Morgan State University

Morgan State University, a historically Black college and university (HBCU) headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, operates as a prime recipient on federal research grants and as a cooperating partner on federal research contracts and Other Transaction Agreements, competing full-and-open without set-aside designations across research, education, and infrastructure development programs. The university functions primarily as a research institution and grant recipient rather than a traditional federal contractor, with 87% of recent awards (623 of 714 total) positioned as prime grants and cooperative agreements rather than contract vehicles.

Morgan State's federal footprint centers on research and educational programs across atmospheric science, climate research, quantum information science, advanced materials, aerospace engineering, and STEM workforce development. Representative prime awards include a $3.4 million Other Transaction Agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for the Rads to Watts effort (aerospace and advanced technology), a $5.445 million congressionally identified construction grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for a molecular biology research laboratory within the Science Complex (performance through August 2029), a $10 million Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research grant from the Department of the Army for trusted AI autonomous systems for national defense (through August 2031), and $5 million in Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education support for research infrastructure investments targeting Carnegie R1 status elevation. Work is performed in Baltimore, Maryland, with administrative oversight there.

NASA's Shared Services Center dominates Morgan State's customer base, funding 140 awards carrying $21.5 million in combined potential value—46% of the top five customers' combined share. The National Science Foundation ranks second by award count (85 awards), followed by the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (35 awards), the Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (34 awards), and the Department of the Army Materiel Command Research Development and Engineering Command (33 awards, $3.5 million). The concentration is moderate across both rankings; the top five agencies account for roughly 46% of awards and potential value, with NASA's scientific research portfolio anchoring the primary customer relationship while education and infrastructure programs spread volume across multiple civilian agencies.

Morgan State's research portfolio emphasizes faculty-led and student-engaged investigations in climate dynamics, Earth observation, biomedical sciences, materials science, and quantum technologies. Recent NASA-funded research includes collaborative projects on Greenland glacier dynamics using historical aerial photography (NSF Division of Polar Programs, $187,975), ozone production rate mapping using satellite data (NSF Integrative Activities, with multiple NASA grants in atmospheric composition), and aerosol extinction profile development from satellite instruments. Capacity-building grants span STEM education at the K-12 and undergraduate levels (NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates in AI and human-technology interfaces, $371,985; NSF PERSIST II program for undergraduate STEM retention, $2.69 million), doctoral-track research traineeship in AI for climate and environmental sustainability ($1.45 million NSF NRT award), and infrastructure modernization (MOCVD reactor acquisition, $1.3 million Army; microelectronics center equipment, $2 million NIST Congressionally Identified Projects).

Morgan State enters federal contracts as a subcontractor on a limited basis—13% of recent awards. Named primes engaging Morgan State include IBM (mentor-protégé agreement in Air Force small business program), Triad National Security/Los Alamos National Laboratory (strength characterization of metals research), Stanford University (Energy Frontier Research Centers support on magnetic materials), and Johns Hopkins University (collaborative research training and internship support). The university also serves as a sub-recipient on NSF-funded research coalitions and multi-institution consortia such as the HBCU Ujima Collective for research administration workforce development and the GESTAR II cooperative agreement coordinating Earth and space science research across multiple institutions.

Activity has been volatile—46 awards in 2022, rising to 80 in 2023, declining to 67 in 2024, 51 in 2025, and 29 through October 2026. Fifty-five awards totaling $6.5 million in combined potential value face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing significant recompete exposure, primarily in NASA-funded atmospheric science projects and NSF research grants with multi-year completion dates. SCI-reported invoiced revenue on federal service contracts is minimal ($235 thousand in FY2023, with negligible amounts in other years), indicating that Morgan State's federal footprint is almost entirely research-grant-driven rather than service-contract-oriented. The university's federal engagement centers on advancing scientific knowledge, strengthening STEM workforce pipelines at HBCUs, and leveraging proximity to national laboratories and federal research infrastructure to build research capacity and doctoral training capability.