The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), Domestic Nuclear Detection Office Acquisition Division (DNDOAD) is seeking proposals for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Program, Phase I.
There are two VERY SPECIFIC technical topics for this proposal:
1. Radiation Detection Modules for the Geospatial Location Accountability and Navigation System for Emergency Responders (GLANSER) system.
2. Neutron detectors including replacement for He-3
While there are only 2 topics for this solicitation, if your company can carry out this research and develop the product DHS needs, a Phase I proposal is up to $150,000 for up to 6 months of research.
Proposals are due May 11th. See solicitation for details.
You expect “green” topics on an EPA solicitation, but what about “Homeland Security” or “Nanotechnology”? The topics might surprise you. The Environmental Protection Agency just might have a topic that fits the technical mission of your company. Yesterday, the EPA released its 2011 Phase I SBIR solicitation. Why don’t you take a minute to check it out.
Proposals will be due in Washington on May 11th at noon.
Your proposed technology must meet the qualifications of the topic description, have sound technical and scientific merit, and significant commercial application potential.
Topic categories (full topic descriptions are found in the solicitation):
*Green Building
*Innovation in Manufacturing
*Nanotechnology
*Greenhouse Gases
*Drinking Water Monitoring and Treatment
*Wastewater and Sustainable Infrastructure
*Air Pollution Monitoring and Control
*Biofuels
*Waste Monitoring and Management
*Homeland Security
See the full SBIR solicitation (PR-NC-10-10251) for complete details.
You have an idea for a nifty new technology and you want money to develop it. You will need to persuade some person, company, foundation, bank, or agency to give you money. First, you will need to convince this “investor” that you really do have a “nifty” idea and you have the technical know-how to make it happen, but just as importantly, if not more, they want to know if anyone will actually pay money for it once it is developed. Does it have true potential to make money—not only will investors want a return of their initial investment, but in most cases, a compounded return.
If you are seeking an investment via an SBIR or STTR award, you might not think you need to explain its market potential –after all, you don’t have to “pay back” the award. Well, that’s true, you do not have to write a check and pay them back, but the American tax payer is investing in your idea. The government is taking a chance on your idea and your company; they want to know that you can take their investment and make a sustaining product that will enable your company to grow. If you grow, you create jobs, and job creation means growth in the economy.
Writing a well crafted commercialization plan can help you make your case.
Your commercialization plan needs to be detailed and well thought out. Avoid generalized statements like “there is a huge market” or “we can make lots of money”. Start by answering some basic questions: Is there a market pull—who’s asking for the technology or who has indicated that they actually NEED your technology? What is the size of the market? How will you manufacture, market, and sell it if you only have a 1-person company? Do you have a plan to get it from your laboratory into the hands of your customer? How will you price it in order to make profitable—if the cost to produce far exceeds the amount customers are willing to pay, how will you make a profit? How is your management team structured—has anyone brought a technology from inception to market? Not only do you need to answer these questions, you need to make sure you’ve done market research to support your claims with hard facts–do not make claims you cannot back.
For a more comprehensive list of concepts to include, see Elements of Your Commercialization Plan.
The National Science Foundation released its first 2011 SBIR Solicitation for the year. Anticipated funding amount for this solicitation is $45,000,000 (approximately 300 Awards). Maximum funding amount for these Phase I awards is $150,000 for the 6-month feasibility study.
There are four Main Topics with multiple subtopics under each:
Proposals will be due by June 9th.
R =Research. Research is defined as “a diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover or revise facts, theories, applications, etc”.
Since the focus of SBIR/STTR is funding for your research, you need to fully explain to the funding agency what that research will be. Yes, all parts of your proposal are important, but the meat of your proposal needs to be your Research Plan (also known as a Work Plan). This is what the agency is going to pay you to accomplish.
The plan needs to be a step-by-step outline of not only what you will do, but also how you will actually do it, who will do it, how the predicted results will move the overall idea forward, where it will be done, and when it will be accomplished–a timeline for completing the work. Every aspect of your research needs to be spelled out exactly; do not make the reviewer guess or assume! Time after time companies fail to realize how detailed it needs to be.
Writing out a clear plan also helps you think through your overall goals. Once you start detailing, you might discover you need to modify your strategy to actually meet your desired objectives, or you might need to scale back your research to complete it within budget and time-frame. Creating a detailed Research Plan will help your company–whether you receive the SBIR/STTR Award or not.
The Department of Education’s National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) currently has an open SBIR solicitation. Maximum funding for one of these 6-month Phase I research projects is $75,000. If scientific or technical merit and feasibility is demonstrated during Phase I, awardees have the potential to receive $500,000 for their Phase II research which will cover a research period of up to 24 months. Application proposals are due March 15th.
Priority topic areas for research are:
(1) Increased independence of individuals with disabilities in the workplace, recreational settings, or educational settings through the development of technology to support access and promote integration of individuals with disabilities
(2) Enhanced sensory or motor function of individuals with disabilities through the development of technology to support improved functional capacity.
