Brandeis University

Brandeis University, a tax-exempt private research university headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, operates as a recipient of federal research grants and contracts across a broad portfolio of basic and applied research programs, competing predominantly in full-and-open federal research competitions with no set-aside designations. The university receives approximately $209.9 million in combined potential value across 774 prime and sub awards from 95 distinct federal agencies, with an obligation history of $1.04 billion indicating substantial research execution capacity.

Brandeis delivers fundamental and applied research services across neuroscience, biomedical sciences, materials science, mathematics, physics, and policy research. Representative prime awards include a $752 thousand National Science Foundation grant for higher-order statistics of geostrophic turbulence and internal waves; a $1.035 million Naval Medical Research Unit R&D contract with the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to investigate visual and auditory feedback mechanisms for heading direction maintenance in aerospace environments; a $190 thousand Inter-American Foundation contract for Colombian peace-keeping impact evaluation; and a $1.542 million National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases grant investigating sensory functions of pharyngeal enteric neurons using C. elegans models. The university acts as prime on 91% of its awards (704 of 774) and holds sub-award relationships with Management Sciences For Health (HS4TB tuberculosis health systems strengthening activities) and various university partners on collaborative research initiatives.

Federal customer concentration is pronounced in research funding. The National Science Foundation leads by award count (146 awards), followed by the Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health system (104 direct awards; 136 total across NIH institutes). Within NIH, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (55 awards), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (49 awards), and National Institute on Aging (32 awards) represent the largest subfunding sources. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, while accounting for only 7 awards, dominates by potential dollar value at $96.9 million—a structural outlier reflecting CMS's large program-evaluation and research-infrastructure awards. Award volume trended down from 49 in 2024 to 39 in 2025 and 17 in 2026, with only 3 awards recorded through February 2027, signaling either a seasonal lag in source data or a portfolio recompete cycle in progress. Sixty-five awards face completion within the next twenty-four months with combined potential value of $752 thousand—minimal recompete exposure.

Brandeis sits on multiple parent vehicles but reports limited formalized IDIQ or GWAC activity in the source. Four task orders appear under a Blanket Purchase Agreement (20343120A00001, $577 thousand), and four under an Indefinite Delivery Contract (HHSM500200500020I, $5.4 million). An ASDA Integrated Health Systems IDIQ and ASPE/AHRQ/ONC Technical Services BPA carry one and two task orders respectively, indicating opportunistic rather than strategic reliance on standing vehicles. Primary business model centers on competitive grants and research contracts pursued directly from federal agencies rather than through government-wide acquisition vehicles.

Brandeis names the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Pennsylvania, Northeastern University, Columbia University, and multiple other universities as partners on sub-awarded collaborative research, particularly in NIH-funded neuroscience and aging studies. Sub-recipient relationships reflect the research university norm—smaller dollar awards to specialized labs within larger multi-site projects—rather than traditional prime-to-sub contractor teaming. The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, housed at Brandeis, operates as a named research center executing RRTC (Rehabilitation Research and Training Center) cooperative agreements and policy evaluation work with NIH, HHS, NSF, and Department of Education funding.

Research portfolio concentration reflects institutional strengths in aging, Alzheimer's disease, neuroscience, and biomedical fundamentals. Representative recent grant work includes projects on circular RNAs as aging and stress biomarkers, mitochondrial Complex I function in neurodegeneration, tau pathology and monoamine systems in cognitive resilience, learning-induced cortical rewiring during development, and HIV vaccine development through glycoconjugate immunology. NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences awards anchor theoretical and computational chemistry, materials science, and discrete mathematics work. The university operates core research facilities (cryo-EM microscopy, NMR spectrometry, confocal imaging) that support both internal investigators and regional partners, funded through NSF MRI (Major Research Instrumentation) grants and NIH shared resources mechanisms.

Brandeis competes in full-and-open federal research funding markets without set-aside claims or geographic preferences. Award activity reflects typical academic research institution patterns: small-to-medium prime grants ($300 thousand to $2 million, multiyear periods) from NIH and NSF; occasional larger training grants and center awards; minimal direct defense or civilian agency service contracting; and substantial graduate student and postdoctoral researcher support embedded across funded work. The university does not appear to pursue federal procurement contracts for goods or services; all recorded federal awards are research, evaluation, or training grants and research service contracts issued through scientific agencies.