Libraries of the University of South Florida
USF Tampa Library
The USF Tampa Library is the largest and most comprehensive library within the USF System, offering students access to over two million academic journals, databases, and books. Spanning seven floors, it provides various services, including tutoring, writing assistance, laptop lending, a career resource center, Course Reserves, and reservable group study rooms.
Additionally, the library features Special and Digital Collections, which house literature, oral histories, photographs, artifacts, and university archives. In 2012, the Science, Math, and Research Technology (SMART) Lab was established, providing a hands-on learning environment with more than 300 computer workstations.
Following student advocacy in 2013, the library extended its operating hours to 24/5 during the Fall and Spring semesters for students, faculty, and staff with a valid USF ID. By 2017, renovations on the fifth floor introduced 400 individual study spaces equipped with personal lamps, electrical outlets, and USB ports for device charging, along with new group study rooms featuring whiteboards.
Beyond Tampa, the USF Libraries system includes regional libraries and USF Health Libraries. Regional libraries include the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library at USF St. Petersburg and the Information Commons Hub at USF Sarasota-Manatee.
USF Health Libraries serve the university’s health-focused community, with two locations: the Hinks and Elaine Shimberg Health Sciences Library on the USF Tampa campus and the Florida Blue Health Knowledge Exchange at the USF Health campus in downtown Tampa. While primarily supporting USF students, faculty, and staff, these libraries also welcome public researchers conducting health and medical studies.
Research at the University of South Florida
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, USF is one of the nation’s fastest-growing research universities. In the 2021 fiscal year, the university secured over $590 million in research funding. Additionally, the Intellectual Property Owners Association ranked USF among the world’s top ten universities for U.S. utility patents in 2011. USF is also a member of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program and the National Sea Grant College Program.
USF Health
USF Health comprises the Morsani College of Medicine, College of Nursing, Taneja College of Pharmacy, College of Public Health, School of Biomedical Sciences (within the College of Arts and Sciences), School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, and the USF Physicians Group. Researchers at USF Health work in fields such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, prosthetics, heart health, and genomics. The College of Nursing ranks first in Florida for research funding from the National Institutes of Health.
More than 400 healthcare professionals affiliated with USF Health provide care across Florida. In 2012, USF opened the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) in downtown Tampa, a 90,000-square-foot facility dedicated to training health professionals worldwide. In 2020, the Morsani College of Medicine and USF Health Heart Institute relocated to a new 395,000-square-foot, 13-story tower in the Water Street district of downtown Tampa, with the Taneja College of Pharmacy joining them in 2021.
Sustainability Initiatives
USF has been recognized with a gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education for its commitment to environmental sustainability. In 2010, USF established the School of Global Sustainability within the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences. Two years later, the Patel College of Global Sustainability was introduced, comprising the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions, the Master of Arts in Global Sustainability program, and the Office of Sustainability. The Patel College is housed in USF’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) GOLD-certified building.
USF signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2008 and submitted its Climate Action Plan in 2010, aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 10% by 2015. Since then, the university has launched multiple sustainability initiatives, including electric vehicle charging stations, water bottle filling stations, reusable food containers in dining halls, recycling programs in residence halls, energy-efficient campus buses, and solar-powered golf carts.
In 2011, the Student Green Energy Fund was introduced, allowing students to propose and vote on projects aimed at reducing campus energy consumption, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and promoting sustainable technologies.
The nearly 20,000 trees on USF’s Tampa campus contribute an estimated $1.8 million annually in energy conservation, stormwater management, and carbon dioxide removal. Due to its abundant greenery, USF has been designated a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation every year since 2011.
Currently, six LEED-certified buildings exist on the main Tampa and downtown medical campuses:
- Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions (Gold)
- Interdisciplinary Science Building (Gold)
- Yuengling Center (Silver)
- Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (Silver)
- Chowdhari Golf Practice Facility (Certified)
- Morsani Center for Advanced Health Care (Certified)
Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR)
Established in 1988, the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) conducts over $13 million in annual research for public and private sector sponsors, including the Florida Legislature, Florida Transportation Commission, and various government agencies.
CUTR is home to the National Center for Transit Research, designated by the U.S. Congress in 1991 and reaffirmed in 1998, 2002, 2012, and 2013. Research areas include public transportation, transportation planning, intelligent transportation systems, demand management, economics, geographic information systems, access management, alternative fuels, and transportation safety.
Materials Simulation Laboratory
The Materials Simulation Laboratory (MSL) within the Department of Physics was founded in 2002. MSL focuses on condensed matter and materials physics using supercomputers for quantum simulations under extreme temperatures and pressures, such as those found in planetary interiors and during inertial confinement fusion experiments.