University Of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park, operating through its Office of Research Administration & Advancement, is a public research university and 1862 land-grant institution that executes federal research contracts and grants across scientific, engineering, and educational domains as a prime recipient and contractor. The institution competes in full-and-open federal research procurement and does not hold SBA set-aside designations; it is a state-controlled component of the University System of Maryland.

UMD's federal footprint spans 11,106 awards across 338 customer agencies, with a combined potential value of $3.18 billion and $9.49 billion obligated (298% of potential, reflecting multi-year funding streams typical of research awards). The institution acts as prime on 94 percent of awards and sub-recipient on 6 percent. Recent activity shows award volume of 610 in 2024, declining to 140 awards through mid-2026, with 730 awards (combined potential value $423.2 million) facing ultimate completion within the next 24 months—a recompete exposure window. The institution's award concentration is heavily research-oriented: top NAICS codes include Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (287 awards), and Research and Development in Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (135 awards); top PSC is R&D Space Science/Applications (947 awards).

Customer concentration is led by NASA's Shared Services Center (1,722 awards, $646.6 million potential value), the National Science Foundation (1,646 awards), NASA Goddard Space Center (172 awards, $473.3 million potential value), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (112 awards, $123.9 million), and the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (228 awards, $67 million). The top five customers account for 43 percent of combined potential value across contracts and grants. Recent prime contract awards exemplify the institution's research scope: a $34.8 million DARPA delivery order for Quantum Benchmarking Initiative research under the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS) University Affiliate Research Center (October 2025); a $7.37 million Office of the Secretary of Defense delivery order for research, development, and engineering services supporting government intelligence and security requirements (September 2025); and a $5.33 million Air Mobility Command delivery order under the ARLIS IDIQ for delivery of research services with enhanced security-focused deliverables (November 2025). UMD also holds a $5.31 million DARPA Other Transaction IDV focused on developing domain-agnostic systems centered on synthetic quantum nanostructures. Federal grant work includes USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture awards such as an $8.265 million Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant on herbicide-resistant weeds and cover crop integration (July 2026), and NSF awards including a $799,892 project grant on mechanistic regulation of trigeminal ganglion development (June 2026) and a $716,567 CAREER award on collapse-induced fire dynamics in light-frame wood structures (September 2026). UMD also subcontracts to other research institutions; recent sub-awards include partnerships with the University of Delaware on NIIMBL (National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals) research and with the University of Chicago on antibody therapy for MRSA infection.

Service Contract Inventory reports $6.5 million in SCI-reportable invoiced revenue across FY2022–FY2024 (85 prime, 15 sub records), with FTE trajectory showing 27.2 FTEs in FY2022, 72.1 in FY2023, and 23.2 in FY2024. Median government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable federal service contracts run approximately $39.46/hr, with 10th percentile at $17.68/hr and 90th percentile at $77.38/hr. The institution reports minimal subcontractor engagement on prime contracts—an average 2 percent sub-hours share—with only four named subcontractors across the SCI dataset, indicating UMD builds most delivery internally using its own faculty and staff research teams. The institution's federal contract vehicle footprint includes Indefinite Delivery Contracts HQ003418D0005 (113 task orders, $194.8 million combined value) and DTFAWA11D00017 (48 task orders, $75.1 million), reflecting sustained multi-year research partnerships with civilian agencies and Department of Defense components. As a research-intensive land-grant university, UMD competes on scientific merit and institutional research capacity rather than cost-based pricing; its award portfolio demonstrates deep technical expertise in quantum computing and materials science (DARPA), space exploration and Earth observation (NASA), agricultural science and food systems research (USDA), and fundamental scientific discovery across NSF and NIH programs.