The SPARK Program supports early-stage academic biomedical translational projects through milestone-based funding, mentoring, and education on translation and entrepreneurship. Beyond funding, a key strength of the program lies in its tailored and individualized project support, provided by an experienced project management team that serves as a central point of contact for guidance and advice. Additionally, SPARK offers access to a broad, interdisciplinary network of experts who help teams bridge knowledge gaps and accelerate the innovation process. 

Founded in 2015, SPARK-BIH has been an integral part of the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) since 2018. It is based on the highly successful SPARK program at Stanford University, which boasts a translation success rate of over 50% and has evolved into a global, interactive network with more than 60 participating institutions (https://sparkglobal.io).The program aims to support high-potential projects that address critical, unmet medical needs. Together, the SPARK programs of institutions worldwide form a community that bridges the gap between academic and clinical researchers and industry experts—ultimately benefiting patients and society. All SPARK programs focus on enhancing translational success and impact, creating value for institutions, investors, and the industry, while maximizing benefits for patients and the broader public.

The SPARK-BIH program offers grants to researchers and clinicians of all career levels from BIH or Charité for the development of therapeutics and preventives (small molecule, biologic or gene/cell therapy/ATMP), medical devices and diagnostics for unmet medical needs, as well as repurposing of existing drugs for new indications. All projects must aim at the validation of research findings with the goal of translating these into therapies, products or services. SPARK-BIH does not fund basic research projects. If you have further questions regarding the call, please contact us via tanja.rosenmund@charite.de. 

Please note that digital health projects should apply to the BIH Digital Health Accelerator once their call is open and will not be considered for SPARK-BIH funding. 

SPARK-BIH offers funding in two tracks, depending on the maturity level of the project: 

• Track 1 provides funding for earlier translational projects (an invention disclosure or a patent is not yet required) with up to 50 000€ and a duration of max. one year.
• Track 2 provides funding for more mature projects with funding of over 50,000€ for a period of up to two years. To be eligible, your project must have a positively evaluated invention disclosure or a patent. If your project is already at an advanced stage and is based on solid data, but you have not yet filed an invention disclosure, you can submit the IP Check document as part of your application. During the review phase, your project will undergo an additional evaluation to assess its patentability. If the evaluation confirms strong potential for intellectual property protection, your project may qualify for Track 2 funding.

Please note: if you apply for Track 2 funding, your project will compete with other Track 2 applications. It will not be moved to Track 1 if it is deemed not mature enough for Track 2.

Track 1 funding does not support personnel cost. For Track 2, SPARK-BIH funding can be used to cover up to 50% of personnel cost for the position of a person that already has a contract at the host institution (Charité or BIH) during the funding period. If the funded person works part-time, then the 50% applies to the part-time position/salary. 

Yes, as long as the funding does not cover the same work packages.
Funding from federal resources, including BIH funding, follows the principle of subsidiarity. This means that the proposed work packages must not already be supported by other funding sources. If funding has already been secured from other sources, SPARK-BIH funding is not permitted. 

Applicants must confirm in their proposal that no other funding from federal, state, or EU sources is available for the proposed research activities.

Yes, your project can be a collaboration with other academic institutions. However, the (future) IP (Intellectual Property) must belong at least 50% to Charité and Charité has to take the lead in the IP and Commercialization process.

Please note: To secure potential future IP, it is of utmost importance to keep the information of your project/application strictly confidential. Do not input sensitive data into generative models and avoid disclosing any confidential data or information publicly or in discussions without CDA (Confidential Disclosure Agreement). 
Apart from this,in the context of submitting applications, the use of generative language models is permitted due to their significant potential and development opportunities. However, their use must be disclosed in accordance with scientific standards. Regarding the academic quality of funding proposals, the use of generative models will be considered neutral in itself. The full responsibility for ensuring scientific integrity remains with the applicants. 

No. Only employees of Charité and BIH are eligible for SPARK-BIH funding.

No. Setting up a Start-up is one way to bring the product to the market – however, there are also other possibilities that might be better suited for you and your project to reach patients (e.g. licensing of IP to other companies). The formation of start-ups or spin-offs is not funded by SPARK-BIH.

The call will be open from March 17^th to July 7^th 14:00 CET, 2025. After an initial evaluation you will be notified on September 5^th /6^th 2025 if your project was selected for pitching your idea in front of an expert external jury. The pitch session will take place on September 22nd and 23^rd in person in Berlin. A time slot will be assigned to each selected team. It is envisioned that the project funding will start latest in January 2026.

Selected applications for Track 1 and Track 2 projects will be invited to personally present their project proposals to an external panel of experts on 22^nd or 23^rd of September 2025. The exact date, time, and location will be announced in due time.
Based on the evaluation criteria outlined above and considering the available budget, the most suitable project ideas for funding will be selected. Applicants will be informed of the selection results via email.