Inventing Solutions

Our world no longer fits into neat little buckets. Today’s issues dismantle traditional organizational structures and require interdisciplinary approaches. Our community of collaborators work across disciplines to apply new approaches to solving problems. We bring unconventional partners together — scientists, storytellers, visual artists — in an effort to inspire one another and find solutions in the space in between disciplines.

A Mindset for Breakthroughs

With a mindset rooted in problem-solving, USC researchers are confronting urgent global challenges through bold thought-leadership, whether rethinking cancer treatment, advancing national security or developing early detection tools.

Image of a human brain with digitized pinpoints
Mental Health

Collaboration between USC engineers, doctors provides hope for patients with severe depression, mood disorders

A group of four USC students in front of their laptops in class
national security

‘Hacking for Defense’ students take on cybersecurity from a new angle

A magnified cancer cell in black and white
early cancer detection

Could a simple blood test detect cancer?

Having a critical mass of faculty across our different campuses, bringing in our different expertise areas, is really about ameliorating the risk that is associated with drug development. The other aspect of critical mass is that we also want to develop a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Steve Kay, University and Provost Professor, Director of the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience

Interdisciplinary Answers

    A student building a robot at the Space Engineering Research Center.

    Information & Computer Sciences

    The USC Information Sciences Institute is a world leader in research and development of advanced information processing, computer and communications technologies.

    The light stage at USC ICT.

    Creative Technologies

    For over 20 years, the USC Institute for Creative Technologies has been at the forefront of basic and applied research in immersive technology, simulation, human performance, computer graphics, artificial intelligence and narrative.

    Scientists working in the lab at USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience.

    Convergent Bioscience

    The USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience brings together a diverse network of scientists and engineers from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the Keck School of Medicine of USC to solve some of the greatest intractable problems of the 21st century — from cancer, to neurological disease, to cardiovascular disease and more.

    A person on a electric circuit board.

    Electrical & Computer Engineering

    The USC Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is one of Southern California’s major research institutions. The department has 11 different research areas that collectively contain over 70 research centers and labs.

    USC SCA Games students working on a project.

    Game Innovation

    The USC Game Innovation Lab is the focal point of experimental game design research at USC, named the top university for game design by The Princeton Review. The Lab pursues daring, cross-disciplinary approaches that forge new paths in cultural realms using art, science, politics and learning.

    Student and Professor examining a robotic arm

    Biomedical Engineering

    The USC Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering conducts cutting-edge research in a wide variety of areas, including biomedical devices and imaging, cellular and molecular bioengineering, mathematical and computational biosystems, and neuroengineering.

    A student building a robot at the Space Engineering Research Center.
    The light stage at USC ICT.
    Scientists working in the lab at USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience.
    A person on a electric circuit board.
    USC SCA Games students working on a project.
    Student and Professor examining a robotic arm

    USC Stevens Center for Innovation

    It’s one thing to discover; it’s another to move it to the marketplace where commercialization can maximize positive impact. USC’s technology licensing office plays a key role in the innovation ecosystem across Southern California.

    Learn more about the USC Stevens Center for Innovation
    Aerial view of the USC City Center building, home to the USC Stevens Center and other USC offices.
    Smokes coming out of smokestacks from factories in the distance.

    Meeting Today’s Challenges, Head-on

    The world is facing complex issues that often have conflicting factors: empty buildings amid housing shortages; climate-fighting technologies and red tape; clinical pain management and opioid addictions. Finding solutions requires new approaches and relentless determination.

    Academic Rigor, Visionary Approaches

    USC scholars and researchers rise to meet varied modern problems with groundbreaking innovations, cross-disciplinary collaboration and creative solutions — transforming how we tackle today’s most critical issues.