National Science Foundation
Arlington, VA
Agency facts
- Acronym
-
- NSF
- Agency code
- 4900
- Organization
-
-
NSF
- OISE
Show all 57
-
NSF
- Contract obligations
- $727,970,379 In FY2025
- Website
- nsf.gov
Agency codes and contract spending come from SAM.gov/FPDS.
Contract obligations by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Obligated |
|---|---|
| FY2027 To date | -$168,289 |
| FY2026 | $601,994,903 |
| FY2025 | $727,970,379 |
| FY2024 | $802,907,036 |
| FY2023 | $645,371,887 |
Top contractors by obligations
| Rank | Contractor | Obligated, FY2026–FY2027 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leidos, Inc. | $242,697,758 | |
| 2 | Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. | $53,934,806 | |
| 3 | Battelle Memorial Institute | $41,504,192 | |
| 4 | Directviz Solutions, LLC | $21,205,967 | |
| 5 | By Light Professional It Services LLC | $16,436,544 | |
| 6 | Synectics For Management Decisions, Inc. | $14,361,648 | |
| 7 | Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. | $13,741,502 | |
| 8 | ICF Incorporated, L.L.C. | $11,763,849 | |
| 9 | Accenture Federal Services LLC | $7,876,464 | |
| 10 | Criterion Systems, L.L.C. | $7,828,199 |
See the full FY2025 ranking of National Science Foundation contractors, by parent company.
Top contract vehicles by obligations
| Rank | Vehicle | Obligated, FY2026–FY2027 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) | $95,862,502 | |
| 2 | Alliant II | $70,371,350 | |
| 3 | Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement V (SEWP V) | $24,585,335 | |
| 4 | Chief Information Officer - Solutions and Partners 3, Small Business (CIO-SP3 SB) | $15,475,498 | |
| 5 | Evaluation, Assessment, and Program Management Services | $8,181,298 | |
| 6 | 8(a) STARS III (STARS III) | $5,787,341 | |
| 7 | NCSES Technical and Analytical Support Services | $2,709,066 | |
| 8 | Veterans Technology Services 2 (VETS 2) | $2,403,070 | |
| 9 | One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services - Small Business (OASIS SB) | $2,059,657 | |
| 10 | Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) | $1,206,299 |
10 of 19 vehicles listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Contract opportunities
Show 40 more
Latest 50 of 812 listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Contracting staff
| Rank | Person | SAM.gov records, last 2 years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jennifer Shymansky | 121 |
| 2 | Kristina Price | 114 |
| 3 | Jonathan Schmeelk | 84 |
| 4 | Angela Johnson | 67 |
| 5 | Charles Loss | 67 |
| 6 | Benjamin Patterson | 60 |
| 7 | Michelle Parrott | 60 |
| 8 | Bethany Stutler | 57 |
| 9 | Alexandra Roig Vitali | 54 |
| 10 | Kenovy Rodriguez | 45 |
| 11 | Christine Beinhacker | 44 |
| 12 | Soundjata Carty | 35 |
| 13 | Kevin Giardini | 19 |
| 14 | Katrina Barry | 16 |
| 15 | Devin Faggs | 16 |
| 16 | Brett Nidiffer | 10 |
| 17 | Alyssa Todaro | 3 |
| 18 | Joseph C. Dorsey | 3 |
| 19 | Leresa Garrett | 1 |
| 20 | Kelly Ryan | 1 |
About this agency
The National Science Foundation, an independent civilian agency that funds research, education, and technology development across science and engineering disciplines, administers the largest federal grant portfolio on record alongside a smaller contract operation serving its administrative and technology needs.
NSF's contract portfolio spans 9,268 awards since 1978, with combined potential value of $12.41 billion and $11.61 billion obligated to date (94% spend-through rate). Recent contract activity has declined significantly: 368 awards in 2022, 387 in 2023, 377 in 2024, 175 in 2025, and 87 year-to-date in 2026. Competitive concentration among prime contractors is highly fragmented, with the top five by award count holding 13 percent of recent awards over the last five years. Federal Management Partners, LLC leads by count with 69 awards and $37.5 million combined potential value, followed by Thundercat Technology, LLC with 38 awards and Agility Technologies Inc. with 30 awards. Research Triangle Institute commands the largest recent value at $62.5 million across 17 awards. Across the portfolio, 79 percent of awards carry no set-aside designation; 9 percent are small-business set-asides, 9 percent are 8(a) sole-source awards, and the remaining 3 percent split across SDVOSB, HUBZone, WOSB, and other minority set-asides.
