The UK Strategic Plan for Research covering the period of 2015 – 2020 included a strategic objective to expand scholarship, creative endeavors and research across the full range of disciplines to focus on the most important challenges facing the Commonwealth of Kentucky, our nation and our world. The plan detailed four major initiatives which served us well as we aligned research culture around this strategic objective.

As a high-level metric of research activity at UK during this period, we experienced an 8.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for grant and contract awards received by UK faculty, staff and students, and a 5.7% CAGR in research and development expenditures (2015-2020). To put this into perspective, our target CAGR for research expenditures within the 2015-2020 Research Strategic Plan was 1.9%. This impressive growth in extramural support of our research mission was achieved through the four major initiatives of the 2015-2020 Research Strategic Plan. In addition to growth in grants and contracts, our faculty, staff and students transformed our research culture to one that prioritizes work that improves the lives of those in Kentucky and around the world.

We have faced challenges impacting every aspect of our university mission since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Research was no exception to upset caused by the pandemic; we were forced to reduce our capacity to very low levels of essential research only followed by a gradual resumption, all the while focusing first on safety. This unexpected situation demanded a new look at how we support and perform research, offering both ongoing challenges as well as new modalities of achieving our goals.

As we accelerate out of the pandemic, we will build upon the overall objective and four initiatives of the 2015-2020 Research Strategic Plan. Through a process of careful introspection, we have revised goals and action items for each initiative to not only move us towards a re-envisioned future but also expand our research mission to improve the lives of our citizens. The following Strategic Initiatives and associated action items will facilitate continued growth, innovation and impact of the research and scholarly pursuits across the range of disciplines that comprise the fabric of our research mission. Finally, the following revised goals and action items are put into the context of UK PURPOSE, the institutional strategic plan.

Over the last 5 years, we have made many changes within our research infrastructure to support the vast array of research across our institution. These improvements to research infrastructure have moved us forward effectively, but there is still much work to be done in the ever-changing research environment.

• Goal 1.1: Reassess and/or expand VPR support systems, administrative staff offices, and research workspaces to improve operational efficiency and address a changing research landscape.
  • Action Item 1: Grow research staff administration in a manner consistent with growth in extramural grants and contracts and focused on cultivating a culture of belonging, service and support.
  • Action Item 2: Expand staffing in emerging areas to address changes in federal regulations and research compliance.
  • Action Item 3: Strategically evaluate the organizational structure of research support units within the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) and research administrative needs within Colleges and Centers to increase efficiency and effectiveness of operations consistent with best practices.
  • Action Item 4: Use the Research Space Workgroup to recommend policies and guidelines related to best practices in space allocation.
  • Action Item 5: Increased emphasis on communicating research successes to internal and external stakeholders.
  • Action Item 6: Recognize research achievements of our faculty, staff and trainees through staff assistance towards the pursuit of relevant honors and awards.
• Goal 1.2: Assess equipment needs within individual labs and core facilities to enhance and enable campus-wide research.
  • Action Item 1: Identify mechanisms to assist with equipment upgrades and needs throughout campus
    (i.e. individual research programs).
  • Action Item 2: Using the established review process for UK research service core facilities, evaluate potential new equipment needs or upgrades, new core facilities and services to address emerging areas of research (i.e., infectious disease and BSL3 facility), and the potential need to sunset underutilized cores.
• Goal 1.3: Facilitate Big Data analytic hub/convergent research.
  • Action Item 1: Engage with various stakeholders to learn more about existing expertise and create a campus-wide inventory. Identify opportunities for research growth that foster convergence of computational work and data science.
  • Action Item 2: Facilitate development of applications for funding opportunities in data science, major instrumentation/facility grants related to data science, and alignment with multidisciplinary academic programming.
  • Action Item 3: Facilitate the development of an institutional research plan for this emerging research area.
• Goal 1.4: Support research career development and the development of new research efforts.
  • Action Item 1: Create a Research Leadership academy to support career development in research administration and leadership, develop large programmatic grants, white papers or other mechanisms and avenues that support multidisciplinary research, and develop new research structures around emerging themes.

For more information, please download our full Research Strategic Plan (PDF)

The 2015-2020 UK Research Strategic Plan created an exciting and engaging culture around our research mission that made a direct impact on recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty, staff and students. It is imperative that we continue to foster a culture facilitating success of all research in an inclusive, responsible and ethical manner. As important as the research itself, it is vital that UK Research fosters a culture of working together in an inclusive and collaborative manner to improve the lives of citizens of the Commonwealth and the world. Our research must be grounded in responsible conduct and inclusive in design and implementation. Further, our research endeavors must promote and recognize success and lay the groundwork for research career advancement.

