University Of North Florida

University of North Florida's Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Division, a public higher-education institution based in Jacksonville, Florida, receives federal research grants and contracts as a prime recipient and performs research as a sub-recipient under larger federal grant programs, competing in full-and-open award processes with no set-aside designations.

The division operates across a broad multidisciplinary research portfolio spanning the life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, education, and humanities. Prime grant work includes a $524 thousand NASA Science Mission Directorate award for research on eclipsing binary star systems using Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission data (running through February 2027); a $491 thousand National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site award in coastal biology (September 2026 through August 2029); a $2.07 million Department of Education award under the American History and Civics Education program for civics professional development (October 2025 through September 2026); a $1.347 million NSF award for developing a tabletop role-playing game for STEM learning in informal settings (August 2025 through July 2029); and a $200 thousand NSF Engineering Research Initiation award for laser powder bed fusion manufacturing quality control (July 2026 through June 2028). The division also holds prime federal contracts, including a $17.8 thousand Naval Education and Training Command delivery order for tuition and fees (August 2024) and a $157.975 thousand Marine Corps purchase order for ISO 9001/14001 audit training (September 2023).

Federal customer concentration skews heavily toward the National Science Foundation and the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NSF accounts for 24 awards across the dataset; the Department of Transportation's NHTSA dominates the award count with 142 sub-awards, primarily low-value traffic safety training and law enforcement liaison work funneled through the State of Florida Department of Transportation as the pass-through grantee. This concentration masks a dollars-versus-volume mismatch: the Department of the Army Materiel Command Research, Development and Engineering Command and the Naval Education and Training Command anchor the potential-value rankings at $6.5 million and $4 million combined respectively, while NHTSA's 142 awards carry only nominal individual values. The division has served 62 distinct federal agencies across contract and grant channels.

UNF's activity trajectory has been volatile. Awards per year peaked in 2023 (83 awards) then dropped sharply to 18 in 2024 before recovering to 30 in 2025, with only 4 awards recorded in 2026 to date. The combined potential value across all 317 awards stands at $14.5 million, though combined obligated dollars reach $100.9 million (698% of potential value), indicating that many smaller training awards have been fully funded over their performance periods. The 50-50 split between prime and sub awards reflects UNF's dual role: as a prime recipient of competitive research grants from NSF, NIH, NASA, the Department of Education, and NIST, and as a sub-recipient performing research under larger university consortia (Indiana University on autism neuroimaging data analysis, University of Southern California on superconductor VLSI circuits) and under state pass-through arrangements (Florida Department of Transportation for traffic safety training delivery). Within the next twenty-four months, 14 awards with combined potential value of $524 thousand reach completion, creating modest recompete exposure in coastal ecology, mathematics education, and federal data standards work.

The division's research capabilities cluster in coastal marine science, STEM education and workforce development, advanced manufacturing, medical device design for pediatric rehabilitation, behavioral health and substance misuse treatment, nanophotonics, and astrophysics. Most prime research is funded through NSF's Geosciences, Engineering, Education, and Computer and Information Science programs, as well as NIH institutes (National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute on Aging) and the Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education. The contract side is primarily military and civilian training delivery—tuition, audits, and specialized law enforcement instruction—placed through Naval Education and Training Command, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, and the Marine Corps. Sub-award work includes behavioral health intervention research with the Community Service Board of Middle Georgia across rural Georgia counties and police practices research with Michigan State University. UNF does not hold seats on government-wide contracts, IDIQs, or GWACs; task orders flow through agency-specific basic ordering agreements or direct award.