About the program

The University of South Carolina has received a commitment of more than $51 million in state funds as part of the South Carolina Centers of Economic Excellence program that was created in 2002.

 

The S.C. General Assembly's approval of the Research Centers of Economic Excellence Act in 2002 formalized a vision of improving the state's economic stature. The program has appropriated $200 million—which will be matched dollar-for-dollar by non-state funds—to the state's three main research institutions to fund research and create endowed professorships that will spur the state's economic development.

 

Through fiscal year 2007-08, the University has been approved for 12 Centers of Economic Excellence in which the University will be the lead research institution and seven in which it will be the secondary institution. Research partners are Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and Coastal Carolina University.

 

State funds and legislatively mandated matching private funds provide support for the hiring of world-class researchers to serve as endowed chairs of the centers. Since its inception, the Centers of Economic Excellence have brought the knowledge and expertise of 15 world-class scientists to South Carolina.

 

The University currently has three endowed chairs filled: Dr. Brian Benicewicz in Polymer Nanocomposites, Dr. Jay Moskowitz in Clinical and Translational Research, and Dr. Richard Webb in Nanoelectronics. Senior faculty members and a research team of junior faculty, research faculty, and graduate students will support these endowed chairs.

 

The research centers, as their names imply, are designed to help commercialize technology, create new companies and jobs, and increase the state's per-capita income. Research designated in advanced materials, health and life sciences, automotive engineering, fuel cells, and nanotechnology are promising leads in the creation of high-paying jobs in South Carolina.

 

The CoEE program brings together the brightest-minds with innovative technology to advance the quality of life for South Carolinians. Cancer research, the study of alternative energy fuels, and experimentation in more efficient automotives are among the many projects developed through the Centers of Economic Excellence.

 

The University of South Carolina's lead centers include:

• Nanostructures in Technology
• McCausland Center for Brain Imaging
• Polymer Nanocomposites
• Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Economy
• Renewable Fuel Cells for the Fuel Economy
• Travel and tourism Technology (with Coastal Carolina University)
• Science and Engineering of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
• Childhood Neurotherapeutics
• Healthcare Quality
• Rehabilitation and Reconstructive Sciences
• Strategic Environmental Approaches to Electricity Production from Coal
• SeniorSMART™ (with Clemson, MUSC)

The University is involved in collaborations with multiple universities in the following centers:

• Health Facilities Design and Testing (with Clemson, MUSC)
• Regenerative Medicine (with Clemson, MUSC)
• Cancer Drug Discovery (with MUSC)
• Translational Cancer Therapeutics (with MUSC)
• Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety (with Clemson, MUSC)
• Vision Science (with MUSC)
• Stroke (with MUSC)