Research and Grant Development Services coordinates several competitive internal funding programs serving faculty and graduate students.
Our competitive funding programs are sponsored by the university's Office of the Vice President for Research.
Through ASPIRE, USC faculty can compete for funding to begin a promising new research endeavor for later external funding, build up a collaborative, interdisciplinary research project, and/or invest in the university's research infrastructure with the objective of enhancing USC's research capabilities.
The ASPIRE AI program is an extension of the ASPIRE program that offers USC faculty an opportunity to pursue artificial intelligence research leading toward external funding opportunities.
The Excel program offers funding for meritorious scholarly and creative projects by USC faculty working in the liberal arts, humanities and social sciences. By providing seed funding to liberal arts, humanities and social sciences faculty, Excel also aims to bolster their competitive edge in applying for subsequent external funding.
The RISE Program provides financial support for faculty at the system campuses of the university. Through a competitive application process, the program provides funds for summer salary, research supplies, research-related travel, and undergraduate student support.
The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) provides funding for mentored undergraduate research projects in all disciplines through a variety of research grants.
The Support to Promote Advancement of Research and Creativity (SPARC) Graduate Research Grant Program is a merit-based award designed to ignite research and creative excellence across all disciplines at USC. The overall objective of SPARC is to provide support and to encourage outstanding students to pursue new and exciting directions during their graduate career at the University of South Carolina.