The University of South Carolina is a public research university in Columbia whose commercialization path runs through health, engineering, energy, and advanced materials, with a technology office that has been protecting faculty inventions since 1987.
Sponsored awards reached $309 million in fiscal year 2024. Research grants rose 31% to $225 million, and federal funding rose 35%. College-level awards included $69.3 million in the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing, $59 million in the Arnold School of Public Health, $53.8 million in the College of Arts and Sciences, $12.8 million in the College of Pharmacy, and $8.6 million in the College of Nursing.
Commercialization runs through the Technology Commercialization Office, which identifies, protects, and licenses university-owned intellectual property created by faculty, staff, and students. Inventors disclose, the office pairs each disclosure with counsel in that technical field, and the path forward can be a license to an established company, a sponsored-research or option agreement, a startup, or open dissemination.
- Licensing portfolio
Available technologies span biomedical and life sciences, chemistry and biochemistry, energy and future fuels, advanced materials, engineering and physical sciences, environment and sustainability, health sciences, nanotechnology, and software. - Startup path
The office structures licenses for new companies, then connects teams to funding, training, and space. Staff consultants help faculty-affiliated companies identify and apply for SBIR and STTR grants. - Industry terms
Licenses can be exclusive or non-exclusive, U.S. or worldwide, and limited by field of use. Prospective licensees complete a licensing application before an agreement.
Investors and founders can reach Chase Kasper, deputy director of the Office of Economic Engagement, and Tiffany Beverly, J.D., associate director of the Technology Commercialization Office, through the office.
Learn more about the Technology Commercialization Office
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