• Grant & contract awards to UK totaled $496.9 million
• Federal agencies awarded UK $255.3 million, 51.4% of UK’s total awards
  
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants totaled $130.2 million
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) grants totaled $25.2 million
  • Department of Energy (DOE) grants totaled $23.4 million
• State agencies awarded UK $147.9 million
• Industry awarded UK $25.1 million

For more, see Record research awards reflect UK's mission to advance Kentucky (July 15, 2025)

Based on FY23 research expenditures totaling $504 million, UK ranks:

• 63rd among 664 public and private universities
• 41st among 420 public institutions

These rankings were released in November 2024. The National Science Foundation (NSF), through the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), publishes the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey each year, ranking the top universities according to what they spend on research. The HERD survey is considered to be the primary source of information on R&D expenditures within academia. For more information, see NSF Publications & Data.

• 20 companies located on-site
• 65 private company employees
• 10 faculty R&D labs
• 3 university centers
• 64 graduate companies since 1994

• 118 total innovation disclosures submitted
  • 29 primary social innovation disclosures submitted
• 154 patent applications filed
• 61 patents issued worldwide
• 1,052 total agreements executed (does not include licenses & options)
• 82 licenses and options executed
• $2.2 million in license income
• 1 new start-up company affiliated with UK technology
• 1,275 corporate engagements

According to the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) FY24 survey, UK ranks:

• 28th among public universities in the number of startups created (7)
• 40th among public universities in licensing income ($4,346,761)

For more information, see AUTM.