Important information

Next edition – important information

Important dates

1^st April 2024 – Registration opens
1^st June 2024 – Registration closes
1^st July 2024 – Notification of successful applications
1^st August 2024 – Deadline for payment of registration fee
22^nd September 2024 – Welcome event
23^rd – 27^th September 2024 – eSPARK practical courses (Mon: Mandatory courses; Tue – Fri: Elective courses)
25^th September 2024 – Evening poster session
28^th September 2024 – Optional paid social event

Eligibility

The eSPARK Summer School is open to prospective applicants from all backgrounds, so long as they have:

an active research role

and

a need for the lessons taught during the summer school within their current or future research plans

No spaces will be given to students without research projects or to industrial applicants with managerial/administrative roles.

Applicants will be required to attach both their Curriculum Vitae and a motivation letter during registration. The motivation letter will be further evaluated for any plagiarism or use of generative AI, both of which are forbidden and grounds for rejection of an application. In case of any doubt, we reserve the right to reject an applicant based on this content.

Applicants may also be asked what their field of study and research background is during the registration process. This data is collected for our own statistical purposes and to ensure that applicants are coming from an appropriate scientific background. No distinction will be made between academic or industrial applicants, or between applicants from differing fields of study.

The eSPARK team would like to accommodate all applications but reserve the right to limit the number of applicants due to limited laboratory space. In case of a high demand in participation, successful applicants will be chosen through a selection process undertaken by the Advisory Board of eSPARK. This selection process will be based on the following criteria:

Applicants will firstly be prioritized according to their experience in the field of electrochemistry based on their Curriculum Vitae. Early career applicants or those with less experience in electrochemistry will be selected preferably.
After this, space will be assigned based on the perceived need of the applicant as judged by the content of their motivation letter, with priority going to those whose research could benefit the most from their attendance to the Summer School.
As a final selection of individual candidates, we reserve the right to limit the number of participants to one per research institution and/or University. This criterion will be only be applied in case of a high number of applications and is aimed to increase the spread of disseminated knowledge.
Alumni of previous eSPARK editions are welcome to apply again but will only be accepted in the case of low registration numbers. Previous applicants who were unsuccessful are also welcome to apply again but will not be given any preference over new applicants.

Unsuccessful applicants will be placed on a waiting list by the eSPARK Advisory Board and, unless they indicate their desire not to be included on this waiting list, will be informed via email of any available spaces that appear as a result of retracted applications or Visa issues.

We reserve the right to modify or cancel any of the courses of the eSPARK Summer School in the case of low interest in the specified courses, as indicated by the registration process. In the case that the course an individual participant was interested in is cancelled or modified, the participant will be given the opportunity to alter their selection of courses and they reserve the right to completely withdraw their registration if they are no longer interested in attending the Summer School.

Registration

~~Prospective attendees can register through the button below~~ (Registration for the 4th edition of eSPARK is now closed)

Payment

The fees for attending the eSPARK Summer School are 750 EUR per person. These fees include:

Lunches
Tea/coffee breaks
A book of practical scripts
A gift bag
A poster session (organised for the attendees during the week)
A certificate of attendance (ECTS points can also be received)

Caution: Fees do not cover travel or accommodation, which must be organised by the attendees themselves. Advice on hotels can be found in the ‘Travel Guide’ section of the website.

Travel guide – Accommodation

Payment will be invoiced to successful applicants via email with the confirmation of the successful application.

Visa invitation letters

Applicants will be asked on the registration form if they need a Visa to attend the eSPARK Summer School. We can produce an invitation letter and send it to the applicant via email, but they must then take it to their nearest consulate or embassy as soon as possible to begin the Visa application process. The invitation letter does not constitute an application for a Visa, and we cannot guarantee that it will enable you to obtain a Visa.

Poster guide

Posters should be prepared with a portrait orientation and an A0 size – 841 mm (width) x 1189 mm (height). No abstract is needed, and the topic of the poster can be as the attendee desires, but attendees are asked to keep the topic related to research they have done or are in the process of doing themselves.

The posters will be printed by the eSPARK team so that attendees do not need to bring it with them. You will be asked to send the .pdf file of your poster at least two weeks before the start of the summer school. Further information will be sent via email after successful application.