This Automatic Methane Potential Test System helped Martin-Gatton CAFE researchers find how the composition of bourbon stillage impacts the amount of renewable natural gas generated

UK researchers are turning one of the state’s largest and fastest-growing industries into an unlikely renewable energy source.

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Our Mission University of Kentucky Research

The University of Kentucky supports and empowers innovative research in all forms practiced across our diverse campus, varied disciplines and more than 70 centers and institutes. UK faculty, staff and student researchers create, discover and apply new knowledge, and explore the most complex problems facing Kentucky, the nation and the world. Our collaborative, cross-disciplinary research environment provides a rich training ground for the next generation of thinkers, creators and leaders. Research and development at UK has a direct economic impact on Kentucky. The $476.5 million UK spent on R&D in FY22 generated $873 million in economic activity across Kentucky. As a result, 4,636 jobs were supported throughout the state of Kentucky, with 2,227 (48%) of those jobs directly supported by research initiatives.

By the Numbers

$488.4 million

in external grants and contracts awarded in FY24

$264.4 million

federal agency awards in FY24

1 of 34 U.S. universities

with the trifecta of research designations in cancer, aging & translational science

162 intellectual property

filed in FY 2024

$504 million

spent to carry out research & development in FY23

4,903 jobs

supported by FY23 research & development

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