Since 2013, the Office of the Vice President for Research has offered a funding program for faculty members working at UofSC’s three comprehensive institutions and four Palmetto College campuses around the Palmetto State. This program, called the Research Initiative for Summer Engagement, or RISE, funds meritorious summer research projects to help bolster research productivity throughout the UofSC System. As reported in the 2020 Research Impact Assessment, this program has been highly successful, investing more than $1 million into 263 projects from 2013 through 2019, and playing a role in growth of 48 percent in external funding awarded to faculty working at system campuses during that time.
We are pleased to build on that legacy by funding 32 new 2021 RISE projects for the upcoming summer. The Office of the Vice President for Research is proud to congratulate all of the 2021 RISE recipients. RISE funding is supported by the Office of the Vice President for Research with generous contributions from the chancellors at the four-year comprehensive institutions, USC Aiken, USC Beaufort and USC Upstate.
2021 Comprehensive Institution RISE Recipients
| Recipient Name | Project Title | College |
| Brugler, Mercer | Deep-sea genomics: Elucidating the molecular mechanism behind extreme longevity in black corals | University of SC Beaufort |
| Cavanagh, Kimberly | Digging Deeper: 18th Century Life at The Barnwell Tabby | University of SC Beaufort |
| Chen, Tieling | Color Distribution Comparison and Its Applications | University of SC Aiken |
| Chiang, Chung-Yean | Examining demand and supply-chain causes of inventory variation: Evidence from the automotive industry | University of SC Upstate |
| Cho, Bridget | Emotion dysregulation as a mechanism of the link between adversity and parenting behavior | University of SC Aiken |
| Christ, Christa | The Contribution of Genetics and Previous Maltreatment to One's Stress Response | University of SC Upstate |
| Dinger, Michael | IT Professional Work Group Embeddedness Impacts on Professionalism, Work-Life Conflict and Organizational Citizenship | University of SC Upstate |
| Egbue, Ona | Socio-Technical System Dimensions of Electric Vehicle Adoption | University of SC Upstate |
| Gaffney, Nicholas | Conversations on Race and Jazz at the Crossroads of the Jazz Community, 1955-1964 | University of SC Upstate |
| Gibson, Kelly Ann | Abrupt Climate Change: Constructing a Tropical Counterpart to the Iconic Greenland Ice Core Records | University of SC Aiken |
| Heiens, Richard | An Exploratory Examination of the Impact of Customer Service Features on Conversion Rates for Online Retailers and the Presence of Distinct Customer-Service Based Strategic Clusters | University of SC Beaufort |
| Hundley, Shuang | How Does Tailoring Work in mHealth? A Systematic Review of Tailored Interventions Using Mobile Devices to Promote Health Behavior Change | University of SC Upstate |
| Liao, Yin-chi | Gender, Quality Signals, and Crowdfunding Success | University of SC Upstate |
| Lorenz, Alexander | Life and Language of German Immigrants in South Carolina and their Economic, Cultural, and Linguistic Contributions to the South Carolina Upstate | University of SC Upstate |
| Paul, Titan | Experimental Investigation of Stability of Nanoparticle Enhanced Ionic Liquids (NEILs) | University of SC Aiken |
| Placek, Matthew | Social Media, Quality of Governance, and Citizen Support for Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe | University of SC Upstate |
| Roberts, Kenneth | Solvent and substituent effects in the reaction of 2,4'-dihydroxyacetophenone dioxygenase | University of SC Aiken |
| Sawyer, Caroline | Going National: Revising Season 2 of USCB's & SCETV's By The River for National PBS Distribution by National Education Telecommunications Association | University of SC Beaufort |
| Tang, Xiao | The Impact of Individual Time Management Skill on Learning Performance in Online Courses | University of SC Upstate |
| Tanner, Scott | Impact of p-glycoprotein deficiency on the development of Caenorhabditis elegans as a model for human intestinal disease | University of SC Upstate |
| Webber, Carolyn | Southern Professional Minority Women Communicating Experiences of Sexual Harassment | University of SC Upstate |
| Wise, Julie | 'Glide Lingering, Ceaseless Tide': The Movements of Time in Augusta Webster's Aesthetic Lyrics | University of SC Aiken |
2021 Palmetto College Campus RISE Recipients
| Recipient Name | Project Title | Campus |
| Cai, Li | New Synthesis of a Monophosphoryl Lipid A (MPLA) Derivative | University of SC Lancaster |
| Chhetri, Sher | Statistical Inference for Stochastic Climate Models with Levy Jumps | University of SC Sumter |
| Hatch, David | Samuel Beckett's Dialogues: Three Dialogues/Three Exhibitions, Philosophy, and Theatre | University of SC Salkehatchie |
| Mogilski, Justin | Testing the longitudinal validity and reliability of the Multi-partner Relationship Maintenance Scale (MRMS) | University of SC Salkehatchie |
| Paudel, Lokendra | Valuation Overrings of Polynomial Rings and Group of Divisibility | University of SC Salkehatchie |
| Roberts, David | Individuation Gone Awry: The Cynical Therapeutic | University of SC Lancaster |
| Swails, Nahid | Understanding and controlling the formation of surface defects in additive manufactured structures | University of SC Lancaster |
| Szatkowski, Lukasz | Influence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the enzyme reactions with phenol derivatives catalyzed by horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Substage I: Docking of PEG to the HRP and influence of PEG on the structure and dynamic of HRP | University of SC Sumter |
| Taylor, Brittany | Native American Studies Contemporary Artist-In-Residence: An Opportunity for Non-Traditional Native American Artists | University of SC Lancaster |
| Watkins, Marquita | Investigation of Pristine and Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) Adsorption on Select Persistent Organic Pollutants | University of SC Salkehatchie |
26 February 2021