The Spark their Imagination; power their future initiative includes the Welsh Sparc Award which aims to encourage more young people in Wales to study and pursue careers in semiconductors. The award will provide financial support and other benefits to students from Wales who are starting an undergraduate degree in Electronics or a related course in the academic year 2024/25 at a Welsh university or one of the UKESF partner universities. See full eligibility details below.

Financial Support

Each of the 24 Welsh Sparc Award recipients will receive the following bursary payments:

  • A first-year bursary of £1,000 – paid in Autumn term 2024
  • A Learning & Development (L&D) bursary of £1,500 – paid in 2025

Further Benefits

In addition to the financial award, the Welsh Sparc Award recipient will benefit from the following:

  • Mentor: each award recipient will be allocated both a professional mentor and a ‘buddy’, to support them throughout their university studies. The ‘buddy’ will be another Electronics undergraduate or recent graduate.
  • Peer support: support from peers in an online forum.
  • UKESF Scholarship Scheme: all Welsh Sparc Award recipients will be eligible to apply for a UKESF Scholarship in September/October 2025, at the start of their second year of university.

Celebration Day

All the recipients of the Welsh Sparc Award will be invited to an induction and celebration day at CSA Catapult HQ on 5 September 2024.

How to Apply

Applications for the Welsh Sparc Award have now closed.

 

Eligibility

Students can apply for the award if they meet the following criteria:

  • The student lives in Wales.
  • Are a Year 13 student attending a state-funded school/college in Wales (or hold a full scholarship at a fee-paying school).
  • The recipient has a firm UCAS offer to study either Electronic Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or Physics starting in September 2024 at a Welsh university or at a UKESF partner university in the rest of the UK.*

*UKESF partner universities (excluding partner universities in Wales): Aston University, University of Bath, University of Bristol, University of Birmingham, University of Cambridge, Coventry University, The University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, Heriot-Watt University, Imperial College London, King’s College London, Lancaster University, University of Leeds, University of Liverpool, Loughborough University, The University of Manchester, Newcastle University, University of Nottingham, Queen’s University Belfast, Royal Holloway University of London, The University of Sheffield, University of Southampton, University of Surrey, University of Strathclyde, The University of Warwick, University of York

 

Induction Day

The award recipients will be required to attend an Induction Day at CSA Catapult in August 2024, before the start of their undergraduate degree course.