Longtime UK-University of Burgundy partnership to expand

They say Burgundy and bourbon do not mix, but thanks to a long-standing University of Kentucky relationship, that very well may be changing.

The University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) and the University of Burgundy (UB) in Burgundy, France, have built a strong academic partnership over the past several decades, collaborating on an array of programs.

The strongest and most consistent connection, however, has been CAER’s relationship with a French public engineering school, the Ecole Supérieure d'Ingénieurs Numérique et Matériaux (ESIREM). For more than 20 years, CAER has hosted ESIREM’s material science students for internships in its laboratories.

Thanks to funding from UKinSPIRE (Seeding Partnerships for International Research Engagement) that relationship will not only continue but will expand.

The new project, titled “Expanding a Transatlantic Research Alliance (ExTRA),” seeks to further strengthen the relationship between CAER and UB by supporting:

• UK faculty, staff and student research at UB.

• Participation of UB researchers in UK research symposia.

• Expanding research collaborations between additional departments at UK and UB.

CAER will continue hosting several ESIREM students each year in three to five month internships in its laboratories. CAER students and researchers will continue to perform research at UB and deliver lectures and seminars to UB students and researchers.

“The partnership between UK and UB has been both enduring and fruitful,” said Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez, Ph.D., who is the principal investigator on the project and leading the alliance. “Funding from UKinSPIRE will allow for this partnership not only to be maintained but also expanded to connect other programs including those focused on wine and bourbon for which Burgundy and Kentucky are renowned. We are most thankful to the UK Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) and the UK International Center (UKIC) for their support."  

ExTRA will also support connecting UK and UB across other units related to those signature industries, particularly Distillation, Wine and Brewing Studies (DWBS) in the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits in the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

As part of that effort, the Martin-Gatton College and UB’s Jules Guyot Institute of Vine and Wine (IVW) will develop a new and exciting partnership mainly focused on the exchange of students and researchers. UB researchers will also participate in UK’s annual Food, Energy and Water Symposium and the James B. Beam Institute Industry Conference.

“Internationalizing our curriculum is necessary to have our graduates be the best in the world,” said Seth DeBolt, director of the James B. Beam Institute. “A partnership like this one between the University of Kentucky’s James B. Beam Institute and UB’s Jules Guyot Institute of Vine and Wine provides the perfect mix of shared learning and student advancement. We are thrilled to be a part of this.”