Fisk University

Fisk University Office of Sponsored Research Division is a historically Black college and university (HBCU) based in Nashville, Tennessee that operates as a federal grant recipient (88% of recent awards as prime recipient) delivering STEM education, research capacity building, and advanced materials science research across thirty federal agencies. Fisk is minority-owned and non-profit; the source does not identify a contracting relationship or IDV participation, and the division does not hold federal contracts.

Fisk's research capability portfolio centers on radiation detection materials, sensor technology, cybersecurity workforce development, and STEM curriculum innovation at the undergraduate level. Representative prime grant work includes a $4.0 million Project Grant from the Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education (CFDA 84.116, FIPSE program) awarded January 2026 through December 2029 for the Justice Propulsion Lab Initiative, which supports civil discourse and conflict transformation programming; a $399,998 National Science Foundation STEM Education grant (CFDA 47.076) awarded August 2025 through July 2028 in collaboration with Meharry Medical College to develop a new cybersecurity curriculum and experiential learning model for HBCUs; and a $796,546 Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education grant (CFDA 84.031, Higher Education Institutional Aid) awarded October 2025 through September 2026 for STEM and STEAM laboratory development. Fisk also received a $50,000 research award from a NASA Shared Services Center in September 2021 for gamma-ray and ionizing-radiation detection technology development, demonstrating materials science research capacity in scintillator crystals and radiation-hardened semiconductors relevant to space missions and planetary science.

Customer concentration is distributed across federal research and education agencies. The National Science Foundation dominates by award count (51 awards), followed by the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (23 awards) and the Department of Homeland Security (11 awards), with the Department of the Army and the Department of Energy as secondary customers at 9 and 7 awards respectively. The top five customers account for 62% of recent awards. By potential value, the profile shifts: the DOD Missile Defense Agency carries three awards with $1.9 million combined potential value, though NSF and OPE continue to anchor the portfolio by volume.

Recent activity shows moderate stability—seven awards in 2022 to ten in 2024, with nine in 2025 and five through April 2026—suggesting a steady research pipeline. Eight awards reach ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months and face recompete risk. The combined potential value across all 164 awards (prime and sub) is approximately $4.0 million, though the obligated dollars total $164 million, reflecting substantial prior-year commitments.

Fisk acts as a sub-recipient on collaborative grants with research universities and peer HBCUs. Named prime grantees include Vanderbilt University (postdoctoral mentoring and fellowship administration under NASA Space Grant and a postdoctoral associate research education program), Pennsylvania State University (collaboration on ionizing-radiation research alliance work), Middle Tennessee State University (quantum materials workforce development under an R2-HBCU partnership), Georgia Tech Research Corporation (network infrastructure and collaboration-visualization projects), and the University of Illinois (Bridge to the Doctorate traineeship support). These sub-awards involve research mentoring, student selection and professional development, summer internship hosting, and collaborative research infrastructure—work that extends Fisk's capacity as a teaching and research institution rather than contracted service delivery.

Fisk's federal posture is exclusively grant-based, with no contracting vehicle participation and no prime contract awards. The division operates within the tax-exempt educational-institution framework, competing for and administering awards from NSF, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy Office of Science, and the Department of Defense under HBCU-focused grant programs and general research competition vehicles. The NAICS and PSC footprint reflects this educational-research mission: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (7 awards) and Research and Development in Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (1 award) characterize the primary categories.