Programs › 12.300
Assistance listing · 12.300
Basic and Applied Scientific Research
Federal financial assistance obligated under listing 12.300, the organisations that receive it and where it goes.
USAspending caveat. Figures are obligations reported by federal agencies to USAspending.gov, not payments. In USAspending's words: "An outlay occurs when federal money is actually paid out, not just promised to be paid ('obligated')." "Every agency has a Senior Accountable Official who must officially certify that the quarterly financial data submitted by their agency is accurate and complete." "If there are any discrepancies in procurement data, FPDS is the authoritative source." Contract data for the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is published with a 90-day delay. Data loaded 30 Sep 2026.
Federal agencies obligated $671M in awards under assistance listing 12.300, Basic and Applied Scientific Research, in FY2025, and $4.0B over the five fiscal years since FY2022; the program ranks 138 of 1056 on this site.
Obligations were down 22% on FY2024 ($863M), with $709M so far in FY2026.
The largest recipient organisations over FY2022–FY2025 were University of California San Diego ($164M), Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($137M) and University of Washington ($102M).
By place of performance, the most money went to MA, MD and DC.
Obligations by fiscal year
Compared with the largest program FY2025
| Measure | This program | Grants to States for Medicaid | All assistance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obligations, FY2025 | $671M | $666B | $4.5T |
| Five-year total | $4.0B | $3.2T | $21T |
| Share of all assistance obligations, five years | 0% | 15.2% | 100% |
Largest recipients obligations, FY2022–FY2025
Awarding agencies $1.0M+ awards
Where the money goes
Largest awards since FY2022
| Recipient | Awarding agency | Type | Award value | Begun | Place | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Navy | GrantProject Grant (B) | $42M | 19 Nov 2021 | MA | USAspending |
| University of California San Diego | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Navy | GrantProject Grant (B) | $41M | 10 Aug 2023 | CA | USAspending |
| Acmi-Austin, LLC | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Navy | Other assistanceOther Reimbursable, Contingent, Intangible, or Indirect Financial Assistance | $35M | 1 Apr 2026 | TX | USAspending |
| American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Navy | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | $34M | 30 Jan 2023 | MI | USAspending |
| Elemental Excelerator, Inc | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Navy | GrantProject Grant (B) | $29M | 29 Mar 2022 | HI | USAspending |
| National Academy of Sciences | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Navy | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | $24M | 31 Dec 2024 | DC | USAspending |
| National Marrow Donor Program | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Navy | GrantProject Grant (B) | $23M | 1 Dec 2023 | MN | USAspending |
| University of Connecticut | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Navy | GrantProject Grant (B) | $21M | 30 Jun 2023 | CT | USAspending |
| University of Oklahoma | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Navy | GrantProject Grant (B) | $21M | 7 Jul 2026 | OK | USAspending |
| University of Connecticut | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Navy | GrantProject Grant (B) | $20M | 24 Jan 2024 | CT | USAspending |
Other programs numbered 12.xxx
- 12.401 National Guard Military Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Projects $12B
- 12.420 Military Medical Research and Development $6.3B
- 12.800 Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program $4.5B
- 12.431 Basic Scientific Research $2.8B
- 12.910 Research and Technology Development $2.4B
- 12.630 Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering $1.9B
- 12.400 Military Construction, National Guard $1.8B
- 12.750 Uniformed Services University Medical Research Projects $1.7B
- 12.777 Defense Production Act Title III (DPA Title III) $1.7B
- 12.360 Research on Chemical and Biological Defense $1.5B
- 12.600 Community Investment $1.3B
- 12.404 National Guard ChalleNGe Program $928M
- 12.005 Conservation and Rehabilitation of Natural Resources on Military Installations $582M
- 12.599 Congressionally Directed Assistance $568M
- 12.113 State Memorandum of Agreement Program for the Reimbursement of Technical Services $326M
- 12.556 Competitive Grants: Promoting K-12 Student Achievement at Military-Connected Schools $324M
- 12.002 Procurement Technical Assistance For Business Firms $252M
- 12.350 Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program $244M
- 12.351 Scientific Research - Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction $220M
- 12.027 Defense Community Infrastructure Program $170M
- 12.017 Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program $164M
- 12.006 National Defense Education Program $157M
- 12.610 Community Economic Adjustment Assistance for Compatible Use and Joint Land Use Studies $151M
- 12.330 Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Education, Outreach and Workforce Program $137M
Questions and answers
How much is obligated under assistance listing 12.300?
$671M in FY2025 and $4.0B over the five fiscal years since FY2022, counting every award type recorded under the listing (grants, direct payments, loan subsidy cost, insurance and other assistance). Obligations are commitments, not payments.
Who receives the most under Basic and Applied Scientific Research?
University of California San Diego ($164M), Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($137M), University of Washington ($102M), University of Connecticut ($84M), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ($77M). Individuals are never listed; where a program pays individuals, USAspending records aggregated rows that appear here as "not shown".
What is an assistance listing (CFDA) number?
A five-digit number that identifies a federal financial assistance program on SAM.gov (formerly the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance). Every grant, loan, direct payment or other assistance award on USAspending carries one; contracts do not.
Provenance
Source: USAspending.gov API v2, spending by category (assistance listing) by fiscal year, recipient cross-tabulation for FY2022–FY2025 and award search, loaded 30 Sep 2026. State figures come from each state's top-100 listing table, so small amounts in a state may be missing. See methodology.