What You Can Gain
SPARK projects can help students build practical skills while contributing to work that matters. Through these experiences, students may have the opportunity to:
- Apply classroom learning to real-world public health and clinical questions
- Build research, evaluation, and data analysis skills
- Learn from community partners, faculty mentors, and public health leaders
- Develop products such as reports, abstracts, presentations, manuscripts, dashboards, or infographics
- Deepen understanding of health equity, community engagement, and local public health priorities
- Explore future career, research, or service interests
Before You Begin: Student Research Guidance
Before starting a project, students should work with their faculty mentor, project lead, or community partner to clarify the project scope, timeline, expectations, and deliverables. Helpful questions to ask early include:
- What is the main research, evaluation, or project question?
- Who is the intended audience for the final product?
- What data, materials, or community input will be used?
- What deliverables are expected?
- What is the timeline for completion?
- Who will provide supervision, feedback, and approval?
- Are there any data use, privacy, authorship, or IRB considerations?
IRB and Human Subjects Research
Some SPARK projects may involve human subjects research, while others may be program evaluation, quality improvement, secondary data analysis, or educational projects. Because each project is different, students should not assume whether IRB review is or is not required.
Students should work with their faculty mentor or project supervisor to determine whether the project requires review by the Michigan State University Institutional Review Board or a formal human research determination. Projects involving interviews, surveys, focus groups, identifiable private information, medical or health data, or community member participation may require additional review before work begins.
When in doubt, students should ask early. IRB review or determination should be addressed before data collection, recruitment, analysis of identifiable information, or other research activities begin.
Tips for Writing a Paper, Report, or Abstract
Many SPARK projects may result in a written product, such as a report, poster, abstract, manuscript, policy brief, or community-facing summary. Strong written products usually begin with a clear question and a clear audience. A helpful structure may include:
- Background: What issue, community need, or public health problem does the project address?
- Purpose: What question or objective guided the project?
- Methods: What data, sources, or approach were used?
- Findings: What did the project show?
- Implications: Why do the findings matter for community health, practice, policy, or future research?
- Next steps: What should happen next?
Students should also consider whether the final product is intended for an academic audience, a community organization, a public health agency, or the general public. Community-facing products should use clear, accessible language and explain findings in a way that supports action.
Student Resource Checklist
Before beginning a SPARK project, students may want to:
- Identify a faculty mentor or project supervisor
- Clarify expectations with the community partner
- Confirm whether IRB review or determination is needed
- Discuss data access, confidentiality, and storage
- Review relevant literature or background information
- Create a project timeline
- Decide on final deliverables
- Discuss authorship, acknowledgments, and presentation opportunities
- Plan how findings will be shared back with the community partner
Ready to Get Started?
Explore current opportunities and find a project that matches your interests, skills, and goals.
