Programs › 12.431
Assistance listing · 12.431
Basic Scientific Research
Federal financial assistance obligated under listing 12.431, 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 $471M in awards under assistance listing 12.431, Basic Scientific Research, in FY2026, and $2.2B over the five fiscal years since FY2023; the program ranks 171 of 988 on this site.
Obligations were down 16% on FY2025 ($559M), with $0 so far in FY2027.
The largest recipient organisations over FY2022–FY2025 were University of Maryland, College Park ($134M), General Dynamics Robotic Systems Inc ($106M) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($85M).
By place of performance, the most money went to MD, MA and MT.
Obligations by fiscal year
Compared with the largest program FY2026
| Measure | This program | Grants to States for Medicaid | All assistance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obligations, FY2026 | $471M | $722B | $4.4T |
| Five-year total | $2.2B | $2.6T | $17T |
| Share of all assistance obligations, five years | 0% | 15.2% | 100% |
Largest recipients obligations, FY2022–FY2025
| # | Organisation | Obligations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Maryland, College Park | $134M |
| 2 | General Dynamics Robotic Systems Inc | $106M |
| 3 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | $85M |
| 4 | The Johns Hopkins University | $53M |
| 5 | University of Southern California | $52M |
| 6 | Research Triangle Institute | $50M |
| 7 | University of California, Santa Barbara | $49M |
| 8 | University of Tennessee | $46M |
| 9 | Kri at Northeastern University, LLC | $44M |
| 10 | Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Incorporated | $40M |
| 11 | Montana Technological University | $38M |
| 12 | The Texas a&M University System | $35M |
| 13 | Civil-Military Innovation Institute Inc | $34M |
| 14 | President and Fellows of Harvard College | $34M |
| 15 | Texas a&M Engineering Experiment Station | $33M |
| 16 | Regents of the University of Michigan | $32M |
| 17 | University of Texas at Austin | $32M |
| 18 | Purdue University | $31M |
| 19 | University of Wisconsin System | $31M |
| 20 | University of Illinois | $29M |
| 21 | The Regents of the University of California | $25M |
| 22 | Semi | $24M |
| 23 | University of Delaware | $24M |
| 24 | Yale UNIV | $24M |
| 25 | University of California, Los Angeles | $23M |
Awarding agencies $1.0M+ awards
Where the money goes
Largest awards since FY2023
| Recipient | Awarding agency | Type | Award value | Begun | Place | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Maryland, College Park | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Army | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | $49M | 17 Feb 2023 | MD | USAspending |
| The Texas a&M University System | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Army | GrantProject Grant (B) | $35M | 7 Jul 2025 | TX | USAspending |
| Kri at Northeastern University, LLC | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Army | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | $26M | 9 Mar 2023 | MA | USAspending |
| Recipient not shown | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Army | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | $17M | 14 Sep 2023 | — | USAspending |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Army | GrantProject Grant (B) | $17M | 28 Feb 2023 | MA | USAspending |
| University of Tennessee | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Army | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | $16M | 10 Feb 2026 | TN | USAspending |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Army | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | $16M | 30 Jun 2023 | MA | USAspending |
| Recipient not shown | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Army | GrantProject Grant (B) | $16M | 22 Mar 2023 | CT | USAspending |
| HRL Laboratories, LLC | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Army | GrantProject Grant (B) | $15M | 12 Dec 2023 | CA | USAspending |
| Recipient not shown | Department of DefenseDepartment of the Army | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | $15M | 14 Sep 2023 | — | USAspending |
Other programs numbered 12.xxx
- 12.401 National Guard Military Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Projects $9.7B
- 12.420 Military Medical Research and Development $4.9B
- 12.800 Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program $3.8B
- 12.300 Basic and Applied Scientific Research $3.2B
- 12.910 Research and Technology Development $2.0B
- 12.630 Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering $1.6B
- 12.777 Defense Production Act Title III (DPA Title III) $1.5B
- 12.750 Uniformed Services University Medical Research Projects $1.5B
- 12.400 Military Construction, National Guard $1.5B
- 12.600 Community Investment $1.0B
- 12.404 National Guard ChalleNGe Program $732M
- 12.599 Congressionally Directed Assistance $512M
- 12.005 Conservation and Rehabilitation of Natural Resources on Military Installations $471M
- 12.113 State Memorandum of Agreement Program for the Reimbursement of Technical Services $262M
- 12.556 Competitive Grants: Promoting K-12 Student Achievement at Military-Connected Schools $261M
- 12.002 Procurement Technical Assistance For Business Firms $207M
- 12.350 Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program $187M
- 12.027 Defense Community Infrastructure Program $170M
- 12.351 Scientific Research - Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction $149M
- 12.610 Community Economic Adjustment Assistance for Compatible Use and Joint Land Use Studies $130M
- 12.006 National Defense Education Program $130M
- 12.330 Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Education, Outreach and Workforce Program $119M
- 12.017 Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program $118M
- 12.020 STARBASE Program $87M
Questions and answers
How much is obligated under assistance listing 12.431?
$471M in FY2026 and $2.2B over the five fiscal years since FY2023, 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 Scientific Research?
University of Maryland, College Park ($134M), General Dynamics Robotic Systems Inc ($106M), Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($85M), The Johns Hopkins University ($53M), University of Southern California ($52M). 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.