August 20, 2026

Dear members of the faculty,

We are committed to producing outstanding research, scholarship, and creative activity as a core part of our mission as a major university. 

In the past few years, we have seen a renegotiation of the relationship between the federal government and research universities in the funding for research at the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and so on. 

Major sources of external federal funding and recognition are increasingly restricted. The Provost Research Competition supports the type of scholarly and creative activities for which faculty were hired, for which they will receive tenure or promotion, and by which they further new developments in their fields. 

The aim of this competition is to offer support in three key areas: faculty who are actively applying for external funding, or working toward applying for such funding, and those with ambitious projects, such as major monographs, research, or creative projects, that will have a major impact on the applicant’s field of research. 

Applications will be accepted from 9 a.m., Nov. 2 until 5 p.m., Nov. 6. The competition guidelines and requirements can be found on the Office of the Provost website.

Last year, hundreds of excellent proposals were submitted to this competition. I am very impressed with the outstanding quality of our faculty’s work and look forward to seeing the work this year’s cycle brings. If you have any questions, please email them to provost@sc.edu.

Provost Mary Anne Fitzpatrick, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
USC Educational Foundation Distinguished Professor