Trustees Of Boston University

Trustees of Boston University, a private nonprofit research university headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, serves as a prime recipient and subcontractor to federal agencies across a sprawling portfolio of research grants and contracts, concentrating in basic and applied research across science, engineering, and biomedical domains without reliance on small-business set-asides. The institution competes full-and-open across civilian research agencies and does not hold SBA certifications.

Boston University's federal portfolio spans 4,320 awards (90% prime, 10% sub) valued at $785.8 million in combined potential value, though obligated dollars reach $3.63 billion—reflecting the university's matured, multi-decade position as an established federal research partner. The institution has worked with 178 distinct federal agencies. Activity accelerated through 2024 (284 awards) but decelerated sharply in 2025–2027 (137, 4 awards respectively), signaling either reporting lag or consolidation of smaller mechanisms into larger IDCs. Recent awards completing in the next twenty-four months total $32.5 million in potential value across 272 awards, exposing the institution to significant recompete pressure.

The National Science Foundation dominates by award count (877 awards), followed by NASA Shared Services Center (517 awards, $110.9 million) and NIH (255 awards). By dollar magnitude, NIH National Heart Lung and Blood Institute leads ($116.7 million across 47 awards), with NASA Shared Services and NASA Goddard following. This concentration reflects Boston University's strength in cardiovascular and biomedical research, space science, and physical/engineering sciences. The top five agencies account for 44% of awards and 35% of combined potential value.

On the contract side, Boston University holds a single-award Indefinite Delivery Contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases valued at $136.6 million (ceiling) through September 2035 for evaluation and testing services for vaccines and biologics targeting infectious diseases. This ten-year contract anchors the institution's infectious disease research footprint. Representative contract awards include a $2.43 million delivery order from NHLBI for Task Area B of the Framingham Heart Study (Year 2 protocol development and examination services, cost-no-fee structure, ultimate completion April 2027) under a larger $58 million IDC with NHLBI running through February 2032. A $1.18 million definitive contract from the Army's Humphreys Engineer Center (SERDP Project RC25-4751) funds research on terrestrial carbon cycle uncertainties through iterative model-data assimilation, with performance in Boston and completion September 2030. A $105 thousand purchase order from Veterans Integrated Service Network 1 covers lab medicine support through August 2028. These examples illustrate Boston University's dual positioning: as both a prime contractor on large, multi-year infrastructure and basic research vehicles, and as a subcontractor to other primes (Triad National Security on Los Alamos management competition, Honeywell on National Security Campus operations, University of Illinois on NASA GLIDE instrument development).

Federal grant activity is substantial and diversified. Representative recipients roles include $1.616 billion over five years (NIH NIAID, September 2025 start) to develop novel aglain derivatives as host-targeted antivirals for dengue and other arboviruses; $1.03 million (NIA, September 2025) investigating neurocomputational mechanisms of age-related visual perception impairment across the adult lifespan; $1.926 million (NIGMS, September 2025) developing robust, high-throughput superresolution imaging using speckle illumination; $1.2 million (NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, July 2026) for open-source tools for sign language data collection, annotation, and recognition; $4.898 million (NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, August 2026) to develop and operate CLAIRE, an AI-enabled programmable cloud laboratory for biotechnology; $6.869 million (Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, August 2026) for enhanced core reading instruction high-impact tutoring model. Grant work spans R&D project grants (investigator-initiated, hypothesis-driven), cooperative agreements (CLAIRE, as a test-bed node), traineeships and fellowships, conference travel support, and specialized infrastructure awards (e.g., MRI Track 2 for KamLAND2-Zen electronics; NSF Geosciences for earthquake stress-drop estimation collaboration).

Boston University also acts as a subrecipient on larger federal grants. Named subgrant relationships include work under New York University on identifying ADRD intervention targets through neurobiological mechanisms (2026 award); Cornell University on development of shortwave infrared imaging for burn-injury assessment (August 2026) and digital clinical simulations for math teaching (September 2026); MIT on advancing synergies between Monte Carlo sampling and mixed integer programming (DOE Office of Science, January 2026); and numerous other academic and medical center primes. The subrecipient profile shows Boston University as a specialized research contributor rather than a lead administrative partner—performing focused technical and analytical work under larger consortium umbrellas.

Service Contract Inventory data (which covers federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold and excludes goods, products, and non-federal revenue) shows SCI-reportable invoiced revenue of $3.5 million across FY2022–FY2025, concentrated in FY2025 ($2.2 million across 10.0 FTEs). Across prime records, government-paid hourly rates ranged from a 10th percentile of $77.04/hr to a median of $149.01/hr to a 90th percentile of $208.81/hr, reflecting a mixed labor force spanning administrative support and specialized research personnel. SCI-reported sub engagement on prime contracts averaged 0% sub-hours share, indicating Boston University performs the vast majority of its SCI-captured service work with its own workforce rather than through deep subcontractor relationships. FTE trajectory shows growth from 2.7 FTEs in FY2022 to 11.1 in FY2025, though the sample is small and concentrated in a handful of service contracts above the SCI threshold.

Boston University's federal footprint is dominated by basic and applied research grants and cooperative agreements rather than service contracts or large IDCs with task-order volume. The institution competes on scientific merit and research infrastructure capability rather than acquisition pricing or agility. Recompete exposure in the next two years ($32.5 million) is material relative to the award value base, particularly given the slowdown in new award issuance in 2026–2027. The institution operates as a prime research performer across life sciences (NIH), space and Earth sciences (NASA, NSF), and defense basic research (DoD, DHS), with no evidence of subcontractor dependency or teaming-as-a-strategic-posture. As a major research university, Boston University generates federal revenue through direct research expenditure reimbursement and overhead recovery rather than fixed-price commercial contracts.