CIC Launches Center for Advanced Study in International Competitiveness

Champaign, Ill. (Aug. 9) -- The CIC has launched its first large-scale collaborative research effort across the consortium. The multi-university, cross-disciplinary Center for Advanced Study in International Competitiveness (CASIC) will provide research leadership in the study of complex international competitiveness issues that have both scholarly and practical significance, particularly those with public-policy implications.

Joseph Cheng, Professor and Director of the Illinois Global Business Initiative at the University of Illinois, is the principal investigator. Faculty members from the founding CIC partner schools will constitute the primary group of participants in CASIC-sponsored research.

CASIC will be active in global engagement and forming research partnerships with leading overseas universities located in major world regions. Scholars from five overseas universities have agreed to help with start-up efforts.

The Center is seeking to raise $5 million in funding from a wide range of external sources both in the U.S. and abroad, including private foundations, government agencies, corporate sponsorships, and individual gifts. It plans to officially open its doors in Fall 2011.