EconDefense
ACQ-23 / Workforce and expertise

Contract directly for university students’ temporary technical services

Obtain temporary/intermittent student technical support for defense R&D laboratories, directly or through nonprofit employers.

Action briefPDF dossier · original 168Download record
Authority / instrument · ACQ-23

Research workforce

Workforce and expertise

Statute & instrument
Authority holder

Secretary of Defense

What this does not authorize / hard limit

Specified workers-compensation and tort-claims employee status only; not general federal employee status.

Recorded executor

Laboratory and student or nonprofit employing students

Continue to actor →

Recorded executing role; this record-specific route is not an additional institutional office.

Legal basisSources linkedLegal sources and instrument limits are recorded.
RequirementsGates recordedRead the requirements for this instrument; applicability depends on the proposed action.
Public fundingRules recordedThe record states funding rules and conditions; no program amount is attributed to this action.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementProgram-specificRecorded executing role: Laboratory and student or nonprofit employing students. Use the responsible program’s process.

Public evidence describes the institution and instrument; it is not approval of an individual transaction.

At a glance

Possible toolACQ-23 · Contracts & purchases
Legal basis10 U.S.C. §4143

Authority holder: Secretary of Defense

Contracts & purchases

Mechanism tags describe the source text; they do not expand the authority.

Availability and verification

Express statutory pathway; award-specific appropriations, available balances, delegations, implementation and approvals not independently verified.

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • Student and institution meet implementing definitions; services are technical support at defense R&D laboratory.

Limits & exclusions

  • Specified workers-compensation and tort-claims employee status only; not general federal employee status.
  • Not an unrestricted personal-services contract exception for all professionals.

Funding conditions

  • Expressly subject to appropriations for this purpose.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • Laboratory technical manager

Resources

  • Laboratory research budget owner

Approval

  • Authorized agency contracting official under Secretary of Defense regulations/delegation
    Office profile

Execution

  • Laboratory and student or nonprofit employing students

Partners & review

  • University; laboratory HR/counsel

Office links are editorial matches to the original role text, not verified delegations. Composite labels and unmatched actors are preserved.

Coordination pathway

Lab identifies time-limited support → student/nonprofit eligibility → contracting office → lab supervision and liability review.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

  • 10 U.S.C. §4143Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.

What this research establishes

Legal basisSources linkedLegal sources and instrument limits are recorded.
RequirementsGates recordedRead the requirements for this instrument; applicability depends on the proposed action.
Public fundingRules recordedThe record states funding rules and conditions; no program amount is attributed to this action.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementProgram-specificRecorded executing role: Laboratory and student or nonprofit employing students. Use the responsible program’s process.

Confidence: High on express authority and cited conditions; execution assignment is illustrative unless statute expressly names it.

Currentness: GovInfo 2024 Code (includes FY2025 NDAA, P.L. 118-159) read in full for cited provision; targeted FY2026 NDAA P.L. 119-60 amendment/repeal sweep. No claim of complete legislative currency through 2026-10-02; remaining 2026 delta needs counsel validation.

Review scope: Original research target October 2, 2026; no record-specific last-review date supplied. Publication is not legal-currentness certification.

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