SC-CAPS

South Carolina Colleges and Universities Awarded $10 Million NSF Grant to Enhance Research Capacity and Build Sustainable STEM Workforce Pathways

The National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR) has awarded $10 million to launch the South Carolina Collaborative Academic Pathways in STEM (SC-CAPS), a statewide initiative to build research capacity and STEM workforce pathways across South Carolina’s Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

The grant is awarded to SCRA and will be led by Dr. Nadim Aziz, South Carolina EPSCoR Director, who serves as Principal Investigator and Project Director. SC-CAPS connects a network of 11 academic institutions: Anderson University, Coastal Carolina University, Coker University, College of Charleston, Furman University, Lander University, Presbyterian College, South Carolina State University, University of South Carolina Upstate, Voorhees University, and Winthrop University.

“The SC-CAPS grant represents the culmination of several months of collaborative work across the state,” said Dr. Aziz. “Thanks to this $10 million NSF EPSCoR investment, we will build a collaborative network among these institutions to strengthen South Carolina’s research capacity and STEM workforce pathways and build a sustainable future in both areas.” 

“We are proud of our SC EPSCoR team and congratulate them on this important initiative for our state’s workforce readiness,” said SCRA President and CEO Bill Kirkland. “A STEM workforce, specifically, is crucial for the success of our state as we continue to grow research opportunities to support innovation and industry.

Three Core Programs

SC-CAPS launches with three interconnected cores:

• Experiential Learning Core — Engages high school, transfer, and undergraduate students across all 11 campuses to build research skills, expand institutional research capacity, and broaden participation in STEM.
• Building STEM Pathways Core — Focuses on retention, on-time graduation, and career readiness through evidence-based strategies including articulation agreements, high school bridge programs, enhanced advising, and peer mentoring.
• Faculty and Institutional Growth Core — Supports faculty development through institutional commitments and programmatic initiatives designed to strengthen research competitiveness and secure long-term sustainability.

Additional Opportunities

Beyond the three cores, SC-CAPS opens additional capacity-building opportunities to all PUIs and HBCUs in South Carolina, including competitive seed funding for equipment, a proposal-writing academy built around multi-institutional faculty collaboration, statewide best-practice workshops, and research experiences for students.

“SC-CAPS is a direct investment in the goals outlined in South Carolina’s Science and Technology Plan, particularly around growing research capacity at our PUIs and HBCUs and building a stronger, more sustainable STEM workforce pathway for the state,” said Tim Stemmler, Chair of the South Carolina EPSCoR State Committee and the Vice President for Research at the Medical University of South Carolina. “This kind of statewide collaboration is exactly how we move the plan’s priorities from strategy into action. We all benefit from leaders like Dr. Nadim Aziz, who promote collaborative initiatives that enable the entire state; we are truly stronger and more powerful when we work together.”

Project Leadership

Co-Principal Investigators of the project are:

• Dr. Chris Korey, Associate Provost for Student Success, College of Charleston
• Dr. Sebastian van Delden, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Winthrop University
• Dr. John Wheeler, Associate Provost for Integrative Science, Furman University
• Dr. Robert Young, Associate Provost for Research, Coastal Carolina University

About South Carolina EPSCoR

The South Carolina Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (SC EPSCoR) works to strengthen the state’s research infrastructure and STEM competitiveness by building partnerships among South Carolina’s colleges, universities, government, and industry. Administered through SCRA and the State EPSCoR Committee, SC EPSCoR helps the state’s institutions compete for federal research funding and translates that research into economic and workforce development across South Carolina.

About SCRA

Chartered in 1983 by the State of South Carolina as a public, nonprofit corporation, South Carolina Research Authority fuels the state’s innovation economy through the impact of its comprehensive services to technology-based startups, academia, and industry. SCRA provides funding and support to accelerate the growth of academic startups; high-quality lab and administrative workspaces; facilitation and funding for partnerships between and among industry, startups, and academic institutions; assistance and funding for the relocation of technology-based companies to South Carolina; and coaching and funding for startups that may also receive investments from its affiliate, SC Launch Inc.

SC-CAPS is funded by the National Science Foundation under Award No. OIA-2539219.

Media Contact:
Steve Ramirez, Communications Manager
803-917-8821 – steve.ramirez@scra.org