E-core: south carolina collaborative academic pathways in stem

The National Science Foundation Office of Integrative Activities awarded the South Carolina Research Authority $8,999,990 in a Cooperative Agreement on August 1, 2026, under the Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083) to lead E-CORE: South Carolina Collaborative Academic Pathways in STEM (SC-CAPS), a collaborative initiative spanning 11 academic institutions across South Carolina.

The project operates through three coordinated cores: Core 1 expands STEM-focused experiential learning; Core 2 builds pathways in STEM; and Core 3 supports faculty development and institutional growth. The initiative aims to increase student retention and on-time graduation rates by providing research and internship opportunities to high school, college transfer, and undergraduate students across the 11 campuses. The project also funds seed grants for equipment, research development, and research capacity building to advance faculty development and institutional collaborations.

The 11 participating institutions are Anderson University, Coastal Carolina University, Coker College, College of Charleston, Furman University, Lander University, Presbyterian College, South Carolina State University, University of South Carolina Upstate, Voorhees College, and Winthrop University. Work is performed in Columbia, South Carolina, with a period of performance from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2030.

Abstract

This epscor collaborations for optimizing research ecosystems (E-CORE) proposal is for a collaborative project, led by the south carolina research authority (SCRA), among 11 institutions across south carolina (SC), including anderson university, coastal carolina university, coker college, college of charleston, furman university, lander university, presbyterian college, south carolina state university, university of south carolina upstate, voorhees college, and winthrop university. The proposed activities are aligned with the state?S needs to build sustainable stem pathways to sustain workforce development and to create long-term growth in research capacity across the jurisdiction. The project has potential to impact statewide faculty development and institutional collaborations for sustainable workforce and research competitiveness. This award will advance the foundation?S statutory mission to enhance research infrastructure and stem workforce development in an epscor jurisdiction. E-CORE: south carolina collaborative academic pathways in stem (SC-CAPS), is led by SCRA, a public non-profit and home to the SC epscor office, and engages 11 academic institutions across south carolina (SC). This E-CORE project is focused on the following three cores, coordinated by the administrative CORE: CORE 1: expanding stem-focused experiential learning; CORE 2: building pathways in stem; and CORE 3: supporting faculty development & institutional growth. The project aims to increase students? Retention and on-time graduation rate by providing research and internship opportunities for high school students, college transfer, and undergraduate students across 11 campuses in south carolina. The project also plans to support faculty development, institutional growth, statewide collaborations, and research capacity building by providing seed funding for equipment, research development, and research nexus - best practices workshops. This project is supported by the epscor research infrastructure improvement program: epscor collaborations for optimizing research ecosystems (E-CORE). E-CORE supports jurisdictions in strengthening their jurisdiction-wide research ecosystems through fostering interconnected networks, building research infrastructure, and growing research capacity and competitiveness aligned with jurisdictional priorities. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are planned for this award.