American Physical Society

American Physical Society, a nonprofit scientific organization headquartered in Berwyn Heights, Maryland, sells physics journal subscriptions and conference support services to federal agencies as a prime recipient and contractor (95% of awards) and operates as a subcontractor on a small portion of work (5% of awards). APS competes exclusively full-and-open; the source carries no set-aside designations across its federal footprint.

APS's federal footprint splits cleanly between subscription contracts and grants for scientific meetings and physics education. On the contract side, APS delivers online access to peer-reviewed physics journals and publications through firm fixed-price purchase orders to defense and civilian research agencies. Representative recent contract work includes a $578 thousand three-year APS Online Subscription to Air Force Research Laboratory Wright-Patterson (awarded January 2024, running through December 2026), a $340 thousand four-year APS Online Subscription to Office of Naval Research for the Naval Research Laboratory's Ruth H. Hooker Research Library (sole-source award, December 2025 through December 2029), a $235 thousand multisite subscription to Office of Naval Research (July 2023), and a $45 thousand 2026 journal subscription to the Department of Energy Office of Science (January 2026). On the grant side, APS receives project grants from the National Science Foundation and smaller funding agencies for conference travel support, education initiatives, and faculty development. Named NSF grants include a $600 thousand Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PHYSTEC) grant supporting undergraduate teacher preparation in physics (awarded September 2023, running through August 2028), a Thriving Departments Symposium conference grant (awarded March 2025, running through February 2027) supporting physics department leadership development, and recurring travel grants for APS Division of Fluid Dynamics annual meetings (most recent multiyear award September 2026 through August 2029). Additional grant work includes NSF-funded professional development initiatives addressing diversity and inclusion in physics education and NIST support for student travel to the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics annual meeting.

Customer concentration sits with federal science and research agencies. The top five funding agencies by award count account for 56% of awards, led by the National Science Foundation (45 awards, largest share), the Department of Energy Office of Science (14 awards, $523 thousand combined potential value), Office of Naval Research (9 awards, $909 thousand), Army Materiel Command Research Development and Engineering Command (9 awards, $175 thousand), and the Smithsonian Institution (8 awards, $231 thousand). By dollar magnitude, the Air Force Research Laboratory anchors the portfolio ($2 million combined potential value across 8 awards), followed by Office of Naval Research, Department of Energy, the Smithsonian, and Bureau of Naval Personnel. Activity has moderated in the past two years—from 10 awards in 2024 to 6 in 2025 and 4 so far in 2026—though the source carries 151 total awards dating to 2002 and $41.2 million in combined obligated dollars, well above the $4.7 million combined potential value figure. Seven awards face ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months with a combined potential value of $699 thousand.

APS subcontracts as a journal and subscription provider to defense contractors managing federal laboratory operations. Named subs include Fluor Marine Propulsion on a Naval Nuclear Laboratory management and operations contract (January 2026) and Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies on National Security Campus management and operation contracts (July 2025, April 2024). APS also appears as a sub-grantee under university-led NSF education grants, including Northwestern University on an Inclusive Graduate Programs AGEP pilot in physics and Colorado School of Mines on a Get the Facts Out teaching-profession reputation initiative.