Georgia Southern University Research & Service Foundation Inc.

Georgia Southern University Research & Service Foundation Inc., a tax-exempt nonprofit foundation affiliated with Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia, acts as the recipient and prime awardee for federal research grants and contracts spanning basic research, workforce development, and community engagement. The organization operates exclusively as a grant recipient and subrecipient; it holds no federal contract vehicles and does not function as a prime contractor on federal contracts.

The foundation's federal footprint is concentrated in research and educational grant work across 71 customer agencies, with no set-aside posture applicable to its grant-focused profile. The National Science Foundation dominates recent activity (66 awards), followed by the Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (21 awards), the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (16 awards), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (9 awards), and the National Institutes of Health (8 awards). These five agencies account for 46 percent of recent awards by count. Combined obligated dollars across all awards total $108.5 million against a combined potential value of $416 thousand, reflecting a mature portfolio of completed and ongoing work.

Recent prime grant work exemplifies the foundation's research and workforce development capability. NSF engineering research initiation grants support fundamental investigations: a $249,998 Army Corps of Engineers SERDP contract funds proof-of-concept research on ionic liquids for separating fluoropolymers from metal powders (April 2025 award, completion April 2027); an $800,000 HRSA Targeted Technical Assistance for Rural Hospitals Program funds five-year technical assistance to at-risk rural hospitals (September 2023 award, completion August 2028); and a $2.04 million NOAA Congressionally Identified Award funds the "Safe Water Together" community-engaged water quality initiative in coastal Georgia (March 2025 award, completion February 2029). NSF also funds a $1.998 million STEM Education scholarship and support program for low-income undergraduates in science, mathematics, and technology (March 2025 award, completion February 2030). Additional NSF awards support faculty research in materials science, statistical modeling, protein structure, chemical engineering, and coastal ecology, with values ranging from $119,952 to $599,997.

Activity has grown steadily — from 21 awards in 2022 to 29 in 2025 — with 22 awards carrying combined potential value of $250 thousand reaching ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure for the foundation's grant pipeline. The foundation holds subrecipient roles on collaborative NSF and NIH grants led by University of Georgia, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of California Santa Barbara, Penn State, and University of Missouri System, typically contributing specialized research expertise or serving as a co-investigator site. Recent subcontract work includes an Army leadership development research project as a sub-recipient under Georgia State University Research Foundation Inc. (award January 2026, performance through December 2027) and research support services delivered to Leidos on defense and federal agency projects.

The foundation's capability portfolio centers on experimental and theoretical research in STEM disciplines — materials science, biomedical engineering, environmental science, chemistry, physics, and mathematics — paired with educational program delivery in teacher training, student scholarships, and workforce development. Work integrates substantial student mentoring, curriculum development, and public engagement, particularly in underrepresented STEM populations and rural community applications. No federal contract prime or IDIQ vehicles are present; the organization competes exclusively through open federal grant competitions across NSF, NIH, HRSA, NOAA, Department of Education, and other civilian research agencies.