University Of Georgia

The University of Georgia's Sponsored Projects Administration Division, doing business as Sponsored Program Department, is a U.S. government entity and land-grant research institution that operates as a prime recipient of federal contracts and grants across agricultural research, veterinary diagnostics, laboratory analysis, and extension education. As a child entity of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, UGA competes in full-and-open procurements without set-asides, serving 132 distinct federal customer agencies with recent annual award activity ranging from 23 to 62 awards per year.

The institution's federal footprint centers on agricultural and veterinary science services delivered to the Department of Agriculture and related agencies. UGA holds a $20 million IDIQ with USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary Services (awarded September 7, 2021, running through August 31, 2026) that anchors recurring delivery orders for animal disease diagnostic testing, including highly pathogenic avian influenza, classical and African swine fever, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, antimicrobial resistance and whole genome sequencing testing, and other National Animal Health Laboratory Network services. Recent delivery orders under this vehicle include a $50,000 HPAI testing order (October 2024), a $52,575 NAHLN diagnostic testing order (March 2025), and a $5,000 HPAI cattle testing order (September 2026), all performed at UGA facilities in Athens or Ames, Iowa. The institution also holds a $250,000 single-award indefinite delivery contract with USDA Agricultural Research Service for recurring plant tissue laboratory analysis services in Tifton, Georgia (e.g., $27,100 delivery order for plant tissue analysis, August 2023). Additional contract work includes a $345,000 five-year firm fixed-price definitive contract with the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service (August 2026) for wildlife disease diagnostics and field and laboratory investigation services under the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS) program, and purchase orders from NOAA for boat slip dockage services supporting the R/V Gannet and research operations at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary (annual dockage services valued at approximately $30,000–$31,500).

UGA's grant portfolio demonstrates substantial federal research and extension funding. Top grantor agencies include USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, NSF, Department of Education, Department of Transportation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Department of Energy. The institution is the recipient of multi-million-dollar formula grants supporting land-grant mission activities: the Smith-Lever Extension Funding Program ($17.267 million, FY2025, CFDA 10.511) funds cooperative agricultural extension programming across 167 county offices in all 159 Georgia counties covering agriculture, family and consumer sciences, and 4-H youth development; the Hatch Act Payments to Agricultural Experiment Stations ($9.219 million, FY2025, CFDA 10.203) supports agricultural research across soil, water, plant and animal health, food safety, natural resources conservation, and forestry; the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program ($2.285 million, CFDA 10.514) delivers evidence-based nutrition education to low-income Georgia families; the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program ($2.299 million, FY2025, CFDA 10.202) funds applied forest management research and workforce training; and the Renewable Resources Extension Act formula grant supports forest extension outreach and applied research. Project grants span agricultural research (e.g., $1.586 million cooperative agreement with USDA ARS for enteric poultry disease research, September 2025; $1.057 million for advanced pecan shelling processing, September 2025), NSF research (e.g., $225,000 for physical layer security in ultra-dense IoT networks, October 2025; $250,000 for RF interference mitigation in radiometers, January 2024), workforce development (e.g., $4 million for enhancing Georgia's poultry science workforce, June 2023; $272,364 for TRIO Student Support Services), and cultural heritage (e.g., $314,537 for Georgia National Digital Newspaper Program, January 2026; $300,000 for Gullah Geechee resilience documentation, February 2025). The institution also manages the Georgia Small Business Development Center program on behalf of the SBA (multiple awards including CFDA 59.037 cooperative agreements).

Operationally, UGA functions as a prime recipient on 1,084 of 1,154 recent awards (94%), with only 70 sub-awards (6%), indicating the institution primarily builds and delivers federal work through its own research and extension infrastructure rather than teaming as a subrecipient. The award portfolio shows concentration in veterinary services (72 awards) and testing laboratories (57 awards) under NAICS 541380 and PSC codes for veterinary/animal care support and reference laboratory testing. Recent activity remains steady, with 23 awards recorded in 2026 year-to-date and 43 awards facing ultimate completion within the next 24 months with combined potential value of $165 thousand. The institution's SCI-reported federal services activity (FY2024–FY2025) appears minimal at the reporting threshold, suggesting most UGA federal work is carried out through research grants, extension formula funding, and specialized diagnostic services rather than on traditional service contracts.