The Ohio State University

The Ohio State University Office of Sponsored Programs Division, doing business as The Ohio State University Office of Sponsored Programs, is a U.S. state government entity and premier research institution that operates as a prime recipient of federal grants and contracts across a broad portfolio of civilian research and development activities. As a 1862 land-grant college and educational institution, OSU competes in full-and-open federal research solicitations without set-aside designation and acts overwhelmingly as a prime awardee (82% of recent awards), with a subordinate subcontracting footprint primarily to other research institutions and national laboratories.

OSU's customer base reflects its research-intensive mission. The top five funding agencies account for 35% of awards by count: the National Science Foundation leads with 1,016 awards, followed by the National Institutes of Health (573 awards) and its National Cancer Institute division (476 awards), NASA's Shared Services Center (421 awards, $87.7 million combined potential value), and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (275 awards, $30.8 million potential value). When ranked by dollar concentration, NASA's Shared Services Center dominates at $87.7 million across 421 awards—a signature customer relationship that drives OSU's space-science capability portfolio. The dollar and award rankings diverge meaningfully: NIH places many smaller research grants, while NASA concentrates larger award values on fewer contracts. Recent prime contract awards exemplify OSU's research scope: a $2.455 million delivery order from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute for the Women's Health Initiative Regional Center (clinical research management), a $948,606 cost-no-fee definitive contract from the Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity under the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program for environmental DNA-based surveillance of pollinators, and a $80,002 purchase order from NOAA for soil moisture product enhancement. Federal grant recipients include the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ($775,022 on plasma membrane repair mechanisms), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences ($441,570 on actin cytoskeleton organization), and the National Science Foundation ($1.33 million CAREER award on biomolecular condensates in plant stress adaptation). The DARPA Other Transaction IDV "Stable, Nonlinear, and Internal-Resonance-Enhanced Transducers to Conquer Velocity Hurdles" (SNITCH) with a $2.0 million ceiling establishes OSU as a parent-contract vehicle holder for advanced defense research.

Activity has grown substantially. Awards per year show 619 in 2023, 876 in 2024, then 600 in 2025 and only 2 in 2027—reflecting the source's snapshot cutoff rather than a decline. The combined potential value across all 7,879 awards (prime and sub) is $442.6 million, with combined obligated dollars reaching $8.79 billion (approximately 1,985% of potential value), indicating heavy re-obligations and incremental funding on multi-year vehicles. Seven hundred twenty-three awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months with a combined potential value of $32.9 million, representing significant recompete exposure and opportunity for competitors. The vendor's footprint spans 274 distinct customer agencies, characteristic of a major research university with federal partnerships across civilian and defense sectors.

OSU operates as a subcontractor to national laboratories and peer research institutions on select advanced-research programs. Named primes include the California Institute of Technology (SPHEREX all-sky near-infrared spectral survey satellite sub-award), St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (influenza research and response centers), Triad National Security, LLC (Los Alamos National Laboratory management and operations), and Cornell University (Compact Muon Solenoid detector upgrade on the high-luminosity large hadron collider). The sub-award portfolio reflects OSU's role as a specialized research partner rather than a systems integrator, and across SCI-reportable service contracts, the average subcontractor hours share is 9%—indicating OSU primarily builds its own delivery teams rather than relying on sub-vendors.

Service Contract Inventory data capture a narrow slice of OSU's federal services activity: $22.6 million in SCI-reportable invoiced revenue across FY2022–FY2024 (with FY2022 showing $10 million across 70.9 FTEs, FY2023 $5.7 million across 37.6 FTEs, and FY2024 $6.8 million across 15.1 FTEs). These figures exclude grants, research equipment acquisitions, and the institution's non-federal revenue. Government-paid rates on SCI-reportable prime service contracts range from approximately $23/hr at the 10th percentile to $77/hr at the median, with senior labor and specialized research staff commanding hourly rates reaching $344/hr at the 90th percentile, consistent with academic research labor markets. The FTE trajectory (34.5 in FY2022, 35.9 in FY2023, 17.6 in FY2024) reflects year-to-year variation in large contract deliveries and the volatility of discretionary research spending, not institutional decline.

OSU's corporate structure includes the Ohio State Global One Health LLC, a limited liability company subsidiary, though most activity is recorded against the parent entity. The institution's award history and distributed footprint signal a research organization optimized for winning and executing complex federal R&D work across life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, space research, and social sciences rather than a federal contractor built for service-delivery efficiency or cost-plus management.