University Of Massachusetts Dartmouth

University Of Massachusetts Dartmouth, a public research university headquartered in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, acts as a prime recipient on federal research grants and a prime contractor on a limited number of research and development contracts. The institution does not compete on a significant scale as a federal contractor; instead, its federal engagement centers on research funding, primarily through grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of the Navy, and the National Institutes of Health.

The university's federal footprint is heavily weighted toward research grants rather than service contracts or traditional procurement. Representative prime grant work includes a $4.28 million Office of Naval Research award for the Marine and Undersea Technology Research Program (MUST VI) through April 2028, directed at marine science and engineering research; a $572 thousand development contract from the U.S. Coast Guard for coupled nonhydrostatic marine infrastructure-resolving atmospheric and ocean modeling through June 2026; and a $555.751 thousand NASA grant for physics of turbulence-driven detonation initiation in Type Ia supernovae through April 2026. More recent activity spans NSF-funded work on gravitational wave modeling, brain-computer interfaces for prosthetic control, marine ecosystems and fisheries science, computational methods for differential equations, and cybersecurity education. The university also receives grants from the Department of Education (TRIO Student Support Services, $484.060 thousand through August 2027) and the Environmental Protection Agency (Brownfields Revitalization Anti-Displacement Strategies program and technical assistance for underserved communities in EPA Region 1).

Customer concentration reflects the research university funding ecosystem. The National Science Foundation leads by award count with 133 awards; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranks second with 117 awards; and the Department of the Navy (including the Office of Naval Research) accounts for 74 awards. NASA (via its Shared Services Center) and the National Institutes of Health complete the top-tier customer set. Combined, these five agencies account for approximately 60% of the university's recent awards. The top customers by potential value diverge modestly from the count ranking—NASA carries higher dollar concentration per award ($2.1 million combined potential value across 13 awards)—but NSF and NOAA remain dominant sources of sustained research funding.

The university's sub-award footprint reflects its position in collaborative research networks. Across recent grants, UMass Dartmouth acts as a sub-recipient to prime grantees including the University of Michigan (lake ecosystem research), MIT (marine science), the University of California Irvine (additive manufacturing of metamaterials), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (coastal ocean forecasting and marine ecology), Carnegie Mellon University (auditory neuroscience), and Michigan State University (mathematical methods for mixed-model simulations). The university's most active role as a sub-recipient involves marine science and fisheries work under NOAA and ONR prime awards, often in partnership with regional institutions across the Northeast.

SCI-reported service contract invoicing totals $572 thousand across three records from FY2024–FY2025, reflecting minimal federal service contract activity above the $150,000 threshold. The reported hourly rate (derived from invoiced dollars and FTEs) stands at approximately $7,180 per hour on the single measurable contract. This low activity volume indicates that the university's federal engagement operates almost entirely through research grants and cooperative agreements rather than time-and-materials or fixed-price service contracts.

The university does not participate in government-wide contract vehicles or acquisition schedules visible in the source data. Two parent vehicles appear—an Information Analysis Center Multiple-Award Contract and a Blanket Purchase Agreement—but these represent marginal activity relative to the grant portfolio. The university operates as a prime grant recipient across 92% of its recent awards (524 of 571 total), with sub-award participation at 8%.

Recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months involves 23 awards with ultimate completion dates approaching or within that window, signaling a cycle of grant renewals and follow-on research decisions across NSF, NOAA, ONR, and other agencies. The university's award velocity declined from 37 in 2023 to 13 in 2026 (year-to-date), likely reflecting both the timing of multi-year grant cycles and the snapshot nature of the source data captured in October 2026. The institution's research infrastructure—including the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), the Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System (NECOFS), and interdisciplinary centers in materials science, computational methods, and marine technology—anchors sustained engagement with federal research sponsors, particularly in oceanography, marine ecosystems, and naval applications relevant to the Northeast U.S. coastal region.