Conference and Workshop Grants

• 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

• 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

• 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, 2026 and June 30, 2026): https://ris.uky.edu/pdo/FundingPortal/Competitions/Details?id=1607
    Deadline: September 1, 2025
  • Conference and Workshop Grants (planned between July 1, 2026 and Dec. 31, 2026): https://ris.uky.edu/pdo/FundingPortal/Competitions/Details?id=1608
    Deadline: April 1, 2026

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.

VisitLEX is the official convention and visitors bureau for Lexington, Kentucky, available as an external resource for university units and departments considering Lexington as a location for meetings, conferences and events. VisitLEX works with event planners to provide logistical support and facilitate connections with local hotels, venues and service providers.

The organization provides a range of services at no cost, including:

• Coordinating requests for proposals with local hotel partners
• Preparing electronic bid materials
• Assisting with site visit coordination
• Providing presentations and background information about Lexington
• Sharing references from past meeting planners
• Maintaining a calendar of local availability and major events
• Supplying destination images and video assets
• Providing visitor materials, such as guides and maps, for event attendees
• Offering on-site staffing support for eligible events
• Providing post-event reporting, including room pickup data

Additional Support

Based on eligibility and availability, VisitLEX may provide limited assistance with certain event-related costs, such as facility rental or transportation.

VisitLEX Official Site (External Link)