The Office of the Vice President for Research is proud to offer the Excel Funding Program for Liberal Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Funding opportunities for liberal arts, humanities and social sciences scholarship are more limited than those for traditional scientific research. Excel is designed to help address this disparity by offering a dedicated funding mechanism for USC Columbia and Palmetto College faculty members to pursue these harder-to-fund projects. By providing seed funding to liberal arts, humanities and social sciences faculty, Excel also aims to bolster their competitive edge in applying for subsequent external funding.

Excel offers up to $18,000 in funding for a wide variety of research projects. Applicants may request funding for a project period of up to 15 months beginning on May 1 of the funding year. Click here to view the 2025 Request for Proposals document (PDF). 

To be eligible for Excel, applicants must be:

• Faculty (tenure-track, tenure and non-tenure) working at USC Columbia or any of the Palmetto College campuses (Lancaster, Salkehatchie, Sumter, Union and Palmetto College Columbia sites).
• Engaged in scholarship in the humanities or social sciences, or creative work in the arts.

Funded faculty will be expected to share their scholarly or creative work with a broad audience through a publication, presentation, exhibition or performance. The Office of the Vice President for Research will also offer Excel recipients an opportunity to showcase their work to the USC research community through our website.

For questions please contact Julie Morris in the Research and Development Office, jamorris@mailbox.sc.edu.

 

Excel Forms and Submission Guide

Below are downloadable forms that must be attached to your Excel proposal, as well as a guide that may be helpful as you submit the application through USCeRA.

 

 

Excel Terms and Conditions