(3) Enhanced workforce participation through the development of technology to support access to employment, promote sustained employment, and promote employment advancement for individuals with disabilities.
(4) Enhanced community participation and living for individuals with disabilities through the development of accessible information technology including Web access technology, software, and other systems and devices that promote access to information in educational, employment, and community settings, and voting technology that improves access for individuals with disabilities.
(5) Improved interventions and increased use of health-care resources through the development of technology to support independent access to health-care services in the community for individuals with disabilities.
Please see the solicitation for more details.
The Department of Defense announced topics in its 2010.A STTR pre-solicitation today. There are 30 Army Topics and 45 Navy Topics in this solicitation. Companies may review the topic lists found in the solicitation or utilize the DOD Topic Search engine to search specific details of a topic.
The STTR requires a partnership with a non-profit Research Institute (usually a university, but not always). The Research Institute must be subcontracted for at least 30% of the work, but not more than 60% of the work. Start early to build an appropriate relationship with the researcher and to develop a research agreement with the Research Institute.
Proposers are HIGHLY encouraged to make contact with the topic’s Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) prior to February 23rd to confidentially ask technical questions not found in the topic description (contact information for each TPOC is found in the topic description). After this date, questions may be asked publically in the DOD’s SITIS system. Final proposals are due no later than 6:00 AM on Wednesday, March 24th.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) released its 2010 SBIR/STTR grants omnibus solicitations (PA-10-050 and PA-10-051). Those interested in funding from the NIH, CDC, FDA, & CFA should investigate submitting applications. General information and resources for submitting proposal applications can be found on the DHHS SBIR/STTR page.
Submission dates for 2010:
- Standard Receipt Dates: April 5, Aug 5, Dec 5
- AIDs and AIDS-Related Receipt Dates: May 7, September 7, January 7, 2010
As always, do NOT wait until the last minute and attempt to submit. NIH recommends companies begin the registration process AT LEAST 6 weeks before the deadline.
***NOTE*** Changes have been made to the submission of grant applications; these changes will be in effect for the above submission dates. If you have previously submitted applications and think you know the process, please play close attention to the modifications. Refer to Julie Collins’ January 6th article for more details.
SBIR stands for Small Business Innovation Research, so the “S”= “Small”, but what really is “small”? The SBA (Small Business Administration) defines a company as “small” if they have less than 500 employees, so technically, a company is qualified for SBIR if they have at least one employee or as many as 499 employees. Does that mean that companies of both sizes would be equally qualified? No. As with many facets of SBIR, it depends on the sponsoring agency and their needs/requirements.
All agencies are looking for successful SBIR companies. If you can demonstrate that you are realistically capable of doing all the work necessary to complete your Phase I work, then you stand a good chance. “Realistically capable”, means you have the education, experience, facilities, equipment, and time to complete the work. If your company does not have all these appropriate elements, then you need to find partners, subcontractors, or hire additional full-time/part-time employees to complete the work. Remember though, with SBIR, you may only subcontract up to 33% of the work.
Looking at first-time SBIR award recipients across all agencies, 70% of the companies have less than 25 employees with 41% having between 2-9 employees. In other words, small companies DO receive government awards! Agencies individually, though, vary, so know your agency and what it expects. Agencies, which tend to have more broad or researcher-initiated topics, tend to be more willing to fund the smaller start-up companies (as long as you can demonstrate you can successfully do the proposed work), rather than the agencies that utilize SBIR in their procurement process; these agencies not only evaluate the initial research, but evaluate how well the company will then develop, produce, and deliver the end-product.
If you are a company with less than 25 employees, don’t dismiss SBIR because you think you are too small—small companies are driving innovation in the marketplace. If you are a company with say 400 employees, don’t dismiss SBIR because you think it is only for startups—in this tight economy, you might be able to create a new product line which can sustain your company.
Bottom line: when small, think BIG with SBIR!
This time of year, Santa is making his list and checking it twice. That’s my kind of guy! I admit it: I’m a list person. If I don’t write it down, I’ll forget it. I live by checklists. Grocery lists, Christmas lists, To do lists, etc. As I complete something, I mark it off; that way, I KNOW I did it.
If you’ve read through an SBIR or STTR solicitation at least once, you will notice there is a lot of detail: things you should include in your proposal and things you should not, allowable costs and unallowable costs, not to mention what one agency wants over another one (like font size and page-limits). Trying to remember it all can be overwhelming and you STILL might miss something.
Some agencies have realized this, and they have started including checklists with their solicitations. Use them. Some agencies have them in supporting documents on their SBIR/STTR websites. Use them. Some don’t give you checklists, but I suggest you create one yourself: go through the solicitation, line-by-line and create a list of things to include in your proposal: from abstracts to budgets, to letters of support, to research agreements, etc. You don’t want to miss a tiny detail and then have your proposal thrown out.
Remember, before preparing your SBIR/STTR proposal: make a checklist and then check it twice (or three or even four times!) before actually submitting your proposal; Santa just might bring you a nice big award with a bright red bow!