Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences

The National Science Foundation Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences is a civilian sub-agency within NSF that administers federal contracts and grants in support of research and infrastructure in mathematics, physics, astronomy, and materials science. The Directorate operates both contract and grant programs, with grant-making substantially outpacing contract activity in volume and federal obligation.

Contract awards total 89 across the portfolio history since 2006, with combined potential value of $36.3 million and $34 million obligated to 38 distinct prime contractors. Recent contract activity has been sporadic: 1 award in 2022, 9 in 2023, 3 in 2024, 5 in 2025, and 6 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent award closed on October 1, 2026. Among recent award winners, competitive concentration is moderately concentrated. Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. leads by potential value with 3 awards worth $13.7 million, followed by Genco General Contractors Of Puerto Rico Corp. at $5.1 million from a single award and Unico LLC at $4.5 million across 4 awards. The top five primes by potential value account for 68 percent of recent combined value. The remaining 33 distinct primes hold smaller awards and scattered presence. Set-aside activity is minimal: 69 percent of awards carry no set-aside designation, 18 percent are 8(a) Sole Source, 10 percent are Total Small Business, and 1 percent each are Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business and Woman-Owned Small Business.

Grant awards total 1,231 since 2012, with $629.9 million in federal dollars obligated and $636.4 million in total combined federal and non-federal share across 342 distinct recipients. Annual grant volume has remained steady: 207 awards in 2023, 173 in 2024, 188 in 2025, 111 in 2026, and 3 year-to-date in 2027. Grant recipient concentration is highly fragmented; the top five recipients by award count account for only 7 percent of recent awards, and the top five by federal dollars represent 5 percent of obligated federal funds. Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology each lead their respective categories—MIT with 14 awards worth $9.6 million and Caltech with 15 awards worth $9.4 million—but no single institution dominates. The remaining 337 recipients span research universities, institutes, and other eligible organizations with highly distributed federal support. Nearly all grant awards (99 percent) are structured as Project Grants; Cooperative Agreements account for 1 percent.

No recent federal contract or grant opportunities are recorded against this Directorate in the source data provided.