• Goal 2.1: Continue programming that promotes an inclusive culture of research success across our range of disciplines.
  • Action Item 1: Continue programs supporting and recognizing research across the full spectrum of disciplines.
  • Action Item 2: Continue training program offerings that promote a diverse and inclusive research workforce and train the next generation of research leaders.
• Goal 2.2: Continue and expand programming that has contributed to research success across the full spectrum of disciplines.
  • Action Item 1: Continue the Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowships and the Institutional Postdoctoral Enrichment Program (IPEP) training/mentoring program that provides training and research career development of a diverse research workforce. Working in partnership with the Graduate School, expand this program to postdocs and graduate students across campus.
• Goal 2.3: Develop new programming that fosters a cross-campus culture of inclusive research excellence, facilitates research career development, and augments the importance of our research mission.
  • Action Item 1: Develop a Research Leadership Academy to mentor research career development and leadership. 
  • Action Item 2: Establish and support the newly reorganized Office of Undergraduate Research to enhance the visibility of and opportunities for students participating in undergraduate research experiences.
  • Action Item 3: Develop stronger relationships with Philanthropy to further enhance the funding base for research and the university community. Enhance the UKRF endowment, the UK Venture Fund and consider a dedicated Philanthropy position.

As the land-grant, flagship public university of the Commonwealth, we support all research across the full range of disciplines. We have an obligation as the University for Kentucky to use our research mission to improve the lives of our citizens.

During the 2015-2020 Research Strategic Plan, we:

• Used a systematic process to identify seven research priorities: cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes/obesity, energy, neuroscience, substance use disorders and diversity and inclusion/UNited In True Racial Equity (UNITE).
• Developed a program of financial support for research in areas not traditionally amenable to external funding.
• Created an infrastructure to identify and support nomination of UK scholars for research honors and awards.

In the new Strategic Plan for Research, we will:

• Expand access to and participation within RPAs.
• Support UK researchers across the institution, including those within RPAs, in nominations for research awards and honors.
  
   
• Goal 3.1: Continue to develop, support and communicate research within the seven RPAs to facilitate collaboration, partnership and new research directions.
  • Action Item 1: Review progress of each RPA towards strategic growth, including quantitative data and highlight drivers of growth. This should include development of a business plan for sustainability.
  • Action Item 2: Articulate a plan to enhance community and belonging within and between RPAs.
  • Action Item 3: Working with the UNITE RPA, develop plans for diversity, equity and inclusion.
  • Action Item 4: Develop commercialization plans/pathways/maps for research within RPAs.
  • Action Item 5: Implement a critical pathways model for RPA member awards, honors and nominations.

In response to the 2015-2020 strategic plan, University of Kentucky Research achieved growth in its research enterprise through partnership engagement. Partnerships were realized through large research projects, innovation-driven economic development initiatives, and infrastructure building through new centers and institutes. UK Research will continue and grow engagement efforts to empower translation of research to improve the lives of the citizens of the Commonwealth and the world. Achieving the 2015-2020 strategic plan goals to increase the impact of its intellectual property portfolio, UK completed its fourth consecutive year of record-breaking metrics relating to commercialization and entrepreneurial activity. Inventions, patents filed, licenses, and startup activity all increased significantly, and critical partnerships were established with local and state stakeholders to foster economic and social impact from UK innovation. UK led numerous important research and community programs and partnerships to realize impact. As a result, a new goal will be to sustain statewide leadership and develop a culture for economic and social impact through research innovation and commercialization.

• Goal 4.1: Sustain community-engaged research.
  • Action Item 1: Promote greater awareness of existing community-engaged programs and projects.
  • Action Item 2: Cultivate community-engaged research and innovation for continued growth.
• Goal 4.2: Provide statewide leadership and develop a culture of economic and social impact through innovation in research.
  • Action Item 1: Enhance and promote a culture for innovation.
  • Action Item 2: Focus on equitable, innovation-based economic development by broadening participation in innovation and economic impact activities.

• Rodney Andrews, Senior Associate Vice President for Research
• Lisa Cassis, Vice President for Research
• Linda Dwoskin, Senior Associate Vice President for Research
• Kathy Grzech, Assistant Vice President for Programmatic Grant Development
• Ian McClure, Associate Vice President for Research, Innovation and Economic Impact
• Baron Wolf, Assistant Vice President for Research and Director, Research Analytics

John Balk, College of Engineering
Allan Butterfield, Centers and Institutes
Kim Carter, Office of Sponsored Projects Administration
Billy Clark, Research Information Services
Alan Daugherty, Core Facilities
Emily Denehy, Staff (Technical)
Ella Dunbar, Office of Legal Counsel
John Fowlkes, Diabetes and Obesity RPA
Jim Geddes, College of Medicine
Alison Gustafson, Faculty Senate
Larry Holloway Provost’s Office
Brian Jackson, Graduate School (Staff/Administrative)
Eleanor Johnson, Graduate School (Student)
Phil Kern, Center for Clinical and Translational Science
Eric King, Federal Relations
Helene Lake-Bullock, Office of Research Integrity
Betty Lorch, College of Arts and Sciences
Joseph Lutz, Graduate School (Postdoctoral)
Lesley Oliver, Land Grant Engagement
Nancy Schoenberg, Community-Engaged Research
Daret St. Clair, Cancer RPA
Danelle Stevens-Watkins, UNITE RPA
Susannah Stitzer, Staff (Professional/Administrative)
Teresa Waters, College of Public Health
Donna Wilcock, Neuroscience Priority Area