University Of Maine System

University of Maine System, through its University of Maine Division operating as Research & Sponsored Program, is a public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant institution based in Orono, Maine, that delivers research execution, scientific investigation, and advanced materials testing services across federal agencies as a prime recipient on grants and contracts (89% of recent awards) and as a sub-recipient on collaborative programs (11%). The institution does not hold SBA set-aside certifications and competes full-and-open across federal research vehicles.

The university's concrete capability footprint spans fundamental and applied research in advanced materials, aerospace engineering, marine sciences, climate adaptation, aquaculture, food security, forestry biotechnology, and STEM education. Representative work includes a $3.76 million Army Engineer Research and Development Center contract for acoustic and electromagnetic instrumentation validation in Arctic terrain research; a $5.0 million Department of Energy award for composite manufacturing technology supporting uncrewed maritime systems; a $7.21 million Office of Naval Research grant for flexible automation research; a $77,204 NASA purchase order for large-scale torus strap indentation testing supporting the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator project; and a $5.0 million National Science Foundation STEM Teacher Corps award supporting rural Maine education. The Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station operates as the institution's research backbone, with 48 active Hatch Act research projects, 25 McIntire-Stennis forest research projects, and 21 multistate agricultural research collaborations addressing crop breeding, soil health, pest management, fisheries science, and rural community resilience.

Customer concentration remains distributed across multiple federal agencies rather than anchored to a single funder. The top five agencies account for 52% of recent awards: the National Science Foundation leads in award volume (360 awards), followed by the Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (293 awards), the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (178 awards), NASA Shared Services Center (93 awards, $16.3 million combined potential value), and NASA Headquarters (16 awards, $4.5 million). Dollar concentration skews toward NASA and physical science research vehicles, with Shared Services Center awards carrying $16.3 million in potential value. Grant programs dominate the activity mix—NSF competitive research, NIFA agricultural research, and NOAA marine science programs account for the largest cohorts by count and dollar value.

The institution holds an active Indefinite Delivery Vehicle with the Army Engineer Research and Development Center titled "Materials for Rapid Power Projection in Arctic and Contested Environments" ($6.5 million ceiling, awarded June 2025), a Basic Ordering Agreement with the Department of Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (single award, $0 stated ceiling, awarded February 2024 through January 2034), and receives episodic task orders under standing federal agreements. Federal contract vehicles are sparse; most activity routes through competitive grants rather than GWAC or IDIQ placements.

Activity trajectory shows volatility reflective of competitive grant cycles rather than sustained contract growth. Award volume peaked at 175 in 2024, contracted to 124 in 2025, and has declined sharply in 2026 and 2027 (56 and 2 awards respectively, the latter reflecting data lag as of October 2026). Recompete exposure is material: 141 awards with ultimate completion dates within the next 24 months carry combined potential value of $86.3 million, representing 39% of the active portfolio's dollar face value and signaling substantial competition renewal risk across NSF, NIFA, and NOAA research streams.

Service Contract Inventory reporting shows minimal activity—2 SCI records spanning FY2024–FY2025, totaling 1.1 FTEs delivered as a named subcontractor, with no direct prime service contracts meeting the $150,000 reporting threshold. The SCI footprint is negligible; the institution's federal revenue profile is grants-driven and research-focused rather than services-contract-driven.

The university operates as a child division of the University of Maine System parent (UEI JHKKHVC7EPL3), a state-controlled higher education enterprise headquartered in Bangor, Maine. Research & Sponsored Program functions as the centralized research administration and grant execution arm. Teaming patterns show the institution acting predominantly as prime research recipient on NSF, NIFA, and NOAA awards, with sub-recipient relationships concentrated in multi-institutional collaborative research networks (Cornell University, University of Vermont, Ohio State University, Northeastern University, Jackson Laboratory, and Oregon State University as named prime grantees on shared projects). The university subcontracts research components to specialized partners but does not appear as a routine pass-through subcontractor on large defense or commercial primes.