The Electron Microscopy Center of The University of South Carolina has supported ultrastructural research activities of over 900 faculty members and students during the past 19 years. The users are from almost every science department, institution, and college including the Department of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, and Physics, and the College of Engineering. The Center has assisted faculty members to obtain research grants by providing them with ultrastructural research facilities for projects involving electron microscopy. Federal grants thus obtained during the past three years alone amounted to over three million dollars. The Center's only high resolution transmission electron microscope was acquired 17 years ago. Because of heavy usage and old age, the microscope in recent years has been out of order frequently for extended periods of time. Thus, the research activities of many investigators have been seriously jeopardized. Also, the microscope in now obsolete. It does not have resolution and analytical capability comparable to modern models. The proposal is a request for funding of the acquisition of a high resolution, high performance, 200 KV analytical transmission electron microscope with various components offered to us by Hitachi, Ltd., Japan, with the understanding that the University will match approximately half the cost and South Carolina sales tax. Primary users are from the Department of Biological Sciences and Chemistry. The majority of those research projects are funded by the National Science Foundation. Seven major and four minor projects are outlined in the proposal.
