Research Foundation Of The City University Of New York

Research Foundation of the City University of New York, doing business as RFCUNY - Kingsborough Community College, is a non-profit, tax-exempt educational institution and state-controlled institution of higher learning located in Brooklyn, New York. As a research-focused component of the City University of New York system, RFCUNY provides comprehensive research services, academic programming, workforce development initiatives, and student support services to federal agencies. The organization leverages its academic partnerships and expertise to advance scientific research, STEM education, and community engagement while serving a diverse student population that includes significant portions of underrepresented communities.

RFCUNY has received federal contract awards exclusively in the form of research grants from the Shared Services Center (a civilian agency), with no traditional federal procurement contracts. The organization has been awarded three research grants totaling approximately $1.53 million for planetary science and materials research initiatives. These awards include a $652,051 grant for research on the petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic diversity among enstatite chondrites (completion date June 20, 2027), a $375,000 grant for observational research activities (completion date October 17, 2028), and a $499,531 grant for investigating space weathering effects on lunar and airless body surfaces through shock recovery experiments, infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy analyses (completion date May 31, 2026). The research work involves collaborations with the Johnson Space Center, American Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford, and Naval Research Laboratory. All contract awards were made without set-aside designations.

RFCUNY's federal grant award portfolio is substantially more diverse, encompassing ten prime grant awards and nine sub-grant awards from multiple federal agencies totaling approximately $2.4 million in direct prime funding. Prime grant awards include substantial support from the National Science Foundation for STEM education initiatives, including a $500,000 grant to establish a unified, campus-wide approach to undergraduate research with discipline-neutral project management templates and faculty professional development (October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027), and support for developing a diversified STEM education trajectory through conference participation for community college students (completed May 2, 2025). The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education has provided $287,361 for the Kingsborough TRIO Student Support Services Program to enhance postsecondary outcomes for disadvantaged students, and support for the KCC Child Development Center under the CCAMPIS program. The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded $200,000 for a three-week summer faculty institute on the Federal Writers' Project (June 29 to July 18, 2026). The National Science Foundation's Division of Earth Sciences funded collaborative research on fluorspar dating and the collapse of the Cordillera in southwestern North America. Additionally, RFCUNY received funding from the Institute of Youth, Family, and Community for a hydroponics workforce training program creating a hydroponic farming microcredential. The organization also receives recurring sub-grant awards from the New York State Education Department for vocational education programs and integrated English literacy and civics education, with sub-awards dating from 2021 through August 2024.