Cr-doped Sc 2 O 3 crystals were grown and investigated spectroscopically. Octahedrally coordinated Cr 3+ was observed in the crystals with crystal field parameters of D q =1490cm −1 , B=590cm −1 , C=3227cm −1 , thus D q /B=2.53, and C/B=5.47. The Cr 3+ emission covers the spectral region between 700 and 1100nm exhibiting a double exponential decay with lifetimes of 66 and 23μs at room temperature. An additional optical active center correlated with chromium is also observed. This center exhibits strong absorption between 750 and 1100nm and emission between 1050 and 1800nm.