University Support for Pursuit of Arts, Culture & Sports (U-SPARKS)
Purpose of U-SPARKS
The U-SPARKS funding grant aims to a promote sporting lifestyle, arts appreciation and cultural understanding among the NUS community and external communities. The grant hopes to:
- Build a culture of active participation in sports, arts and cultural activities
- Aid students in initiating and organising sports, arts and cultural activities that promotes active participation from the community
- Support students who wish to test new ideas or develop new initiatives that will add vibrancy and benefit the campus community and beyond
Funding Details & Consideration
Applicants must:
- Meet the applicant eligibility, as detailed in the Sports and Arts and Culture sections below respectively
- Meet the evaluation criteria of projects
- Set measurable target project output and outcomes
- Articulate the measurement methods used to achieve the project output and outcomes
- Provide evidence to show the achievement of project output and outcomes, upon project completion
U-SPARKS provides funding as follows:
- Up to 100% of funding requested, capped at $5,000 or whichever is lower, will be awarded if application meets all the requirements above.
- Up to 50% of funding amount requested, capped at $2,500 or whichever is lower, will be awarded if upon project completion, the application does not meet and provide evidence to show the achievement of output and outcomes
If project output and outcomes are not satisfactorily met, applicant to:
- Provide justification for the actual output and outcomes achieved
- Demonstrate alternative means were taken to achieve the intended output and outcomes
The U-SPARKS grant does not fund any profits made for the project. Funding is on a reimbursement basis and shall only cover the deficit incurred for the project. If there is a surplus arising from the project, the application will only be funded up to the point of breakeven.
Students will have to incur and bear all expenses upfront. Students can claim for completed projects as long as it is within the financial year of approval.
For Arts & Culture projects, an annual quantum of $5,000 is set for all Halls, Residential Colleges (RCs), Clubs and Societies. These entities are encouraged to discuss with their interest groups on the grant amount that each interest group will be requesting for their project/s. This annual quantum is renewable on a Financial Year basis.
- This annual quantum excludes collaborative projects across more than one Hall/RC/Club/Society (e.g. HONUS productions, or collaborations between two different interest groups from different Societies), which may request up to $5,000 per project.
The following expenditures will not be supported, even if the project as a whole is approved:
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General operating expenses of start-up costs of student clubs, societies, and interest groups |
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Cash prizes or outright donations to beneficiaries/participant |
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Audit, legal, utilities, fines and penalty fees |
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Purchase and maintenance of fixed asset |
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Tobacco and alcohol product |
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Any private and personal consumption item |
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Items, goods or services where approved team members have a direct stake or interest in (This is to avoid conflict of interest) |
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Items that are not directly relevant to the proposed project or for which alternatives or substitutes are available within the University |
Arts and Culture Project Applications
A. Applicant Eligibility
NUS Students or Student Groups applying for the U-SPARKS should:
- Be full-time NUS undergraduates;
- Aim to contribute to the creative development/appreciation of culture, performing, visual and literary arts (may include practice and curating) on campus and beyond;
- Aim to promote active participation from the community;
- Meaningful programmes and projects include those that promote arts appreciation and cultural understanding among NUS students and community;
- Other qualities of the applicants such as character, ability to lead and contribution to arts and cultural activities in NUS, will be considered. Past records of related experience showcasing achievement, leadership and organisational skills will also be taken into consideration;
- All applications must be supported/mentored by a NUS Staff Advisor or staff from faculty, department or hall etc. Duties of the Staff Advisor include (but are not limited to):
- Actively oversee the project and help the students meet the objectives of the project;
- Remind students of timely submission of required post event documents;
- Advise students to identify suitable platforms for post event sharing to the NUS community.
B. Evaluation Criteria
For Arts and Culture projects, the following criteria will be considered:
- Preference will be given to new projects
- For existing projects, support will only be considered provided that the project has:
- Enhancement in impact and magnitude; and/or
- New component or initiative that was not present in past versions of project/s
- Promoting arts and cultural lifestyle through:
- Arts Excellence (highlighting NUS internationally or nationally): Participation in recreational and/or competitive activities/events/ performances and/or involvement in arts festivals, in Singapore and/or overseas;
- Arts Appreciation: Includes recreational arts activities that encourage active involvement and participation from the community, including the following but not limited to large-scale arts performances (e.g. theatrical productions), and learn-to-play programmes (e.g. Acapella workshops); or
- Educational and developmental programmes: Includes educational programmes in the following areas, but not limited to workshops related to market and audience development and production development.
C. Application Process
Grant Cycles and Timeline
Applications should be submitted via the Application Form within the following grant cycles, where they will be detailing the project’s target output and outcomes as well as the respective measurement methods.
| For Projects happening from | Apply at least 8 weeks before commencement of project, with the absolute deadline by | Review period
Applicants to check emails regularly for questions on the application |
| 1 Jan to 31 Apr | 30 Nov | 1 to 31 Dec |
| 1 May to 31 Jul | 31 Mar | 1 to 30 Apr |
| 1 Aug to 31 Dec | 30 June | 1 to 31 Jul |
Grant Deliverables
Applicants are to submit the Completion Form provided by the Grant Administrator within 30 days from the end of the project, where they should provide evidence to show the achievement of project output and outcomes as well as statement of accounts.
D. Contact details
For enquiries, email the Centre for the Arts team at cfa@nus.edu.sg.
Sports Project Applications
A. Applicant Eligibility
NUS Students or Student Groups applying for the U-SPARKS should:
- Be full-time NUS undergraduates;
- Aim to contribute to the creative development/appreciation of sports on campus and beyond;
- Aim to promote active participation from the community;
- Meaningful programmes and projects include those that promote sporting lifestyles among NUS students and community;
- Other qualities of the applicants such as character, ability to lead and contribution to sports in NUS will be considered. Past records of related experience showcasing achievement, leadership and organisational skills will also be taken into consideration;
- All applications must be supported/mentored by a NUS Staff Advisor or staff from faculty, department or hall etc. Duties of the Staff Advisor include (but are not limited to):
- Actively oversee the project and help the students meet the objectives of the project;
- Remind students of timely submission of required post event documents;
- Advise students to identify suitable platforms for post event sharing to the NUS community.
B. Evaluation Criteria
For Sports projects, the following criteria will be considered:
- Preference will be given to new projects
- For existing projects, support will only be considered for enhancement in impact and magnitude
- Promoting sporting lifestyle through:
- Sports Excellence (highlighting NUS and/or Singapore at international competitions): Participation in competitive activities/events and/or involvement in expeditions/exchanges;
- Recreational sporting activities/events that encourage active involvement and participation from the NUS community;
- Sporting activities/events with meaningful causes that promote sporting inspiration to the NUS community.
- Educational and developmental sporting programme for the NUS community.
C. Application Process
Grant Application
Applications should be submitted at least 8 weeks prior to the project event date by submitting the application form for Sports projects, where they will be detailing the project’s target output and outcomes as well as the respective measurement methods.
Applicants are highly encouraged to approach the Grant Administrator at least 2 months prior to submitting their application if they require consultations.
Grant Deliverables
Applicants are to submit the Completion Form provided by the Grant Administrator within 30 days from the end of the project, where they should provide evidence to show the achievement of project output and outcomes as well as statement of accounts.
D. Contact Details
For enquiries and consultation, contact grant administrator Zulhilmi Azmi at m.zul@nus.edu.sg.