Board Of Regents Of Nevada System Of Higher Education

Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education, operating as University of Nevada, Reno through its Sponsored Projects Division, is a public land-grant research institution that functions as a prime recipient of federal research grants and contracts and as a subrecipient under federal awards to other entities. UNR operates predominantly as a grants recipient rather than a federal contractor; recent awards span research, education, workforce development, and public health service delivery across 228 distinct federal agencies and programs.

UNR's federal award footprint reflects a research institution's typical posture: 87% of recent awards carry prime-recipient or prime-contractor status (2,468 of 2,847 total awards), with 13% flowing through as subrecipient or subcontractor engagement (379 awards). The institution is not designated under SBA set-aside categories; all work competes full-and-open. However, the SCI dataset—which captures only federal service contracts above $150,000 and excludes grants, research, and goods—shows minimal invoiced activity: $254 thousand across FY2022–FY2025, with 2.2 to 3.5 FTEs per year. This narrow SCI footprint reflects that the vast majority of UNR's federal portfolio comprises research grants, educational funding, and specialized medical/laboratory services rather than recurring service contracts. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable prime contracts ranged from $40/hr (10th percentile) to $103/hr (90th percentile), with median around $71/hr.

UNR's customer base concentrates across federal research and science agencies. The National Science Foundation leads by award count (350 awards), followed by the Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (237 awards) and the Department of Energy (93 awards). By dollar magnitude, the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Integrated Service Network 21 anchors UNR's medical service delivery (37 awards, $13.7 million combined potential value), and NASA's Shared Services Center contributes $13.2 million across 78 awards. The combined potential value across all awards reaches $137.5 million, though obligated dollars total $2.07 billion—a disparity reflecting multi-year grant funds already drawn against awards in prior fiscal years.

Core capabilities center on research execution and education delivery across multiple disciplines. Recent representative work includes a $9.9 million FDA contract (awarded September 2026) for development of a cross-species immune organ chip reference framework for regulatory evaluation of vaccine and antiviral medical countermeasures; a $2.99 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers definitive contract (September 2025) for wildfire research and technology development; a $1.4 million Department of Agriculture Forest Service grant (August 2026) for restoration-based hazardous fuel reduction treatment research; and a $1.15 million USDA AFRI grant (August 2026) for development of a mobile robotic sheep watering system combining robotics, AI, and animal genetics. NSF funding supports theoretical and applied research across physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, mathematics, and geosciences. USDA and Department of Interior funding emphasizes agricultural science, natural resource management, and environmental research. The institution also delivers medical and public health services: a $384 thousand VA purchase order (October 2025) for infectious disease laboratory testing, a $375 thousand Defense Health Agency order (September 2025) for newborn metabolic screening, and a $1.1 million Federal Highway Administration grant (June 2026) for adaptive traffic signal control and multimodal safety improvements.

UNR holds prime positions on several parent indefinite delivery contracts and blanket purchase agreements. The most active vehicle is an Indefinite Delivery Contract (N0014098G2492) with 27 task orders carrying $800 thousand combined potential value, followed by a Basic Ordering Agreement (N0018916GZ010) with 15 task orders worth $859 thousand. A single-award Basic Ordering Agreement with the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (N0018916Z010), effective January 19, 2026, through January 18, 2036, establishes framework for medical testing and screening services. Additional vehicles include several smaller IDCs with the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and Department of Defense.

Recompete activity in the next 24 months includes 174 awards with combined potential value of $8.3 million reaching ultimate completion, representing both grant renewals and contract vehicle expirations requiring competitive or non-competitive continuation or re-solicitation.

UNR's subcontractor engagement reflects its research mission: the institution names several industry and academic partners as subcontractors on Department of Energy work (Mission Support & Test Services LLC for Nevada National Security Site research support) and research collaborations (The Probitas Project for aerosol particle detection research). Sub-award activity also routes through state agencies and tribal organizations on health and workforce development grants, positioning UNR as both direct performer and conduit for federal funds to regional partners. The institution operates no federal contract vehicles of its own; all work flows through federal agency parent vehicles or as direct awards to UNR's Sponsored Projects Division.