University Of Rhode Island

University Of Rhode Island Research Office Division, doing business as URI - Research, a public 1862 land-grant research institution operating as a child entity of the State of Rhode Island, functions as a federal grant recipient providing research services across marine science, oceanography, environmental science, biomedical research, engineering, and STEM education to federal agencies. The institution acts predominantly as a prime recipient (82% of recent awards) rather than as a subcontractor, and does not compete under SBA set-asides.

URI - Research's customer concentration is heavily concentrated across research and education agencies. The top five funding sources account for 40% of recent awards by count, led by the National Science Foundation with 224 awards, the Department of the Navy Office of Naval Research with 106 awards, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with 104 awards, alongside the Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture with 152 combined awards across two organizational components. By dollar value, NASA's Shared Services Center anchors the portfolio with $7 million across 49 awards, though NSF, ONR, and NOAA represent the institution's broadest funding relationships by volume. The portfolio spans 156 distinct federal customer agencies, signaling wide-ranging federal relationships.

URI - Research's capability footprint centers on fundamental and applied research across discipline-specific domains. Representative examples include a $4.99 million collaborative quantum computing research award from NSF (August 2025) investigating parasitic two-level-system defects in superconducting qubits with the Pittsburgh Quantum Institute; a $3.94 million E-RISE RII award (July 2025) studying the socio-ecological impact of microplastics in coastal ecosystems in collaboration with Brown University, Rhode Island College, and Roger Williams University; a $2.52 million ECOCARE project (September 2026) leading a transdisciplinary coastal wetland restoration initiative jointly with Louisiana State University and regional partners; and sustained grant portfolios in marine research (oceanographic surveys, coastal hazards modeling), biomedical sciences (infectious disease, neurological disorders, substance use research), environmental management (forest carbon inventories, invasive species biology), and workforce development (NSF scholarships, Sea Grant fellowships). SCI-reported invoicing of $1.2 million across FY2022–FY2025 reflects minimal federal service contract activity above the $150,000 reporting threshold; the institution's federal financial footprint is primarily grant-driven rather than service-contract-driven. On federal service contracts captured in SCI, median government-paid rates ran around $212/hr. The institution does not routinely engage subcontractors on prime federal work (0% sub-hours share in SCI data), instead building internal research teams.

Recent activity shows growth trajectory from 112 awards in 2023 to 208 in 2024, with 145 awards in 2025 and declining counts (77 in 2026, 5 in 2027) reflecting the source data's forward-looking window. Recompete exposure is significant: 149 awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $6.8 million, creating substantial opportunity for competitive renewal and expansion across NSF research programs, NOAA Sea Grant initiatives, ONR oceanographic research, and USDA agricultural research portfolios.

URI - Research's subcontractor footprint names University of Connecticut, Brown University, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Florida Atlantic University, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Yale University, and the University of Maine System across recent sub-award work. These relationships typically reflect URI's role as the lead oceanographic or environmental research institution bringing subcontractors into collaborative projects rather than URI serving as sub to other primes. The institution also receives sub-awards when acting as subrecipient on Brown University–led initiatives in health services research and community health.

Federal grant work dominates the award portfolio. URI - Research holds prime recipient status on formula grants under the Smith-Lever Extension Funding program ($2.436 million, October 2025) and Hatch Act research funding ($2.14 million, October 2025) supporting Rhode Island's Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension programs. The institution also receives numerous project grants from NSF (226 awards spanning geosciences, engineering, chemistry, computing, polar programs, and education), NOAA (104 awards in Sea Grant and coastal observation infrastructure), NIFA (152 combined awards in agriculture and aquaculture research), and NIH institutes (funding biomedical research in infectious disease, neuroscience, aging, and substance abuse). Recent CAREER awards from NSF ($609,539 in quantum materials; $292,384 in trapped-ion quantum information; $342,949 in memory virtualization for cloud systems; $273,424 in assistive robotics; $848,602 in leopard seal adaptive capacity) reflect the institution's capacity to lead novel research initiatives. Workforce development grants from NSF fund STEM scholarships, graduate research fellowships, undergraduate education initiatives, and cybersecurity training programs addressing documented national workforce shortages.

The institution operates the R/V Endeavor oceanographic research vessel as part of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet and maintains the University of Rhode Island's Marine Geological Samples Laboratory, positioning it as critical infrastructure steward within federal oceanographic research networks. URI - Research coordinates the North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit under the National Park Service and serves as the National Sea Grant Energy Liaison through NOAA, roles signaling leadership positioning within federal coastal and energy research communities.

The research office division is a child entity within the University of Rhode Island parent organization (a 1862 land-grant public research university). Activity declines in 2026–2027 within the source data reflect data currency rather than vendor performance direction; the institution's 2023–2024 growth trajectory and sustained high-dollar awards (including $4.99 million quantum research, $2.52 million ECOCARE initiative, $1.508 million veterans health research) position URI - Research for continued federal funding presence across research and education portfolios through FY2030 and beyond.