SDSU Research Foundation

What SDSU Research Foundation does

SDSU Research Foundation (SDSURF) is a private nonprofit auxiliary organization affiliated with San Diego State University, established in 1943 to administer the full lifecycle of sponsored research on behalf of SDSU faculty and principal investigators. The foundation operates 964 employees and in Fiscal Year 2024-25 administered $200,880,416 in research awards across 808 awards from 360 sponsors, supporting 378 active principal investigators. Its core services include Sponsored Research Development (SRD) for funding opportunity identification and proposal preparation, Sponsored Research Contracting Services (SRCS) for contract negotiation, and Sponsored Research Administration (SRA) for ongoing award management, complemented by the Project Administration Guide (PAG) policy manual covering purchasing, accounts payable, travel, HR, and payroll.

The foundation's underlying technology stack is comprised of standard enterprise administrative platforms rather than proprietary systems, including iCIMS for applicant tracking, PaymentWorks for vendor onboarding, Emburse for travel and expense management, a US Bank-issued Procurement Card (PCard) program, and an Employee Dashboard for self-service HR functions. A Technology Transfer Office supports commercialization of research outputs such as the FoodProt protein database. SDSU's R1 classification, achieved in February 2025, places it among the top 5% of US research universities by Carnegie Classification.

SDSURF generates revenue through sponsored research administration: the foundation receives and manages federal, state, and private research funding flowing to SDSU researchers, recovering costs primarily through indirect cost/overhead recovery on grants. Services are not directly charged to researchers — costs are absorbed into the sponsored research project overhead. Distribution is entirely institutional, with dedicated SRA grant specialists assigned per project and service delivery embedded within the SDSU campus research ecosystem in San Diego, CA. The foundation has no independent commercial customers and operates exclusively as an auxiliary entity of the university.

Name

SDSU Research Foundation

Legal name

San Diego State University Research Foundation

Website

https://foundation.sdsu.edu

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

SDSU Research Foundation is a nonprofit auxiliary organization of San Diego State University that administers the full lifecycle of sponsored research for 378 principal investigators, managing $200.9M in awards from 360 sponsors in FY 2024-25.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Research Administration Services

NAICS

Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Research Administration & Grants Management Support (Pre/Post-Award, Compliance) (EDAEALAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Research Administration & Compliance (Sponsored Programs, IRB/REB) (EDADAKAH), Corporate & Foundation Relations (Sponsorships, Grants, Partnerships) (EDALAOAE)

Keywords

• Research administration services
• Sponsored research management
• Grant lifecycle management
• Research compliance
• Contract negotiation

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Sponsored Research Administration: SDSURF receives and administers sponsored research awards and grants on behalf of San Diego State University researchers, providing administrative infrastructure for managing federal, state, and private research funding.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SDSU Research Foundation administers the full sponsored research lifecycle on behalf of San Diego State University researchers, from identifying funding opportunities and developing proposals (pre-award), through contract negotiation (at-award), to ongoing award management, financial administration, and closeout (post-award). It also delivers supporting operational services — Project Administration Guide policy support, Facilities Services, Employee Dashboard self-service, vendor onboarding via PaymentWorks, travel and expense processing via Emburse, and a tiered Visa Procurement Card program — to the SDSU research enterprise.

