|
Clemson part of collaborative research effort
Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC),
the University of South Carolina (USC), South Carolina State University
(SCSU), and Claflin University will share a $9 million grant from
the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will boost collaborative
research by combining institutional forces. The collaboration of
these universities will unite their unique strengths in the effort
to improve the quality of life for South Carolina citizens. The
award will be matched with $4.5 million in non-federal funding,
for a total of $13.5 million.
This award was received through a federal-state-university partnership
in South Carolina referred to as the Experimental Program to Stimulate
Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
Larry Dooley, Ph.D., associate dean of engineering for research,
is the Principal Investigator for Clemson’s part of the EPSCoR
project. Co-PIs are Robert Taylor, Ph.D., chair of the mathematics
department; Pradip Srimani, Ph.D., chair of the computer science
department; and Richard Hilderman, Ph.D., chair of the genetics
and biochemistry department. Since the project involves new faculty
hires, there is a combined faculty search committee from the above
departments.
Clemson University’s research will focus primarily on bioinformatics,
the use of information technology in the field of life sciences,
especially for the collection, storage, retrieval and analysis of
data relating to plant structural and functional genomics. The bioinformatics
program at Clemson fosters collaboration across several disciplines
and departments. Interdisciplinary work facilitates researchers
to address very complex problems from multiple points of view.
This NSF grant enables Clemson to strengthen its molecular sciences
program with the addition of two new faculty members specializing
in bioinformatics research. In addition, it will allow the addition
of one bioinformatics faculty member in mathematics and one in computer
science.
With this opportunity for partnership among faculty members and
students at Clemson, USC and MUSC, the state’s major research
universities will be combining forces, each working from its unique
strengths toward the common goal of solving problems of great importance
to our quality of life.
|
