nominee of Secretary DST, Member
Nominee of Secretary DBT, Member
Nominee of Secretary MEA, Member
Director, National Coordinating (NC) Institution, Member
Two Reputed Academicians / Researchers nominated by Secretary (HE), Members
One reputed Academician / Researcher from Private sector, nominated by Secretary ( HE ), Member
Invitees, as approved by Chairman, Invitees

The Apex Committee will be authorized to formulate guidelines, processes, approve the list of projects shortlisted by the Sectional Committee (SC) and NC, review and monitor the progress of the project and facilitate all issues that require interventions, including that of the Government of India.

SPARC Liaison Cell

There will be a SPARC Liaison Cell in MHRD chaired by Joint Secretary ICC, MHRD and Member Secretary SPARC Apex Committee to connect and interact with the relevant units of the participating Foreign Country including their appropriate councils if available in India. It will also liaison with Indian Embassies and Indian S&T and other similar relevant units in the partner countries.

The role of MHRD through the SPARC Liaison Cell will be to develop MoUs with partner countries for the SPARC programme that helps in ease of mobility and visa application procedures, complementary Foreign Government support to the SPARC programme in terms of augmented funding, waivers, etc.

National Coordinating Institution (NC)

IIT Kharagpur has been selected by the Apex Committee as the National Coordinating (NC) Institution responsible for overall execution of SPARC. Its role will be as follows:

All funds for SPARC to Indian Institutions, NIs, SC, Reviewers, etc will be routed through the NC.
The NC will develop the on-line Portal for submission, evaluation, monitoring, dissemination of SPARC proposals and selected projects. All applications will be received and managed through the SPARC Portal.
The NC will also coordinate the review of SPARC proposals through the Sectional Committee.
The NC will organize two annual SPARC Conferences with the support of MHRD, Nodal Institutions and Sectional Committee.
The NC will look after coordination of all publications that come out of SPARC in terms of text-books, monographs, brochures, documents, marketing materials, advertisements, etc. The NC will also ensure that patents / royalties emerging out of the research work under this scheme would be with the concerned Institution and not the faculty.
Hold regular meetings and interactions with the NI group for coordination, monitor progress and facilitate final reviews.
Coordinate with SPARC Liaison Cell in MHRD to resolve all issues that NIs are unable to resolve.
In addition to the Director, the NC will identify a National SPARC Coordinator for managing who will be the first point of contact.

Nodal Institutions

There will be a set of Nodal Institutions (NI), one for each participating foreign country. Each NI will be responsible for the following :

Help, handhold and coordinate with willing Participating Indian (PI) Institutions to forge alliance with the Institutions of concerned participating foreign country, for academic and research collaboration.
Coordination of each group of projects for that particular foreign country and forging a Indo-X cooperation in all fronts relating to SPARC in particular and overall academic & research collaborations in general.
They will help facilitate not only SPARC but also other augmented programmes with the partner country that is being developed and be a conduit for interaction with the partner country for other Institutions enabling various kinds of facilitation. They will also help MHRD SPARC Liaison Cell secure MoUs with such countries.
Help organize the relevant Indo-X meetings to review the progress of the projects. Coordinate the Indo-X Workshop to be held along with the Annual SPARC Conference.
Streamline all Indo-X issues that may come up concerning the project in consultation with NC and the MHRD Liaison Cell.
Coordinate all Indo-X Publications and Communications.
Maintain regular interactions with the relevant Indian unit of the Foreign country and coordinate with the SPARC Liaison Cell in MHRD.
In addition to the Director, the NI will identify a Nodal SPARC Coordinator for managing and will be first point of contact.

Sectional Committee (SC)

There will be a Sectional Committee (SC) Chaired by NC with a Sectional Chair from each Thrust Area selected by the Apex Committee. The Sectional Committee will have a representative each from DST and DBT to avoid duplication of proposals. The Sectional Committee will be responsible for the following:

Review and shortlisting of the submitted proposals. Each Sectional Chair will get each proposal reviewed by one or two experts. Based on the reviews, the Sectional Chair will make a recommendation for shortlisting. The NC and Sectional Chairs will jointly review the shortlisted projects, make a final recommendation for the consideration of the Apex Committee.
Help in monitoring and review annual and final progress of the projects.
Help in Organizing Thematic Workshops under SPARC especially in the SPARC Conference and coordinate thematic publications under SPARC.

Participating Institute (PI)

A participating Institute is an Institute that participates in the SPARC scheme through submission of proposal(s) by its faculty members.

Each Participating Indian Institution (PI) will have a SPARC Committee headed by an Institutional Coordinator (IC) nominated by the Head of the Institution. The IC will be the single point of contact for the Institution for overall institutional coordination, project upload, receipt, management, internal approval of funds, submissions of Statement of Expenditures, Utilization Statements, maintenance of documents related to the proposals and selected projects, interaction with MHRD, NC, NI, SC as needed and facilitate submission of reports for annual and final review. The PI and IC will be responsible for management of IPR produced from this project.