541715: Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering and Life Sciences
Firms paid to do research and experimental development in the physical, engineering and life sciences, other than nanotechnology and biotechnology, register under this code.
NAICS 541715 in numbers
Everything behind these numbers for NAICS 541715
- Every buying office that awarded in this code, ranked by what they spent
- Every vendor that won, resolved to one record per business
- Every award back to FY2001, searchable and exportable
- Contracts ending soon, scored for how open the next round looks
- Every open notice on this code, with the buyer history beside it
The numbers above are open to anybody. The organized record behind them is what a plan pays for: every award, every buyer, every vendor, cleaned, resolved and read again every night.
Open right now under NAICS 541715
401 open notices right now, 41 closing within seven days. The newest 5:
| Posted | Notice | Buyer | NAICS | Set-aside | Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 29, 2026 | Bridge Extension for ISSO/ISSM SupportSpecial Notice · Goleta CA | FA8806 BATTLE MNGMNT C3 SSC/BCK | 541715 | Oct 30, 2026 | |
| Oct 28, 2026 | Electric Modernization UpgradeSources Sought | NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER | 541715 | Dec 2, 2026 | |
| Oct 28, 2026 | Electric Modernization UpgradeSources Sought | NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER | 541715 | Dec 2, 2026 | |
| Oct 28, 2026 | Venous Thrombosis (VT)Combined Synopsis/Solicitation · 36208 TX | NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER | 541715 | Nov 20, 2026 | |
| Oct 28, 2026 | Broad Other Transaction Authority Announcement (BOTAA) for Military Engineering and Engineered Resilient SysteSpecial Notice · MS | DEPT OF THE ARMY | 541715 | Oct 30, 2028 |
What this code covers
541715 covers research and experimental development in the physical, engineering and life sciences. Nanotechnology and biotechnology research have their own codes, and development that is really engineering support belongs under 541330. The distinction the government cares about is whether the outcome is uncertain: research has an answer nobody knows yet, and engineering support has a known answer somebody has to apply.
The size standard here is unusual and worth understanding before anything else. It is employee based rather than receipts based, and the code carries separate exceptions for aircraft and aircraft engines and parts, for other aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment, and for guided missiles and space vehicles and their propulsion units. Each exception sets a higher headcount than the base standard, so a firm too large to be small under the base can still be small under one of them. The solicitation names which standard applies, and that line decides who is allowed into the competition.
What federal buyers typically ask for
Research contracts are bought differently from services. Broad agency announcements, which stay open for a year or more and invite white papers rather than proposals, are a primary route, and they are the one part of the federal market where an unsolicited good idea genuinely has a path. Cost reimbursement contract types are common, which means an accounting system a government auditor has called adequate is a precondition rather than a nicety.
Data rights are the commercial question that decides whether an award is worth taking. What the government gets in the technical data and the software you produce depends on who paid for the development, and it is set by clause rather than negotiated at delivery. A firm that funded its own development and marks it correctly keeps rights that a firm that did not, loses.
The small business innovation research and small business technology transfer programs are the usual first federal contract for a research firm. They are competed on their own schedules, carry their own data rights protection, and lead to sole source follow-on awards that are one of the few genuinely protected positions available to a small company.
Product and service codes that often pair with this NAICS
| Code | What it is | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| AC12 | Defense applied research | Applied research for the military departments. |
| AC13 | Defense experimental development | Development work under a defense sponsor. |
| AJ12 | General science and technology applied research | Civil agency applied research. |
| AC32 | Defense-related applied research | Defense-related activities outside the military departments. |
| R425 | Engineering and technical services | Used when a buyer reads the work as support rather than research. |
The A classes are research and development and are structured by sponsor and by stage: basic research, applied research and experimental development. The stage in the code is a good signal of how the work will be funded and what will be expected of the deliverable.
Before you bid
Check which size standard the solicitation names, because this code has four and they do not agree. The base one is the lowest and the aerospace and missile exceptions are higher, so a firm too large to be small under the base can still be small under an exception. That cuts the way people do not expect: work you assumed was closed to you may not be, and a competitor you assumed was too large may be bidding as a small business.
Related reading
- Rules and fundingWhat Congress is funding, a year before the notice.
- The defense budgetThe budget exhibits behind a research program.
- Contract typesWhy cost reimbursement changes what you must prove.
See who was last awarded in your NAICS
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