The University Of Southern Mississippi

The University of Southern Mississippi's Office of Research Support and Development operates as a federal grant recipient and prime contractor providing specialized research services, training and education services, and scientific instrumentation and materials to civilian and defense agencies as part of a publicly supported research institution headquartered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The division competes full-and-open across its federal portfolio without set-asides, holding 89% of awards (1,082 of 1,219) as prime recipient or prime contractor.

USM's customer concentration spans 138 distinct federal agencies, with top-tier funding distributed across three tracks. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration leads by award count (168 awards), followed by the National Science Foundation (146 awards) and NASA Stennis Space Center (89 awards, $44.6 million combined potential value). By dollar magnitude, NASA Stennis anchors the portfolio at $44.6 million, followed by the Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center ($30.3 million across 23 awards), and the Office of the Secretary of Defense ($4.4 million across 11 awards). This dual-ranking structure—high volume from civilian science agencies alongside substantial dollars from defense research organizations—reflects USM's dual identity as a federally funded research university serving both civilian and defense customers.

Capability portfolio spans applied and basic research across marine science, polymer materials, coastal engineering, oceanographic data systems, and emergency management training. Representative contract work includes a $31.25 thousand NASA purchase order (awarded January 2026) to engage commercial fisheries stakeholders in pre-competitive market intelligence on Earth observation satellite data utilization through the Science Center for Marine Fisheries consortium; a $7.0 million delivery order from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (awarded September 2025) under a single-award indefinite-delivery contract through September 2035 for Jackson Heart Study training and education services; and a $750 thousand Army Corps of Engineers definitive contract (awarded August 2023, performing through September 2027) to quantify performance lifetime and develop replacement technologies for legacy coal tar epoxy coatings. USM also manages a $1.5 million indefinite-delivery contract with the Army Corps of Engineers for polymer materials, testing, and analysis supporting modular protective structures for the military, with $44.2 thousand delivered under a first task order for AM2 resurfacer coating production in July 2024.

Federal grant footprint reflects USM's role as research institution and educational leader. Representative grant recipients include a $930.7 thousand Office of Naval Research project grant (June 2026) for geophysical sensing and characterization of mine-hunting environments via unmanned underwater vehicles; a $2.199 million NOAA cooperative agreement (October 2025) for seagrass ecosystem monitoring in Gulf Islands National Seashore through September 2030; a $1.4 million FEMA Homeland Security National Training Program continuing training grant (September 2025) for emergency management workforce development; a $5.0 million NOAA congressionally identified award (September 2025) for the Data Assembly Hub for Uncrewed Systems (AquaView) metadata management platform modernization through August 2029; and a $3.0 million Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education grant (September 2024) for the Golden Eagle Teacher Residency Program. NSF-funded capacity-building work includes a $636 thousand EPSCOR graduate fellowship program for polymer science (July 2025 through June 2028) and a $175.2 thousand Research Experiences for Undergraduates site in Gulf Coastal Plain ecology (October 2024 through September 2027). USM acts as recipient on all these awards; several grant activities flow to sub-recipients including Florida International University (acoustic monitoring in the GUIS seagrass study), Hyperion Technology Group (magnetic field measurement system engineering under ONR), and the University of Michigan and University of Minnesota (internal wave simulation validation under ONR).

Parent vehicles reflect USM's embedded role in NASA and civilian science infrastructure. Five indefinite-delivery contracts anchor recurring task-order activity: NASA contracts NNS08AA83B (41 task orders, $9.4 million) and NNS06AA98B (39 task orders, $11.3 million) spanning Earth science data services and NASA Stennis operations support; NASA contract NAS1303032 (32 task orders, $14.5 million); and NSF contract NNS14AA17B (24 task orders, $5.7 million). A National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute single-award indefinite-delivery contract ($14.5 million ceiling, awarded September 2025, performing through September 2035) supports the Jackson Heart Study training and education renewal. These vehicles indicate USM's sustained role as a research-support infrastructure provider to civilian space and health agencies, with task orders issued against standing capability agreements rather than competitive re-procurement.

Activity trajectory shows fluctuation consistent with federal research funding cycles. Five-year volume: 2023 (77 awards), 2024 (87 awards), 2025 (63 awards), 2026 (21 awards), 2027 (1 award to date). The sharp decline from 2024 to 2025 reflects data capture effects at year-end; near-term recompete exposure runs modest at 53 awards ($1.7 million combined potential value) reaching ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months, concentrated in smaller grant and task-order activities rather than large IDIQs. Obligated dollars ($1.04 billion across all awards) exceed combined potential value by 453 percent, indicating substantial draw-down on standing contract vehicles and multi-year grant awards established in prior fiscal years.

Teaming posture reflects USM's identity as a public research institution rather than a commercial prime. Across the portfolio, USM acts as prime on 89% of awards (1,082 awards) and as sub-recipient or named subcontractor on 11% (137 awards), primarily as grant sub-recipient to peer research universities and state agencies. Named sub-recipient roles include work under University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (leadership training in neurodevelopmental disorders), Louisiana State University (coastal resilience research), the University of Mississippi Medical Center (clinical translational research and behavioral health workforce development), Mississippi State University (biomaterials research consortium and ecosystem modeling), and Florida International University (acoustic monitoring). Sub-contract work under commercial primes is minimal; named contract sub-awards under Radiance Technologies Inc. span hardware-in-the-loop testbed work for maritime port automation and neuro-symbolic AI systems. SCI-reportable service contract activity shows minimal invoiced revenue (all FYs report $0 invoiced), with negligible FTE trajectory (0.0–0.1 FTEs across FY2022–FY2025), indicating that the portfolio is dominated by research and educational grants rather than labor-hour service contracts above the SCI reporting threshold.

Corporate structure shows USM's Office of Research Support and Development as a child division of The University of Southern Mississippi (parent vendor, tax-exempt, state-controlled institution of higher learning). The division administers research contracts and grants on behalf of the university's schools and centers, including the School of Polymer Science and Engineering, the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, the Marine Education Center, the School of Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences, and the School of Social Work. This federated structure enables USM to respond to solicitations across diverse federal agencies while maintaining disciplinary and geographic coherence through research schools and institutes. The university's established research infrastructure—multibeam sonar systems, polymer characterization labs, coastal monitoring stations, and oceanographic vessels—anchors competitive advantage in NSF, NOAA, and NASA solicitations requiring sustained instrument and field-site access.