CURATE Research Support Program Celebrating University Research Across the Enterprise

The University of Kentucky (UK) Research Strategic Plan specifies in Strategic Initiative 1, Action Step 3, to provide recurring funds to support grant programs for research, scholarship, and creative works in areas of excellence that are not traditionally amenable to external funding. To implement this action, the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) provides, on an annual basis, formulaically derived funds through the CURATE Research Support Program.

CURATE funds to eligible units can be used for the following purposes:

• Support of summer salary for research/creative activities by eligible faculty
• Support for a broad range of research/creative activities

Importantly, decisions on awarding of CURATE support should appropriately align with unit research goals; hence, award decisions are to be made by eligible Colleges and units.

Eligible Colleges for the CURATE Research Support Program, noted below, include Colleges with nine-month faculty appointments and research and development expenditures of less than $10 million per year, faculty in humanities departments in the College of Arts and Sciences, and UK Libraries:

• Business & Economics; Communication & Information; Design; Education; Fine Arts; Law; Lewis Honors
• College of Arts & Sciences: Humanities Departments
• Graduate School: Martin School of Public Policy and Administration; Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce
• UK Libraries

Faculty Eligibility for CURATE Summer Salary Research Support

Full-time faculty members with at least a nine-month appointment, with an academic year research distribution of effort between 10% and 50%, as negotiated with unit leadership. Research DOE eligibility is determined from the previous academic year. Faculty receiving CURATE summer salary research support cannot be on sabbatical during the year funding is received.

Faculty Eligibility for CURATE Research / Creative Activities Support

Full-time faculty members in the eligible Colleges and units with a minimum of 10% research effort in their annual distribution of effort are eligible to receive CURATE funds. These funds are intended to support research / creative activities that do not include faculty salaries, travel that is unrelated to the research project, routine office equipment, or laptop computers, etc.

CURATE Research Support Program funds are derived from facilities and administrative costs from grants and contracts as part of the annual University of Kentucky Research Foundation (UKRF) fiscal year budget. The amount allocated for the annual CURATE Research Support Program funding pool by the OVPR is contingent upon the approved UKRF fiscal year budget. OVPR will also provide funds to be used for the annual CURATE Research Support Program celebration.

The OVPR determines annually the total number of full-time UK faculty that are eligible for CURATE Research Support Program funding and allocates funds to each College or unit based on the percentage of eligible faculty with primary reporting to the respective College or unit. The CURATE Research Support Program funding cycle runs from May 1 – April 30.

The annual CURATE Research Support Program allocation for each College or unit will be transmitted to the College or unit. Each College or unit is responsible for establishing guidelines for faculty applications and funding decisions that are consistent with the CURATE Research Support Program. By March 1, College or unit leadership (e.g., College Dean, Associate Dean for Research [ADR], or other designated personnel) will submit information pertaining to eligible, designated faculty that will receive CURATE Research Support Program funds for the current funding cycle.

If the allocated funds are not used within funding cycle, College or unit leadership can request with justification a no-cost extension for the funds on behalf of the faculty member. Requests for no-cost extensions should be made by no later than March 1, 2028.

CURATE Research Support Program awardees are required to submit a final report describing the activities and accomplishments achieved as part of the Program by no later than October 1 following the funding cycle. While only one report is required at the end of the funding cycle, OVPR and the CURATE Research Support Program Committee do request that updates be provided should additional activities be conducted or achievements received by the awardee that can be directly traced back to the receipt of the award. Reports will be reviewed by the OVPR and CURATE Research Support Program Committee. Failure to comply with the reporting requirements will affect faculty eligibility for future funding. Repeated reporting violations by faculty in a given College or unit may also affect future funding eligibility for the College or unit.

Awardees are responsible for developing and submitting their project reports directly in Scholars@UK. To support the reporting process, OVPR will host Scholars@UK training sessions each fall to assist awardees in meeting the post-award reporting requirement. Detailed instructions on submitting reports through Scholars@UK can be found on the CURATE Research Support Program Report Guide website.

 CURATE Reporting Guide website