The Office of the Vice President for Research is excited to award 25 2023-2024 SPARC Graduate Research Grants to support graduate student researchers across 17 University of South Carolina academic departments. These SPARC recipients, listed below, will use their funding to engage in research, scholarly and creative projects over a 15-month period beginning this May.
Through SPARC, or Support to Promote Advancement of Research and Creativity, graduate students compete for internal funding of up to $5,000 to support their meritorious research, creative and scholarly projects. The SPARC application process includes many of the same steps involved in developing extramural research funding proposals, like planning a budget, documenting current and pending support, and drafting and refining the proposal narrative. By applying for SPARC, students practice these skills and prepare themselves for a future in research.
Please join the Office of the Vice President for Research in congratulating these bright graduate student scholars and thank you for the mentorship and support of our faculty advisors and departments.
2023-2024 SPARC Graduate Research Grant Recipients
| Recipient Name | Degree Program |
|---|---|
| Maxwell Akonde | Epidemiology |
| Fahmida Akter | Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior |
| Taylor Berrier | Communication Sciences and Disorders |
| Morgan Boncyk | Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior |
| Larissa Daniels-Hill | Anthropology |
| Yuwei Geng | Mathematics |
| David Horovitz | Biomedical Sciences |
| Shan Hu | Chemistry |
| Kaitlen Hubbard | Criminology and Criminal Justice |
| Freda (Ally) Hucek | Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior |
| Nikita Kirkise | Biological Sciences |
| Graham McLaughlin | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
| Shawn McNally | Social Work |
| Ritwik Nag | Electrical Engineering |
| Emily Owens Pickle | Epidemiology |
| Daniel Perez | Electrical Engineering |
| Dawson Petersen | Linguistics |
| Katelyn Rygel | Biological Sciences |
| Pradeep Sahu | Exercise Science |
| Volodymyr Shablenko | Physics |
| Zachary Stryker | Pharmaceutical Sciences |
| Julia van de Sandt | Business Administration |
| Sarah Wilson | Linguistics |
| Courtney Wright | Biomedical Sciences |
| Xuan Yang | Psychology |