General Information

The SPARTAN SPARK program provides substantive, hands-on research experiences for undergraduate students in the multidisciplinary area of energy science and engineering. 

SPARTAN SPARK interns undergo substantive, year-long training at SJSU and SLAC National Laboratory. The academic year training leads to a fully paid, 10-week summer internship at SLAC National Laboratory. 

Academic year training includes performing a literature review, analyzing data with Python, group collaboration and data standards, documentation of hardware designs, and using GitHub to make open-source software contributions public. 

Project management skills, conflict resolution, and teamwork strategies will also be taught. 

SLAC scientists and engineers will introduce summer research projects to the SPARTAN SPARK interns, who will also visit SLAC and be introduced to the various departments and research opportunities through site tours. 

Small group meetings will discuss non-research-related topics, such as STEM career paths, graduate school, progress toward graduation, and professional development. 

The program’s summer activities include a 10-week (June - August), fully paid internship at SLAC National Laboratory, where the SPARTAN SPARK interns will work 40 hours/week on-site. 

Some projects will be computational and suit students majoring in computer engineering, software engineering, and electrical engineering. Other hands-on projects will suit students majoring in chemical engineering, materials engineering, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, and industrial systems engineering.

At the end of the summer, the participants will submit a written report on their research project and present their work at the SPARTAN SPARK symposium. 

SPARTAN SPARK interns will also be encouraged to submit abstracts of their work to local and national conferences. 

Each SPARTAN SPARK intern will receive a stipend for the academic year's activities, a fully paid summer internship, and housing support during the summer. The interns will receive a laptop to support their research activities throughout the program and a Clipper Transportation Card to cover travel expenses from Bay Area communities to SLAC.