Product overview

SDSU Research Foundation is a university research administration organization that provides comprehensive sponsored research lifecycle management services. The core offerings include Sponsored Research Administration (SRA) for award management, Sponsored Research Contracting Services (SRCS) for contract negotiation, and Sponsored Research Development (SRD) for funding opportunity identification and proposal development. These are supported by the Project Administration Guide (PAG), a policy manual covering project administration, purchasing, accounts payable, travel, HR, and payroll. Supporting services include Facilities Services for maintenance and access, Employee Dashboard for self-service HR functions, PaymentWorks for vendor onboarding, Travel and Expense Management via Emburse, and a PCard program for procurement. The organization does not offer commercial software products; all offerings are internal research administration services for SDSU researchers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sponsored Research Administration (SRA) Administrative support unit that helps SDSU researchers manage the full lifecycle of sponsored research awards, including grant specialist assignment, compliance oversight, and fund management.
• Sponsored Research Contracting Services (SRCS) Handles negotiation and administration of research contracts and agreements between SDSU researchers and sponsors.
• Sponsored Research Development (SRD) Assists SDSU researchers with identifying funding opportunities and developing competitive proposals for submission to sponsors.
• Project Administration Guide (PAG) Comprehensive policy and procedure manual covering project administration, purchasing, accounts payable, travel, human resources, and payroll for project directors and principal investigators.
• Facilities Services Provides maintenance, repairs, work order management, conference room reservations, and key/access requests for SDSU Research Foundation facilities.
• Employee Dashboard Self-service web application allowing SDSURF employees to access pay stubs, leave balances, benefits selections, earnings history, W-4/W-2 information, and personal details via Single Sign-On.
• PaymentWorks Vendor Management Online vendor onboarding and management system for completing vendor registration, providing tax information, and managing payment preferences including direct deposit.
• Travel and Expense Management Travel pre-approval, expense reimbursement, and per diem allowance processing via the Emburse platform, covering domestic and international travel.
• Procurement Card (PCard) Program Corporate Visa cards issued by US Bank enabling efficient routine purchases with tiered spending limits (Profile 1: $1,000/$5,000; Profile 2: $3,500/$10,000; Profile 3: $4,999/$20,000).

Quantifiable outcome

• $200,880,416 awarded to SDSU and SDSURF in Fiscal Year 2024-25 across 808 awards

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• San Diego Zoo Wildlife AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance partners with SDSU on innovation projects, including conservation research. SDSU biology professor Rulon Clark collaborates with SDZWA conservation program specialist Jeff Lemm on wildlife research projects such as radio-tracking red diamond rattlesnakes.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• USC Office of Research: Provides sponsored research administration for a large California private R1 university, with parallel functions in proposal development, contract negotiation, and award management. Closely comparable scale and structure.
• University of Washington Office of Research: Sponsored research administration for a major public R1 university with similar federal funding profile and full-lifecycle service structure. Comparable scale and operating discipline.
• Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise: Research administration arm of a large public research university offering similar lifecycle services, with comparable scale and federal/state funding exposure.
• University of Arizona Research, Innovation & Impact: R1 public university research administration office providing pre-award, post-award, and compliance services with comparable award volume and sponsor mix.
• University of Colorado Boulder Research & Innovation Office: Public R1 university research administration office with comparable functions across pre-award, post-award, and compliance. Similar operating model and scale band.
• UC San Diego Research Foundation / Office of Research Affairs: Administer sponsored research for a fellow San Diego R1 university with comparable federal funding mix and lifecycle services (pre-award, post-award, compliance). Direct geographic and functional peer.
• Stanford University Office of Research Administration: R1 research university's sponsored research office covering pre- and post-award services, compliance, and contract negotiation. Highly comparable operating model with larger scale.
• UCLA Research Administration: Research administration office of an R1 university in California managing a comparable mix of federal, state, and private awards. Direct functional peer in lifecycle management and compliance.

Regional players

• University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute (ISI): Federally funded research unit at USC demonstrating the kind of large-scale sponsored research operation that university research foundations administer; useful regional peer for benchmark on federal funding scale.

Broad incumbents

• California State University Sponsored Programs Administration: System-level research administration context for the CSU network; SDSURF operates as one of CSU's auxiliary foundations serving a single campus, while the Chancellor's Office sets broader policy and oversight.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/sdsurf.bsky.social
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SDSUVideo
• Facebookfacebook.com/sdsuresearchfoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sdsu-research-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/sdsu_rf

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about SDSU Research Foundation