University System Of New Hampshire

University System of New Hampshire, operating through its University of New Hampshire Division as the New Hampshire School of Law, acts as a prime recipient on federal research grants and contracts across civilian space science, marine science, environmental research, and STEM education, competing without set-aside designation across a portfolio of 2,579 awards totaling $407.5 million in combined potential value and $2.25 billion in obligated dollars. The institution is a non-profit, 1862 land-grant research university headquartered in Concord with administrative divisions across New Hampshire and subordinate research centers in Lee and coastal locations.

UNH's federal footprint concentrates heavily in civilian research grants, particularly from NASA, NSF, and NOAA. Recent representative work spans space science instrument development, oceanographic research, and educational initiatives. The institution delivered a $24.3 million definitive contract to NOAA in October 2024 for design, development, and fabrication of two Solar Wind Plasma Sensor flight instruments with ultimate completion January 2034, managing subcontractors including the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. UNH received a $20.7 million cost-no-fee contract from NASA Ames in October 2024 for Helioswarm program support with primary completion by October 2026, involving sub-awardees including The Aerospace Corporation, Smithsonian Institution, Southwest Research Institute, and University of Iowa. A $3.41 million NASA cooperative agreement for STEM education and workforce development through February 2029 represents the institution's engagement with capacity-building and workforce training alongside core research.

Customer concentration centers on NASA Shared Services Center (456 awards, $129.6 million potential value), NSF (423 awards), and NOAA (167 awards, $27.2 million), accounting for 47% of awards by count. By dollar value, NASA Shared Services Center, NASA Goddard ($39.5 million across 52 awards), and NOAA dominate at 55% of combined potential value. This structure reflects UNH's research-intensive mission in space science, heliophysics, ocean observation, and coastal management rather than contract services or IT delivery. Top award categories include R&D in physical, engineering, and life sciences (33 awards), colleges and universities research (27 awards), and testing/laboratory services.

UNH sits on multiple research-focused indefinite delivery contracts, including NASA Marshall Space Flight Center IDC 80MSFC20D0004 (6 task orders), NASA Headquarters IDC 68HE0121D0006 (4 task orders, $390 thousand), and NASA Langley IDC 80LARC21DA002 (3 task orders, $2.1 million), signaling research delivery roles rather than systems integration or operations management. The institution acts almost exclusively as prime (90% of 2,579 awards) rather than subcontractor, with a sub-award engagement of 10%. Activity has averaged 133 awards annually over the past five years; a recompete cliff of 171 awards ($59 million potential value) reaches completion within the next twenty-four months, creating significant pipeline opportunity for competitors and renewal pressure on UNH.

The Service Contract Inventory dataset shows minimal SCI-reportable activity: zero invoiced revenue recorded across FY2022–FY2025 at the prime level, with workforce trajectory ranging from 1.3 FTEs (FY2022) to 0.1 FTEs (FY2025) across 16 prime and 3 subcontractor records. This reflects the fundamental nature of UNH's federal engagement—research grants and cooperative agreements with faculty and student researchers—rather than commercial service contracts subject to SCI reporting thresholds. The institution operates as a research recipient and educational partner, not a service contractor.

Federal grant work spans NSF programs (CFDA 47.074, 47.075, 47.083), USDA extension and agricultural research (CFDA 10.511, 10.514), Department of Energy renewable energy (CFDA 81.087), and NIH/NIAAA biomedical research (CFDA 93.121, 93.273, 93.855). A $11 million Department of Education award (August 2026, CFDA 84.411) for STEM Language Arts Teaching/Learning Ecosystems signals expansion into K–12 education innovation. UNH also administers the Coastal Response Research Center under NOAA ($1.415 million cooperative agreement) and operates the NOAA Joint Hydrographic Center ($18 million through 2030) as institutional research platforms delivering applied research and training.

UNH competes predominantly full-and-open without reliance on set-asides. The institution's research partnerships include teaming with peer universities and national laboratories—Smithsonian, Johns Hopkins, University of Iowa, Penn State, and others—on mission-critical science instruments and collaborative research efforts. Sub-recipients on grants include regional partners like Keene State College and Plymouth State University on NSF awards, and national research institutions on NASA missions, reflecting a hub role in regional and national research networks rather than a subcontractor to prime systems integrators.