Federal agency

National Science Foundation

FY2026 ended Sep 30 · data still posting · data as of 2026-11-01†

† DoD contract data posts to USAspending about 90 days after award.

Federal agency · top-tier · the money flowing out to recipients.

$6.6B
Obligated
FY2026 · data still posting
164
Recipients
12,989
Awards
1
Sub-agencies

In FY2026, the National Science Foundation obligated $6.6B in federal awards to 164 recipients across 12,989 awards. Its largest recipient was University of Texas at Austin, with 3% of the total. FY2026 ended Sep 30 and its data is still posting. Computed

Where this money goes

Source
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDAT
TOP RECIPIENTS
National Science Foundation
$6.6B
FY2026 obligated
University of
$0.3B
Leidos,
$0.2B
Association of
$0.1B
Associated Universities
$0.1B
University of
$0.1B
159 other recipients
$5.6B
band width = obligations · FY2026 · source: USASpending.gov

Recipient breakdown available for 72% of obligations shown

Top recipients

University of Texas at Austin$261.9M
Leidos, Inc.$242.7M
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.$149.6M
Associated Universities Inc$148M
University of California, San Diego$143M
Battelle Memorial Institute$129.8M
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research$112.1M
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution$100.3M
University of Washington$97.6M
The Regents of the University of California$79.5M

How it spends

awards by typeComputed
12,440grants
508contracts
41contract vehicles

What it funds

Mathematical and Physical Sciences$1.3B
Computer and Information Science and Engineering$839.9M
STEM Education (formerly Education and Human Resources)$834.2M
Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships$720.6M
Geosciences$681.9M
Biological Sciences$506.9M
Engineering$469.2M
Integrative Activities$461.4M

Sub-agencies

National Science Foundation$6.6B

Key takeaways

Computed
FY2026 ended Sep 30 · data still posting · data as of 2026-11-01

Obligations by year

Computed
$8B
FY20
$8.4B
FY21
$8.8B
FY22
$9.1B
FY23
$8.9B
FY24
$8.9B
FY25
$6.6B
FY26 partial
▲ 12%
FY20 to FY25

Awards

Source

Largest FY2026 awards

Awards this agency made that started in FY2026, by the amount obligated on each so far.

AwardIDRecipientObligatedStartEndPlace
Research Infrastructure: National Geophysical Facility (NGF): Advancing Earth Science…2435260—$59.2M2025-10-012030-09-30District Of Columbia
Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) -the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)…2630152President and Fellows of Harvard College$31.2M2026-08-152031-07-31Massachusetts
Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) -the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)…2637797Massachusetts Institute of Technology$23M2026-08-152031-07-31Massachusetts
Center: National Commercialization and Translation Institute (Ncti) Pilot Program -the…2631575The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees$20M2026-08-152028-07-31Florida
Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) -the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)…2637798The Leland Stanford Junior University$20M2026-08-152031-07-31California
Research Infrastructure: Mid-Scale RI-1 (Mi:ip): Dual-Doppler 3D Mobile Ka-Band…2535635University of Oklahoma$20M2025-10-012030-09-30Oklahoma
Research Infrastructure: Mid-Scale RI-1 (M1:DA): Design of a Next Generation Ground Based…2535601Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.$19M2025-10-012028-09-30Colorado
Entrepreneurial Fellowships to Enhance U.S. Competitiveness -This Project Addresses a…2532263—$18M2025-10-012028-09-30California

Largest awards by total value

Science Operation and Maintenance Support for the United States Antarctic…
awarded 2011$3.3B
Management and Operation of the National Center for Atmospheric Research…
awarded 2008$1.1B
Management and Operation of the National Center for Atmospheric Research
awarded 2018$1B
Management and Operations of the Joides Resolution as a Facility for the…
awarded 2014$640.7M
Construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Under the Major…
awarded 2014$570.6M
Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (Alma) Operations and Maintenance
awarded 2016$497M
National Radio Astronomy Observatory: Very Large Array Operations and…
awarded 2016$434.1M
National Ecological Observatory Network: Operations Activities
awarded 2017$401M

The agency’s biggest individual awards by total value, largest first.

Related

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