Illinois Institute Of Technology

Illinois Institute of Technology Sponsored Research and Programs Division, operating as I I T, is a private nonprofit research university that acts as a prime recipient and contractor for federal research grants and educational services, competing predominantly under full-and-open contract vehicles and NSF research programs without set-aside restrictions. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and founded in 1890, IIT delivers preclinical drug development, toxicology and infectious disease research, advanced materials science, AI and machine learning applications, cybersecurity, environmental engineering, and specialized educational and training services to defense, civilian, health, and science agencies across 118 federal customers.

IIT's federal footprint splits unevenly between contract work and grant funding. The Sponsored Research and Programs Division holds a single-award Basic Ordering Agreement (N0018925GZ002, completion date October 31, 2034) with the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, a defense agency, through which task orders for tuition and fees have been the primary contract vehicle—16 delivery orders between 2021 and 2026 ranging from $8,560 to $543,957, with ultimate completion dates through mid-2026. A second significant BOA (N0018912GZ002) with Navy Medical carries 17 task orders totaling $154 thousand. Representative prime contract work includes delivery orders for Navy NROTC midshipmen tuition and allowable fees ($543,957, May 2025, Bureau of Naval Personnel), educational services for Navy personnel ($509,126, January 2025, Bureau of Naval Personnel), and tuition reimbursement across multiple semesters ($21,236 to $341,316 per order, 2021–2026, Department of the Navy). IIT competes under full-and-open contract competition; no set-aside activity is present in the contract awards.

Federal grant activity dwarfs contract work in volume and value. IIT received 238 NSF awards, 93 Air Force Research Laboratory project grants, 49 GSA awards, and 42 Navy awards across its recent portfolio, with combined potential value in research grants reaching $32.8 million. Representative grant recipients include: a $4.0 million NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CFDA 47.070) award for IOWARP, an AI-infused data management platform for scientific workflows (August 2024–July 2029, with a $250,031 sub-award to The HDF Group); a $1.5 million NSF Office of International Science and Engineering (CFDA unspecified) award for all-solid-state battery research with seven European institutions (January 2023–December 2025, with a $200 thousand sub-award to Missouri University of Science and Technology); a $818 thousand NASA award for Lagrangian Coherent Structures research in ionosphere-atmosphere coupling (January 2024–December 2026); and a $648,992 National Cancer Institute award (CFDA 93.395) for antibody chelator conjugates for targeted radionuclide therapy of triple-negative breast cancer (June 2026–May 2031). NSF research dominance reflects IIT's academic mission; the institution also acts as a sub-recipient on multi-university collaborative grants, including recent sub-awards from Northwestern University (Nutrition Precision Health for All of Us, Chicago Center), University of Illinois (Illinois Space Grant Consortium, Transportation cybersecurity research), Dartmouth College (collaborative projects), and University of Florida (wind tunnel facility partnerships for cavity flow research).

Recent activity shows 60 awards in 2024 (the peak year in the last five), declining to 36 in 2025 and 9 in 2026 to date (as of July 15, 2026), reflecting typical grant funding cycles and recompete windows. Thirty-seven awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $1.2 million and face recompete exposure. IIT's customer base spans 118 agencies, with NSF (238 awards), Department of the Air Force (93 awards), and GSA (49 awards) anchoring 41% of award volume, while the Department of Navy Naval Education and Training Command ($5.3 million), NASA Shared Services Center ($3.1 million), and FDA ($1.5 million) drive 31% of combined potential value. The concentration signals dual missions: federal research funding through NSF and interagency partnerships, and tuition reimbursement contracting through Navy educational support.

IIT Research Institute (IITRI), a named subsidiary, operates as a separate nonprofit entity and functions as a co-branded research arm historically active in preclinical drug development, materials testing, and applied research for federal agencies, though recent award data reflect activity flowing through the parent Sponsored Research and Programs Division. The university's corporate structure as a tax-exempt private institution enables it to compete for federal research grants across NIH, NSF, DOD, DOE, and civilian agencies on an unrestricted basis. No federal set-asides apply; IIT's market position rests on research reputation, specialized facilities (wind tunnels, synchrotron access partnerships, microfluidic platforms), and PhD-level faculty expertise in STEM disciplines and medical research.