In an effort to encourage the University of Kentucky (and Lexington, Kentucky) as a possible site for regional, national or international professional organizational conferences and workshops, faculty may submit a brief proposal for partial support (maximum of $3,000; if 100 or less anticipated participants you can request up to $1,500; if >100 anticipated participants you can request up to $3,000) of such conferences/workshops. Proposals should indicate why supporting the conference/workshop will enhance the university's visibility in a given area of research and/or competitiveness for future funding.

Application (mandatory items):

• A brief description of the conference or workshop (conference date, venue, speakers, audience including recent or anticipated attendance)

• Please provide a brief justification as to how the conference meets the goals of this program.

• A budget that illustrates a breakdown of the costs for the conference, including sources of income, especially income from existing entities at UK. including costs and income which may be collected from prospective participants

Allowable Uses of Support:

• Travel and honoraria for outside speakers

• Symposium expenses such as room rental, audiovisual services

Funds cannot be used to support:

• Social events associated with the symposium

• Purchases requiring payment from a discretionary account

Submission:

• We require that units involved in the conference illustrate their support of each request. Thus, conference support requests must be routed through the department chair/school director and college administration or center/institute director (email from that source appended to the application). 

• In addition, for requests from departments and/or colleges, the Associate Dean for Research (ADR) of that unit should also be engaged through email appended to the application.

• In order to provide the Vice President for Research and the review committee with additional information on which to base a funding decision, department chairs/school directors, center/institute directors and college deans or ADRs are invited to provide comments (through emails as required above) on the importance of the conference activity and how it fits with their department, school, center, institute or college strategic plan.

• Conferences supported through this program should display support from the Office of the Vice President for Research, University of Kentucky, in supporting conference materials.

• Once these requirements have been met, College Associate Deans for Research or Center and Institute Directors should submit proposals to one of the opportunities below. This ensures they and the college/center are supportive of this conference or workshop.​​​​

  • Conference and Workshop Grants (planned between Jan. 1, 2025 and June 30, 2025): https://ris.uky.edu/pdo/fundingportal/Competitions/Details?id=1416 - Deadline extended to September 30, 2024

  • Conference and Workshop Grants (planned between July 1, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2025): https://ris.uky.edu/pdo/FundingPortal/Competitions/Details?id=1415

Deadlines:

Submit by April 1 for conferences occurring between July 1 and December 31 of the same year.

Submit by September 1 for conferences occurring between January 1 and June 30 of the following year.