NSF's grant portfolio substantially exceeds its contract operation: 375,273 awards since 1990 have obligated $159.7 billion in federal dollars (combined federal and non-federal share reaches $160.79 billion). Recent grant activity declined from 12,176 awards in 2023 to 11,553 in 2024, 9,005 in 2025, 3,112 year-to-date in 2026, and 34 recorded in 2027. Recipient concentration is highly fragmented, with the top five by count holding 7 percent of recent awards. The Regents of the University of Michigan lead by award count with 848 grants ($541.7 million federal dollars), followed by the University of Washington with 712 awards ($534.4 million) and Pennsylvania State University with 704 awards ($334.2 million). By federal dollars obligated over the last five years, the University of Texas at Austin leads at $782.6 million across 653 awards; Michigan, Washington, University of Illinois, and Arizona State University round out the top five. Grants are predominantly Project Grants (98 percent of awards) with Cooperative Agreements forming a small remainder (2 percent).
Recent contract solicitations reflect NSF's technology-innovation initiatives: NSF X-Labs seeks full-time interdisciplinary R&D teams for quantum interconnects, integrated quantum photonics, and scientific instrumentation for sensing and imaging (due July 13–24, 2026, via Other Transaction Agreements); TechAccess: AI-Ready America seeks a National Coordination Lead for the AI-Ready America program (due July 21, 2026, OT award); and the Geosciences Directorate Broad Agency Announcement addresses technical solutions for secure American energy dominance and national infrastructure resilience (industry day July 30, 2026). NSF also issued a notice of intent to sole-source Web of Science custom data extracts from Clarivate (June 30, 2026 deadline) and posted requests for information on data sources (NCSES output trade data) and establishment of NSF Tech Accelerators for deep-tech commercialization.
Recent grant opportunities span NSF's research directorates: Engineering Research Initiation targets new investigators at non-R1 institutions (due October 9, 2026); Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I and II with pilot emphasis on scientific instrumentation (due July 27, 2026); Education Core Research in STEM learning, broadening participation, and workforce development at three funding levels up to $2.5 million (due October 1, 2026); and ongoing disciplinary programs in Transport Phenomena, Engineering Biological and Biomedical Systems, Chemical Process Systems, and Engineering Environmental Resiliency (posted April–May 2026).
Description
The National Science Foundation supports research and education across all fields of science and technology, primarily through grants.
Quick answers
What is National Science Foundation?
National Science Foundation (NSF) is a federal agency.
What offices are part of National Science Foundation?
National Science Foundation has 57 sub-agencies and offices with their own GovTribe pages, including Budget Division, Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering and Directorate for Education and Human Resources.
How much does National Science Foundation spend on contracts?
Contracts funded by National Science Foundation and its offices obligated $727,970,379 in fiscal year 2025 and $2,778,075,917 in fiscal years 2023 through 2027.
Who are National Science Foundation's largest contractors?
The contractors National Science Foundation and its offices obligated the most to in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 are Leidos, Inc. ($242,697,758), Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. ($53,934,806) and Battelle Memorial Institute ($41,504,192).
Which contract vehicles does National Science Foundation use most?
The contract vehicles National Science Foundation and its offices obligated the most through in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 are Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) ($95,862,502), Alliant II ($70,371,350) and Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement V (SEWP V) ($24,585,335). Orders through any contract vehicle obligated $228,114,711 in those years, 38% of its contract obligations.
What is National Science Foundation's latest contract opportunity?
The latest contract opportunity from National Science Foundation is NSF Ecosystem for Low-dimensional Electronics: Growth, Assembly, Nanoelectronics, and Translation (NSF ELEGANT), solicitation, posted September 17, 2026.
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