University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, operating through its Office of Sponsored Research, functions as a prime recipient and contractor delivering biomedical research, environmental science, and educational services across 288 federal customer agencies, with an established footprint spanning nearly seven decades of federal award activity. UNC-CH operates as a non-profit, state-controlled institution of higher learning based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, competing predominantly full-and-open across federal research and grant vehicles—no set-aside categories apply to this academic research entity.

UNC-CH's federal award portfolio reflects the scope and mission of a premier research university: 82% of recent awards (7,761 of 9,473 prime and sub awards) sit as prime contracts or grants, with 18% routed through subcontract and sub-grant relationships. The vendor's recent annual activity shows growth through FY2024 (921 awards) followed by moderating volume in FY2025–FY2026, consistent with the cyclical nature of federal research funding. Over the past five years, the institution has captured combined federal potential value of approximately $1.75 billion across 9,473 awards, with obligated dollars reaching $18.69 billion—a magnitude reflecting the time-extended nature of multi-year research projects and the university's role as steward of major federal research initiatives.

Customer concentration reflects heavy dependence on research-focused federal agencies. The National Institutes of Health dominates the customer base, with the NIH parent agency and its component institutes—National Heart Lung and Blood Institute ($615 million combined potential value, 472 awards), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ($315.4 million, 488 awards), and National Cancer Institute ($205.8 million, 518 awards)—anchoring 72% of the vendor's combined potential value across recent awards. The National Science Foundation supplies 953 awards, many in collaborative research and CAREER programs. These concentrations signal that UNC-CH's federal business centers on hypothesis-driven basic and translational biomedical research, environmental science, and STEM education—not service contracting, engineering development, or mission support.

Recent contract and grant work spans biomedical research domains including infectious disease (HIV treatment and prevention, Chlamydia vaccine development, malaria diagnostics), cancer biology and therapeutics (CAR-T cell engineering, pancreatic and breast cancer mechanisms, targeted protein degradation), neuroscience and mental health (Alzheimer's disease mechanisms, depression and anxiety research, executive function in autism), and environmental science (air quality modeling, stream chemistry, chemosynthesis-based productivity). Representative prime work includes a $2.55 million NCI grant for biomaterial-enhanced CAR-T/NK cell therapies in glioblastoma (award March 5, 2026); a $1.41 million NINR grant evaluating virtual nursing's impact on nurse burnout across nine hospitals (award February 2, 2026); and a $1.177 million NIMH grant using integrated health records and state HIV surveillance data to characterize post-discharge care engagement in North Carolina (award March 17, 2026). Delivery order work includes a $60,000 Department of Defense genetic sequencing task (June 22, 2026), a $393,976 NOAA environmental data management delivery order (April 17, 2026), and BPA calls from the EPA totaling $1.14 million for air quality modeling and SPECIATE database development.

UNC-CH holds one federally-held indefinite delivery contract—a multiple-award Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Services IDIQ with the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development (ceiling $2,020,000, award date March 20, 2026, through March 19, 2031). The contract operates full-and-open and unrestricted, with work performance in Chapel Hill covering DNA and RNA sequencing, library preparation, quality control, and data management supporting EPA research programs. UNC-CH sits on the GSA Multiple Award Schedule as a service contractor, with 26 active labor categories ranging from $39.35/hr (Research Assistant, high school equivalent) to $253.33/hr (Project Manager 2, PhD with 15 years' experience); median government-paid rates across SCI-reportable service contracts run approximately $112/hr, with the 90th percentile reaching $180.79/hr.

Service Contract Inventory data (FY2022–FY2024, threshold $150,000+) shows SCI-reportable invoiced revenue of $61.2 million across 113 prime records: $18.9 million in FY2022, $18.5 million in FY2023, and $23.8 million in FY2024, delivering roughly 78–143 full-time equivalents annually depending on contract composition. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors contribute an average of 15% of contractor hours, with 59 named subs identified—a pattern consistent with a prime research institution that builds its own scientific and technical delivery teams while engaging specialized subcontractors for discrete technical services (e.g., bioinformatics, regulatory consulting, specific analytical assays). The vendor's sub-recipient and subcontractor footprint includes collaborations with peer institutions (Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, Emory University, Stanford University, MIT) and federal and state agencies, typically in consortia-based research arrangements rather than traditional vendor sub-relationships.

Recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months stands at 821 awards with combined potential value of $94.6 million, representing approximately 5% of the total award base by count but roughly 5% by dollar magnitude as well—a relatively distributed risk profile reflecting the breadth of UNC-CH's customer base and the stability of long-term research relationships. Federal grant programs (NSF CAREER awards, NIH R01 and R21 mechanisms, NSF CCSS and infrastructure programs) dominate the upcoming expiration schedule and represent the institutional growth area; contract vehicles (task orders, BPA calls) show smaller dollar values per award but higher velocity and administrative renewal burden.