Clemson World Research | vice president for research

In the past decade, Clemson University’s research enterprise has significantly expanded, culminating with our inclusion among the nation’s most active Carnegie R1 research institutions. As I evaluate what has driven this success, it is pretty clear: our culture. Our faculty members, students and staff are driven by curiosity and are passionate about making positive contributions to the world. We are challenging concepts, exploring new ideas and collaborating across disciplines and institutions in our pursuit for meaningful, significant scholarship and discovery.

Our scientists are engineering yeast to make pharmaceuticals and biofuels more sustainably, while working closely with NASA to equip astronauts for deeper space exploration. They are developing novel techniques that use targeted pulses of light to explore brain function and treat disease. They are designing new technologies for safe, interconnected multimodal transportation systems and autonomous vehicles, but they aren’t stopping there — they are testing these new systems to ensure their security against cyberthreats. Clemson scientists have spent 30 years analyzing the ecological effects of Hurricane Hugo to help the world better recover from future natural disasters. They have played a key role in a program that is sparing infants the pain of opioid withdrawal.

I invite you to explore these stories and others throughout this magazine and visit clemson.world/research for even more content online.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of research at Clemson. The best is yet to come.

Tanju Karanfil
Vice President for Research

In December, I received the exciting news that “little old Clemson,” to borrow a phrase from head football coach Dabo Swinney, had been reconfirmed as a Carnegie R1 institution of the “highest research activity.” This once lofty goal for a university known more for undergraduate education and its football prowess has been achieved through hard work, universitywide commitment to a shared vision and unprecedented growth in our research enterprise over the past five years.

We hope that growth is reflective of the impact our research is having. At Clemson, we are pushing to create new ideas, collaborate across disciplines and institutions, and pursue scholarship and scientific discovery with meaningful impact on society.

Throughout this magazine, you’ll read about the many ways our faculty members are doing that. Our researchers are using one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to seek answers to pressing questions about the future of health care, transportation, the environment, finance, the global food supply and so much more. Our researchers are working to curb childhood bullying. They are sparking conversations about our culture, our history and our future. They are seeking treatments to some of the world’s most debilitating diseases and ailments. They are seeking more sustainable ways to feed the world.

We are working collaboratively — university leaders, faculty, post-docs, research associates, staff, students — to nurture a culture of curiosity and build a winning research team. I am proud of the advancements we have made together, and I am excited to see what the future holds.

Thank you for your support of scholarship and scientific discovery at Clemson University.

Tanju Karanfil
Vice President for Research

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A Culture of Curiosity and Collaboration

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