University Of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park, operating through its Office of Research Administration & Advancement, is a public research institution and 1862 land-grant university that functions as a prime recipient of federal research grants and contracts across 338 federal agencies, with no SBA set-aside designations. The institution is a child entity of the University System of Maryland, a state-controlled higher-education system headquartered in Hyattsville, Maryland. Over the past five years, UMD has received 11,266 federal awards (93% as prime, 7% as sub-recipient) with combined potential value of $3.2 billion and combined obligated dollars of $9.66 billion, demonstrating sustained federal research funding across space science, defense research, civilian science, and education.

UMD's research portfolio is driven by federal funding for fundamental and applied research in physics, engineering, life sciences, materials science, and quantum information systems, grounded in concrete award work across multiple technical domains. Representative contract awards include a $5.7 million Other Transaction Agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for quantum materials development (FAST & CURIOUS, June 2026), a $34.8 million DARPA delivery order for the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative under the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (October 2025), a $7.373 million Office of the Secretary of Defense delivery order for intelligence and security research services (September 2025), and $872,653 from the Food and Drug Administration for machine learning-guided 3D nanoprinting of retinal vascular phantoms (September 2026). On the grant side, the institution has received project grants including $6 million from the National Science Foundation Division of Engineering Education and Centers to establish and operate the Engineering Research Center for Quantum Networks (September 2026), $934,771 from the Department of Agriculture's Regional Aquaculture Center Program (September 2026), and $8.265 million from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Specialty Crop Research Initiative for cover-crop weed management (July 2026), demonstrating breadth across defense, space, civilian research, and agriculture domains.

Customer concentration reflects UMD's role as a research-intensive federal institution. The top five funding agencies account for 40% of recent awards: NASA Shared Services Center leads with 1,732 awards ($646.6 million potential value), followed by the National Science Foundation (1,657 awards), NASA Goddard Space Center (173 awards, $473.3 million), the Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (380 awards), and the Department of the Navy (340 awards, $2.5 million). By potential value, the ranking shifts toward large research centers—NASA Shared Services Center ($646.6 million), NASA Goddard ($473.3 million), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ($134.1 million), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ($67 million), and NASA Headquarters ($59.7 million)—indicating that UMD serves as a hub institution for multi-year, high-value research initiatives under centralized NASA and DARPA contracting while maintaining broad engagement across smaller awards with 338 distinct agencies.

UMD sits on multiple indefinite delivery vehicles as a prime contractor. The largest by task-order count and combined value is Indefinite Delivery Contract HQ003418D0005 (113 task orders, $194.5 million combined potential value), followed by DTFAWA11D00017 (48 task orders, $75.1 million), HQ003424D0003 (21 task orders, $162 million), 693KA920D00004 (38 task orders, $8.9 million), and DOCST133018CQ0008 (26 task orders, $17.6 million). These vehicles span defense research, space science, transportation, and federal civilian agency support. The institution also holds a single-award Blanket Purchase Agreement with the Defense agency in the District of Washington for military professional degree program education services (ceiling $200,000, June 2026), reflecting UMD's role in federal workforce development. The recompete cliff is material: 671 awards (combined potential value $411.3 million) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, signaling significant recompete opportunity and recompete risk for UMD across its research portfolio.

SCI-reported invoiced revenue provides a partial view of UMD's federal service-contract activity. Across FY2022–FY2025, UMD reported $8.5 million in SCI-reportable invoiced revenue on federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold, with FY2023 peaking at $3.2 million across 72.7 FTEs, FY2025 at $2.1 million across 33.0 FTEs, FY2022 at $1.8 million across 19.3 FTEs, and FY2024 at $1.5 million across 20.2 FTEs. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable prime contracts ran a median of $38.30 per hour, with senior labor pricing reaching $76.46 per hour (90th percentile) and entry-level rates around $17.02 per hour (10th percentile), reflecting a mix of research-support and professional personnel. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors performed on average 3% of total contractor hours, with seven named subcontractors recorded, indicating that UMD builds most of its federal service delivery through internal teams rather than subcontractor reliance.

UMD executes sub-awards as a subcontractor to other prime recipients across both contracts and grants. Named contract primes include Triad National Security LLC (Los Alamos National Laboratory management competition), the California Institute of Technology (Ultraviolet Explorer satellite mission development), Columbia University (TEARWISE dry-eye disease research under ARPA-H), and Stevens Institute of Technology (Defense Civilian Training Corps Systems Engineering Research Center). On the grant side, UMD sub-awards flow from Johns Hopkins University (biomarker research, chatbot knowledge base development, network dynamics modeling), the University of Michigan (facility workforce outcomes, longitudinal data analysis), the University of Wisconsin System (IceCube neutrino detector operation and software systems), Duke University (quantum hardware optimization), the University of Kansas (refrigerant technology hub), and many others. The sub-award portfolio demonstrates UMD's integration into multi-institutional research collaborations anchored by larger universities and national laboratories, with UMD typically providing specialized research capability—quantum systems, computational modeling, biological assays, software development—rather than leading research teams. Recent sub-awards include contributions to liquid-nitrogen-cooled quantum networking (Army RDE Command), tropical cyclone aerosol radiative and rainfall effects modeling (Columbia prime), and protein process analytical technology development (Johns Hopkins prime), reflecting applied research and technology integration roles within larger consortia.

Federal grant funding spans the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other civilian and defense agencies. Representative CFDA-identified grants include NSF-funded Engineering Research Center for Quantum Networks ($6 million, CFDA 47.041), NSF CRAB Lab cooperative agreement for autonomous biomanufacturing ($5 million, CFDA 47.084), NSF-funded collaborative research on Gaussian processes for multi-sensor sampling ($666,666, CFDA 47.070), Department of Agriculture specialty crop research on cover cropping ($8.265 million, CFDA 10.309), NIDA research on substance use disorder implementation in rural schools ($183,873, CFDA 93.279), National Cancer Institute cancer biology research ($369,075, CFDA 93.396), and NOAA cooperative agreements on water-quality satellite monitoring ($364,000, CFDA 11.405) and AI-driven precipitation forecasting ($300,000, CFDA 11.405). Grant awards typically span three to five years and support fundamental science, applied research, infrastructure, and workforce development. UMD has produced 671 awards completing within the next twenty-four months, creating a significant portfolio transition period.

UMD's top NAICS categories reflect its research-university posture: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (292 awards), Research and Development in Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (110–135 awards depending on biotechnology exclusions), Research and Development in Social Sciences and Humanities (84 awards), and Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (61 awards). Top PSC categories are R&D–Space Science/Applications (947 awards), General Science and Technology R&D Services (302 awards), Support Professional Other (169 awards), Education/Training General (84 awards), and R&D–Defense Operations (75 awards). The concentration toward space science and defense R&D, combined with the institution's 1862 land-grant status and $3.2 billion in combined potential value, positions UMD as a cornerstone federal research institution engaged across basic research, applied development, technology translation, and education-workforce development with minimal subcontractor leveraging and sustained multi-agency engagement.