University Of Connecticut

The University of Connecticut's Office Sponsored Programs, a non-profit educational research administration office within a 1862 land-grant institution, administers federal grant and contract awards for the university as a prime recipient and prime contractor across civilian science agencies, the Department of Defense, and health-focused federal programs. The office operates on a full-and-open competitive basis with no set-aside designations.

UConn's federal footprint reflects a research university's core mission: the vast majority of awards are federal grants supporting fundamental scientific research across the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Agriculture (NIFA), and Department of Commerce (NOAA). The vendor holds 3,828 total awards (prime and sub) spanning 219 distinct customer agencies since 1983, with combined potential value of $150.6 million and $2.69 billion in total obligated dollars across all fiscal years. Recent activity shows roughly 220–290 awards annually over the past five years, with 58 awards recorded year-to-date in 2026.

The top customer by award count is the National Science Foundation, accounting for 824 awards representing fundamental research across engineering, computer science, geosciences, mathematics, and biological sciences. NIFA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) is the second-largest funder by volume with 272 awards, predominantly supporting agricultural research, food safety and nutrition, and forestry initiatives. The National Institutes of Health ranks third with 129 awards spanning drug abuse research, aging research, medical research across multiple institutes, and clinical investigation. NOAA (Department of Commerce) contributes 123 awards focused on coastal and marine research. By dollar value, however, NASA's Shared Services Center leads with $19.4 million combined potential across 89 awards, reflecting large Earth observation and space science research awards; the Office of Naval Research follows with $4.9 million across 80 awards supporting basic and applied research in undersea vehicle technology, oceanography, and defense-relevant science.

UConn's research portfolio centers on fundamental and applied scientific investigation across life sciences, physical sciences, and engineering. Representative contract and grant work includes: a $998.4 thousand Army Corps of Engineers SERDP award for coastal wetlands carbon sequestration research; a $238.4 thousand U.S. Secret Service definitive contract for behavioral threat assessment guidance development for K-12 schools; a $3.0 million ARPA-E cooperative agreement for ammonia and phosphorus recovery from anaerobic digesters; a $1.82 million Federal Highway Administration Safe Streets and Roads for All planning grant; multiple NSF CAREER awards and Engineering Research program grants supporting faculty development in diverse fields (fluid dynamics, additive manufacturing, time series analysis, advanced materials); and substantial NIH research funding across the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and NICHD supporting biomedical research on opioid use disorder, aging and muscle quality, parasitic diseases, and reproductive biology. NASA grants support Earth observation algorithm development (Fmask 5 cloud screening for the Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 mission). USDA awards span food safety (microgreens and hydroponic crop disease prevention), agricultural innovation (seaweed biomass conversion, mitochondrial function in livestock), and nutrition research on food assistance policy and human health outcomes.

The Service Contract Inventory dataset shows $5.1 million in SCI-reportable invoiced revenue across 31 prime contracts spanning FY2022–FY2024, with roughly 8.8 FTEs in FY2022, 8.3 FTEs in FY2023, and 5.0 FTEs in FY2024. Government-paid median hourly rates run approximately $115.89/hr, with senior labor pricing extending to $244/hr at the 90th percentile; entry-level rates sit around $49.73/hr. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors perform approximately 15% of total contractor hours. The office maintains a network of 14 named subcontractors supporting research delivery.

UConn operates a single-award ten-year Basic Ordering Agreement with the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (effective August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2035) for educational and training services at the Storrs campus; two delivery orders totaling approximately $65.4 thousand have been issued to date under this BOA. The university's recompete exposure over the next twenty-four months includes 312 awards with combined potential value of $21.8 million reaching ultimate completion.

As a child entity within the Connecticut Secretary of State's office structure, UConn's Office Sponsored Programs administers awards under the umbrella of a state government entity but executes federal research contracts and grants independently on competitive merits with no set-aside restrictions. The organization's role is to facilitate faculty research across all science and engineering disciplines through federal award administration, compliance oversight, and institutional research support infrastructure.