KU Libraries now accepting applications for Sprints Week 2022

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Libraries are now accepting applications for Sprints Week 2022, a program that offers faculty and academic staff the opportunity to team up with librarians on a research or teaching project.

Sprints Week will take place May 16-20. With the option to collaborate either in-person or virtually, faculty and academic staff will spend this week working on their project with a group of librarians. The purpose of this structured opportunity is for both faculty and librarians to collaborate without distractions to produce a tangible product or outcome. Sprinters are selected through an application process and awarded a $1,000 stipend.

Ignacio Carvajal, assistant professor in Spanish & Portuguese, worked on a digital repository of K’iche’ language lessons and literary and cultural content, with support from a team of KU librarians during the 2021 Sprints. “The collaborative effort revealed possibilities, nuances and potential for my project that I would have simply been unable to reach on my own,” Carvajal said.

Faculty and academic staff are expected to complete a project or project component by the end of the week, develop a partnership or working relationship with experts from KU Libraries, and collaborate with library and information science experts on relevant topics.

Librarians work to match faculty members with the appropriate expertise from across KU Libraries in alignment with the needs of the project. Proposals should be for a project that can be completed in the one-week timeframe. Proposed projects need not be stand-alone; they can be a component or a module of a larger project that helps meet a well-defined milestone toward a bigger goal.

“KU Libraries first held Research Sprints in 2016 and the Information Literacy Mini-Grants in 2018,” said Michael Peper,  head of the Center for Faculty & Staff Initiatives and Engagement at KU Libraries. “This year will be the first time these programs have been integrated, and we hope that the timing of Sprints Week and the combined strengths of both programs will provide a unique opportunity to KU faculty for their research or teaching.”

KU Libraries will host an information session from 3 to 4 p.m. Feb. 8 via Zoom. To RSVP, email sprints@ku.edu. Interested applicants are invited to attend to learn more about the program, discuss the application process and explore project ideas.

Apply here through March 4.

— Story by Audrey Kesler