Web banner for the SPARCS XIII conference, November 2025.

The SKA Pathfinder Radio Continuum Survey (SPARCS) Working Group began in 2011 with the goals of: coordinating the development of techniques, to avoid duplication of effort and ensure that each project has access to best practices; holding cross-project discussions of the specific science goals, to ensure cross- fertilisation of ideas and optimum survey strategies; coordinating pathfinder surveys in their choice of area, depth, location on the sky, and other survey parameters, to maximise the scientific return from the surveys; and distilling the SKA pathfinder experiences as an input to the SKA. The 13th SPARCS meeting was held last week in Cairns and on-line, with scientific and technical talks from a host of SKA pathfinder telescopes, including ASKAP, MWA, LOFAR, MeerKAT, uGMRT, VLA, DSA2000, as well as first results from commissioning observations with the growing SKA-Low.