This past month, the U.S. House and Senate finalized most of their federal budget, and the University of Kentucky has received more than $100 million in research support. 

In a campus-wide email sent Tuesday, Feb. 10, President Eli Capilouto said due to bipartisan support, the National Institute of Health received increases in funding that will impact research at UK. 

According to the email, the funding will go toward supporting a second Healthy Kentucky Research Building ($65 million) and advanced manufacturing partnerships with the U.S. Army and Navy to develop stealth technology and submarines ($30 million). 

The current Healthy Research Building is a lab for federally funded projects focusing on health problems confronting Kentucky. According to Capilouto, the proposal of a second one is “thanks to the decades of service and leadership by Senator Mitch McConnell.”

“More than $600 million in research awards have flowed through the Healthy Research Building I since it opened in 2018,” Capilouto wrote. “The return of $600 million of research generated in the last seven years, is already twice the cost of the investment state lawmakers made years ago.”

Additionally, $2 million will go toward UK’s Center for Applied Energy Research to manufacture graphite derived from coal, the email said. In partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, CAER will leverage $20 million for turning carbon products from coal into other materials, such as fiber. 

The Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture will receive $10 million for a U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Unit on campus, increasing its current construction budget. 

All of the research efforts funding is going toward fall under the categories of “health, manufacturing, defense and agriculture, among others.” 

Capilouto refers to these research efforts as “strong backing” when garnering support from Kentucky policy makers, such as Sen. Mitch McConnell and Congressman Hal Rogers. 

“The importance of our federal delegation supporting the university comes at a critical time as our partners in Frankfort begin the process of negotiating and passing the most important policy document for the next two years — the state budget,” Capilouto wrote. “The foundational support from Sen. McConnell and other members of our delegation will strengthen our case as we talk with policymakers in Frankfort.”

Capilouto testified in Frankfort last week “on behalf of the UK Board of Trustees and each of you to share our story.”