Federal award data
NAICS 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology): federal contract awards
How competitive are federal research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) contracts (NAICS 541715)?
Federal agencies signed 60,417 new awards of $25,000 or more under NAICS 541715 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)) in FY2016-FY2026, worth $298B. 82% were competed, and competed awards drew a median of 11 offers; 23% got a single offer. The Department of Defense awarded the most (72%).
USAspending.gov data, FY2016-FY2026. Updated .
- New awards
- 60,417
- Obligated
- $298B
- Median award
- $445,314
- Median offers
- 11
- Agencies signed about 5,635 new NAICS 541715 awards a year from FY2016 to FY2025, 6,485 of them in FY2025.
- SBA's small business size standard for NAICS 541715 is 1,000 employees (SBA table effective March 17, 2023).
- The median award was $445,314; 10,277 different companies won at least one award.
- 72% of awards that report a set-aside were set aside for small businesses or a socioeconomic program, most often small business set-asides.
- 6,194 of these awards reach their potential end date (all options exercised) in the next 12 months, so most of that work comes up for re-bid.
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Awards per fiscal year
New NAICS 541715 awards of $25,000 or more by the fiscal year they were signed (October to September), with the amount obligated on them to date.
| Fiscal year | Awards | Obligated |
|---|---|---|
| FY2016 | 0 | $0 |
| FY2017 | 0 | $0 |
| FY2018 | 5,453 | $72.9B |
| FY2019 | 6,929 | $35.2B |
| FY2020 | 7,578 | $33B |
| FY2021 | 7,361 | $40.9B |
| FY2022 | 7,191 | $32.4B |
| FY2023 | 7,674 | $27.4B |
| FY2024 | 7,683 | $25.9B |
| FY2025 | 6,485 | $19.4B |
| FY2026* | 4,063 | $11.2B |
* FY2026 is still filling in: the Department of Defense reports its awards 90 days late. Full years run to FY2025.
How competitive are these contracts?
82% of awards were competed. Competed awards drew a median of 11 offers, against 3 offers across all federal contracts; 23% got a single offer.
| Offers received | Competed awards |
|---|---|
| 1 (single offer) | 9,400 (23%) |
| 2 | 3,053 (8%) |
| 3-4 | 2,996 (7%) |
| 5-9 | 3,991 (10%) |
| 10+ | 21,126 (52%) |
40,566 competed awards with an offer count. Not competed: 10,793 awards (sole source, follow-on or not available for competition).
Set-asides
72% of the 45,824 awards that report a set-aside were reserved for small businesses or a socioeconomic program.
| Set-aside | Awards |
|---|---|
| Small business | 32,766 (72%) |
| No set-aside | 12,831 (28%) |
| 8(a) | 160 (0%) |
| Service-disabled veteran-owned (SDVOSB) | 34 (0%) |
| Women-owned (WOSB and EDWOSB) | 29 (0%) |
| HUBZone | 3 (0%) |
| Indian Economic Enterprises (ISBEE) | 1 (0%) |
Orders placed under an existing contract vehicle often leave the set-aside blank (it is recorded on the vehicle), so they are left out here.
How big are the awards?
The median award was $445,314. 14% were under $100,000, the range where agencies often use simplified acquisition.
| Amount obligated | Awards |
|---|---|
| Under $100K | 8,745 (14%) |
| $100K-$1M | 30,864 (51%) |
| $1M-$10M | 17,758 (29%) |
| $10M+ | 3,050 (5%) |
Which agencies buy it?
The agencies with the most new NAICS 541715 awards in the period.
| Awards | Obligated | |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | 43,253 | $206B |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | 7,531 | $43.4B |
| Department of Health and Human Services | 2,729 | $15.6B |
| Department of Transportation | 1,096 | $759M |
| Department of Homeland Security | 1,035 | $2.3B |
| Department of Agriculture | 1,014 | $166M |
| Environmental Protection Agency | 909 | $346M |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | 872 | $285M |
Where is the work done?
Awards by place of performance. States with enough awards link to their own page for this code.
| Awards | Obligated | |
|---|---|---|
| California | 10,005 | $64.4B |
| Virginia | 5,547 | $35.6B |
| Maryland | 4,958 | $30.4B |
| Massachusetts | 4,405 | $7.5B |
| Texas | 3,015 | $7.6B |
| Ohio | 2,949 | $8.9B |
| Colorado | 2,560 | $11.9B |
| Pennsylvania | 2,517 | $35B |
Largest awards
The five awards with the most obligated, as described by the contracting office. Each links to its record on USAspending.gov.
- Management and operation of the naval nuclear laboratory and naval nuclear propulsion program supportDepartment of Energy, FY2018$15.1B
- Naval nuclear laboratoryDepartment of the Navy, FY2018$15B
- Fy19 engineering servicesDepartment of the Air Force, FY2019$8.6B
- Next generation overhead persistent infrared geosynchronous earth orbit space vehicle 1-3 phase 1Department of the Air Force, FY2018$7.5B
- Design, development, and developmental testing of the next generation interceptor (ngi) all-up-round (aur)Missile Defense Agency, FY2021$5.5B
Coming up for re-bid
6,194 of these awards reach their potential end date (every option exercised) in the 12 months after November 5, 2026. Agencies usually post the follow-on solicitation, or a sources-sought notice, months before that.
Falkview US watches SAM.gov for the follow-on notices under your NAICS codes, checks set-aside eligibility against your UEI, and drafts the response for your team to review. For janitorial, landscaping and facilities support, the recompete calendar lists the individual contracts.
See how Falkview handles a re-bidQuestions
How many bids do NAICS 541715 contracts get?
Competed awards drew a median of 11 offers (FY2016-FY2026, 40,566 awards with an offer count). 23% got a single offer and 62% got five or more. Across all federal contracts the median is 3 offers.
Which agencies award the most NAICS 541715 contracts?
By number of new awards in FY2016-FY2026: Department of Defense (72%), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (12%), Department of Health and Human Services (5%). Agencies that buy often are the ones to watch for recompetes and sources-sought notices.
How many NAICS 541715 contracts are set aside for small business?
72% of the awards that report a set-aside were reserved for small businesses or a socioeconomic program: small business set-asides 72%, 8(a) 0%, Service-disabled veteran-owned (SDVOSB) 0%. Orders under existing contract vehicles often leave the field blank, so those are not counted.
Where are NAICS 541715 contracts performed?
The most awards were performed in California (10,005), Virginia (5,547), Maryland (4,958). Competition differs by state; each state page below shows its own offer counts.
Where the numbers come from
Every new federal contract award of $25,000 or more signed from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2026 (FY2016 to FY2026), as reported to USAspending.gov from the Federal Procurement Data System: definitive contracts, purchase orders, delivery orders and BPA calls. Amounts are what has been obligated on each award to date, options and modifications included. Place is the place of performance.
Offer counts are FPDS's “number of offers received” on competed awards. Award recipients are counted but not named here. Pages with fewer than 150 awards (500 for one code in one state) are left out of search engines, because a handful of awards can swing the numbers.
Compiled by Falkview US from public data, updated November 5, 2026. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to the page.
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