Butler University

Butler University, a private non-profit educational institution based in Indianapolis, Indiana, conducts federally funded academic research and provides specialized research services as a prime grant recipient and occasional prime contractor, competing on full-and-open basis without set-aside designations. The university operates across 72 federal awards spanning research, education, and professional services, with 89% as prime awards and 11% as sub-awards; recent activity shows four awards in 2026, four in 2025, and seven in 2024, with a combined potential value of $342 thousand across the visible award portfolio and $39.4 million in obligated dollars indicating substantial historical execution.

Butler's research footprint centers on astrophysics, materials chemistry, computational biology, and neuroscience. Representative prime work includes a $76,738 NASA grant (21-NUSTAR21-0032, ultimate completion January 17, 2027) for probing rapid variability in black hole X-ray binary jets; a $256,502 National Science Foundation Division of Chemistry grant (CFDA 47.049, awarded September 1, 2026, performance through August 31, 2029) led by Professor Todd Hopkins for developing flexible chiral light-emitting eutectogels based on deep eutectic solvents and lanthanide complexes with applications in circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes and security labels; and a $181,538 Department of Education grant (CFDA 84.325, October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026) supporting the Partners in Reaching Potential (PREP) initiative for preparing an interdisciplinary workforce for family engagement in deaf education. The university also holds a $175,000 National Science Foundation CISE grant (CFDA 47.070, ultimate completion July 31, 2026) for developing modular computational frameworks for modeling peptide and protein binding to cell membranes. Beyond research grants, Butler received a $24,365 firm fixed price purchase order from the Shared Services Center (award date May 1, 2026, completion September 15, 2026) for university student research and updates to a public database containing microgravity crystal growth data, and a $44,980.68 definitive contract from VA Strategic Acquisition Center Frederick for the NVCAF Theater project (award date May 13, 2025, completion May 17, 2025).

Customer concentration is diffuse across 30 distinct federal agencies, with the top five covering 44% of recent awards. The National Science Foundation leads by award count (12 awards), followed by NASA's Shared Services Center (8 awards, $271 thousand combined potential value), the NSF Division of Chemistry (4 awards), the National Endowment for the Humanities (4 awards), and the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (4 awards). By dollar ranking, NASA's Shared Services Center dominates with $271 thousand across eight awards, followed by the Department of Veterans Affairs ($45 thousand), and the Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery ($25 thousand). Butler places task orders under two named parent vehicles: an Indefinite Delivery Contract (N0018908GZ237) with two task orders totaling $25 thousand, and an Indefinite Delivery Contract (80GSFC19D0011) with one task order.

Butler operates as a sub-recipient on education and economic-development grants: the university received sub-grant allocations from the Department of Education Indiana (July 31, 2026) and acts as a sub-recipient under the Indiana Economic Development Corporation for operating the Central Indiana Small Business Development Center (awards dated May 16, 2024, May 19, 2025, and May 8, 2026). As a subcontractor, Butler performs specialized research services: the Aerospace Corporation named Butler on a NASA-wide Specialized Engineering, Evaluation and Test Services (NSEETS) sub-task for space production applications (May 25, 2022), and Butler subcontracts on child-abuse-and-neglect database operation and maintenance support services to the Administration for Children and Families (September 19, 2025).

Four awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months (combined potential value $72 thousand), representing the near-term recompete exposure for the university's federal research portfolio. Butler's capability delivery centers on undergraduate-engaged research in chemistry, physics, neuroscience, and educational technology, with institutional emphasis on integrating student researchers into federally funded investigations and contributing results to publicly available databases and open-source software platforms.