Georgia State University Research Foundation Inc.

Georgia State University Research Foundation Inc., the research arm of Georgia State University, is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization based in Atlanta that receives federal research grants and contracts across science, technology, engineering, healthcare, education, and social services domains as a prime recipient (83% of recent awards) and as a sub-recipient on grants led by other institutions. The foundation competes in full-and-open, unset-aside federal research funding, with no small business set-aside designations or minority certifications in its recent award footprint.

The foundation's work spans fundamental and applied research in heliophysics and space weather forecasting, biomedical sciences including infectious disease and neurological disorders, educational research and STEM workforce development, public health interventions addressing health equity and maternal-child health, and infrastructure investments in high-performance computing. Recent prime awards include a $6.68 million NIAID grant for influenza antiviral therapeutics development (awarded August 2025, obligated through July 2029); a $3.5 million NSF grant supporting open-access observing time and new instrumentation at the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array (September 2024 through August 2027); a $1.34 million NIAID award for outer membrane vesicle vaccine development against drug-resistant gonorrhea (September 2025 through August 2030); and a $795 thousand Army Research Institute definitive contract for metacognition enhancement in officer development (September 2024 through September 2027). Biomedical research encompasses vaccine development, protein engineering, neuroscience, and precision medical imaging. Education-focused work includes TRIO Student Support Services grants to the Department of Education (eight active awards totaling over $2 million in annual potential value targeting disadvantaged college students), NSF-funded research on STEM pedagogy and computational social science, and teacher professional development initiatives. Space research centers on computational modeling of solar transient events, space weather prediction using machine learning, and heliophysics data infrastructure.

Federal customer concentration shows heavy reliance on research funding agencies rather than procurement-driven departments. The National Science Foundation leads by award count (279 awards across the dataset), followed by the National Institutes of Health (86 awards direct to NIH, with an additional 75 to NIAID specifically). NASA's Shared Services Center (which administers civilian space science programs) anchors significant dollar volume with 64 awards and $6.2 million combined potential value, reflecting the foundation's heliophysics portfolio. The Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education has placed 52 awards, predominantly TRIO SSS and Special Education Personnel Development grants. Combined potential value across all 1,583 awards totals $423.8 million, though obligated dollars ($1.63 billion) exceed this measure, indicating substantial contract and grant ceiling balances and multi-year commitments. Recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months includes 128 awards with combined potential value of $18.5 million.

The foundation holds a GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract (awarded October 2025, valid through October 2030) with a $70.6 million ceiling, spanning 19 labor categories at hourly rates from $26.04 (graduate research assistants with bachelor's degree and one year experience) through $274.58 (center directors with doctorate and five years experience). No security-cleared positions are included. The MAS position provides task-order access for federal agencies across research, administrative, educational technology, and program implementation services. The foundation also maintains a $29.4 million HRSA Technical Assistance indefinite delivery vehicle with nine task orders placed as of the source date, providing technical assistance and training services to health-related federal programs.

Across Service Contract Inventory records (FY2022–FY2024), the foundation reported $15.2 million in invoiced revenue on SCI-reportable prime contracts, declining from $6.1 million in FY2022 (39.0 FTEs) to $4.9 million in FY2024 (28.6 FTEs). Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable contracts ranged from a 10th-percentile floor of $63.16/hr to a 90th-percentile ceiling of $382.01/hr, with a median of $102.83/hr, reflecting a research labor portfolio spanning entry-level graduate assistants through senior investigators and administrative leadership. On SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors performed approximately 18% of total contractor hours, with 23 named subcontractors identified across the SCI dataset. The foundation operates predominantly as a prime recipient and contractor, leveraging internal research teams and selective subcontracting partnerships rather than functioning as a feeder to larger primes.

Recent sub-awardee relationships span collaborative research and shared infrastructure roles with peer research institutions: the foundation subcontracts to Emory University on multiple NIH and CDC grants addressing health equity, aging, and disease prevention; partners with University of Washington researchers on influenza vaccine development; collaborates with universities of Colorado, Pennsylvania State, and others on specialized research projects. Sub-contract work typically involves investigator-led contributions (data analysis, specialized assays, cohort management) rather than full-service delivery. The foundation's grant sub-recipient footprint is substantial and growing, with over 120 sub-award relationships identified in the source data spanning education, research methods training, data analysis, specialized facility access, and community engagement roles.

Award activity shows growth through FY2024 (172 awards) before moderating in FY2025 and FY2026 (114 and 36 awards year-to-date in the source snapshot), reflecting the timing of grant cycles and fiscal-year reporting lags. The foundation competes across 157 distinct federal agencies and programs, with research funding concentrated in NSF, NIH, NASA, and Department of Education channels. No single customer agency or vehicle dominates revenue, indicating a distributed, mission-driven portfolio aligned with the foundation's role as research enabler for Georgia State University's academic priorities rather than a dedicated federal contractor pursuing market capture.