Clemson Division of Research

Research Opportunities and News

Tanju Karanfil wearing a dark suit jacket with a Clemson tiger paw on the lapel

Tanju Karanfil Dear Colleagues,  Welcome back! I am excited for us to continue the outstanding momentum of the past several years. As you embark on another successful academic year, I have several updates to assist with your research, scholarship and creative endeavors. We have announced the application deadlines for our R-Initiative funding programs. These investments nurture research, scholarship […]

Our Peers are Taking Notice

A man in a dark suit jacket with a Clemson tiger paw on the lapel

Tanju Karanfil In late November, we were afforded a distinct opportunity to showcase our facilities, our capabilities, and most importantly, our people to one of the nation’s most influential scientists. National Science Foundation director Sethuraman Panchanathan left our Greenville campus impressed with what we are building here together, particularly with our success in collaborating with […]

Clemson: A Perennial R1 Institution

Tanju Karanfil

I am excited to share that Clemson was reconfirmed as a Carnegie R1 research university in January. This is the top designation Carnegie awards to doctoral universities with the highest levels of research activity. A key goal of the ClemsonForward strategic plan, the R1 designation improves our reputation, helps us recruit the best students and […]

November 2021: Increasing Activity and Impact

Tanju Karanfil

As our research enterprise continues to grow, the scholarly community is increasingly recognizing the quality of your work and using your research to advance scholarship and discovery around the world. Those are the key points in my fiscal year-end report to the University’s Board of Trustees. Fiscal Year 2021 was another banner year for our […]

Remaining inspired despite challenges

Tanju Karanfil

Seeing so many colleagues and the students back on campus has really been inspiring. Though I must say, all of you involved in research at Clemson have remained inspired throughout one of the most challenging years I can remember. Consider the momentum we have maintained in fiscal year 2021: Competitive research expenditures increased 9 percent […]

Celebrating another academic year; and this time in person!

Tanju Karanfil

For the past year, I have been living my professional life through a tiny square video screen on my computer. Adjusting to Zoom was difficult at first. Feedback would ring through our speakers when we didn’t mute our microphones. We would speak at the same time and then sit awkwardly silent while waiting for the […]

February 2021: Continuing to Move ClemsonForward

Tanju Karanfil

You continue to make big news, despite the unrelenting pressures of a global health pandemic that has uprooted all of our norms. Consider a few examples of the major accomplishments I was able to report to the University’s Board of Trustees last month: The U.S. Department of Energy awarded a 10-year, $3.8 billion contract for […]

Jan. 2021: An Invitation and R-Initiative Reminder

Clemson University Vice President for Research Tanju Karanfil wearing a mask to help slow the spread of COVID-19

Last spring, we missed one of, in my opinion, the highlights of the academic year: our annual Research Symposium. I greatly enjoy the camaraderie the Symposium provides: meeting with faculty from other disciplines, sharing ideas, brainstorming, learning, celebrating our successes while game-planning for new opportunities. In addition to numerous interdisciplinary workshops, panel discussions and networking […]

Nov. 2020: Key updates as online instruction is set to resume

Clemson University Vice President for Research Tanju Karanfil wearing a mask to help slow the spread of COVID-19

This has been an incredible semester, one unlike any other in my 24 years at Clemson. I am increasingly proud of how you have navigated the challenges brought on by COVID-19, and I want you to know we are working to provide support. First, I want to share my gratitude. Despite COVID-19, institutional research expenditures […]

Sept. 2020: Extraordinary work during the COVID-19 pandemic

Clemson University Vice President for Research Tanju Karanfil wearing a mask to help slow the spread of COVID-19

This fiscal year, Clemson University faculty collectivity submitted $734 million in research proposals, a 23 percent increase from the prior year. Your productivity in the months on-campus access was limited was extraordinary. As you juggled online instruction, uncertain funding guidelines, childcare, remote working and many more matters that I’m sure I am forgetting, you did […]