As the state’s flagship university and a recipient of the Carnegie Foundation’s highest research designation, the University of South Carolina is home to world-class researchers working across disciplines to advance knowledge.
But staying on the cutting edge is an expensive investment.
For years, sophisticated research instruments, which are expensive to maintain, were housed within individual departments, making them difficult to share and often leaving them underutilized. Investigators seeking major grants are faced with a growing challenge: how to demonstrate long-term sustainability for equipment purchased under a single award. However, thanks to USC’s research cores, which pool personnel and resources from across the Carolina system, researchers have access to state-of-the-art equipment and expert support staff in an efficient and cost friendly model that complies with federal research mandates.
In moving toward centralization, the research cores have improved university research competitiveness, signaling to federal and foundation grant reviewers that instruments purchased under grant awards will be cared for and maintained. Managing the cores at a central level has also created efficiencies in operating cores with common procedures, financial stability and transparency, stable employment for previously grant-based research support staff and an efficient and streamlined billing system.
“Individually, it would have been very difficult for researchers to obtain funding to purchase and maintain these expensive instruments, but by getting people to work together and collaborate, we have been able to obtain funding for several new instruments,” says Bob Price, executive director of research facilities and infrastructure. “There’s a lot of collaboration that has come out of this initiative.”
Just in the first two years of the research cores initiative, several schools and colleges have combined existing resources and collaborated to obtain federal funding for new equipment. Along with nearly $3.2 million for equipment contributed by President Amiridis, these efforts have resulted in the acquisition of 17 major instruments. Many of these instruments replaced aging infrastructure, while others, such as three new bioprinters obtained by engineering professor Nader Taheri Qazvini, allowed for the creation of an entirely new Tissue Biofabrication Core for biomedical research—an NIH priority.
By getting people to work together and collaborate, we have been able to obtain funding for several new instruments. There’s a lot of collaboration that has come out of this initiative.
Having strong centralized research cores also helps USC recruit and retain promising researchers and students from around the world, and the centralized model with wide-ranging investment from researchers across campus uniquely positions the university to support a thriving research environment.
“We’re getting a lot of positive feedback,” says Director of Finance and Business Operations Savannah Britz. “It feels good to see the new equipment come in, the happy researchers and staff, and to give people new tools to do even better research.”
What began as an infrastructure initiative has become a cornerstone of USC’s research strategy — strengthening collaboration, ensuring sustainability and positioning the university for long-term growth in federal and foundation funding.
Check out the resources available to university researchers through our core facilities.
Electron Microscopy Center
The Electron Microscopy Center works with researchers in biological and materials sciences fields to prepare specimens and examine them using advanced electron microscopy instruments.
Elemental Mass Spectrometry Center
The Center for Elemental Mass Spectrometry (CEMS) provides plasma-source mass spectrometry analysis and support for investigators working in the fields of geochemistry, chemical oceanography and others.
Functional Genomics Core
The Functional Genomics Core offers state-of-the-art technologies and services supporting genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics and functional genomics research projects.
HESTIA Core
The Health Care Evaluation Systems and Technology Informatics Archive, known as HESTIA, is a centralized, secure repository of clinical data for use in research. HESTIA's mission is to provide the research community with services that enhance clinical research data management, enable collaboration, and leverage advanced technologies to foster discovery and improve health outcomes.
Instrumentation Resource Facility
By providing state-of-the-art biomedical instrumentation, the Instrumentation Resource Facility facilitates the expansion of scientific knowledge and discovery in the USC School of Medicine Columbia and main campus research environments.
Mass Spectrometry Center
The Mass Spectrometry Center provides centralized access to high performance mass spectrometry resources for researchers at the University of South Carolina.
Mouse Experimentation and Germ-Free Core
The Mouse Experimentation and Germ-Free Core facility supports research that utilizes mouse models to advance understanding of biological processes and disease mechanisms, and to explore innovative approaches for disease prevention and treatment.
X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Core
Located in the Swearingen Engineering Center, the X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Core analyzes the change in surface chemistry of materials after they have been treated with chemicals or physical processes.
Affiliate research cores at the University of South Carolina are not yet centralized under the Office of the Vice President for Research, but like the centralized cores, they use iLabs for billing and work with the Research Cores staff on compliance.
- Microscopy Core, Biomedical & Medical Sciences
- Flow Cytometry Core, Biomedical & Medical Sciences
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility (NMR), Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
Many USC research cores have not been centralized under the Office of the Vice President for Research. These cores are distributed among various colleges and departments, and they are available for use by USC researchers just like centralized cores for easy access by our research community.
Check out the non-centralized core facilities page to access details and contact information for the following noncentralized cores:
- A.C. Moore Herbarium, Biological Sciences
- Baruch Marine Wet Lab, Environmental Services
- Center for Applied Research & Evaluation (CARE), Public Health
- Center for Experimental Nanoscale Physics (CENPhys), Materials Sciences
- Digital Research Services, Digital Research
- Drug Design and Synthesis Core, Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
- Machine Shop, Fabrication & Machining
- McCausland Center for Brain Imaging, Biomedical Sciences
- McNair Aerospace Center, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
- Patient Engagement Studio, Public Health
- Peromyscus Genetic Stock Center, Biomedical & Medical Sciences
- Research Computing, Information Technology
- Single Crystal X-Ray Diffraction Facility, Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
- Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS), Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
- Strategic Approaches to the Generation of Electricity (SAGE) Center, Chemical Engineering
- Viral Vector Core, Biomedical & Medical Sciences
Take a look at the equipment housed at various centralized and non-centralized research cores at the University of South Carolina. Users can search, filter and sort the list based on instrument name, service area, core facility and more, to easily locate the equipment they need.
Start working with the Research Cores today.
Learn more about how to work with USC research cores, find institutional boilerplates and get started on iLab.