The Department of Defense has pre-issued two solicitations simultaneously: an SBIR (SBIR 2010.3) and an STTR (STTR 2010.B). There are separate topics for each solicitation, so you cannot submit an SBIR proposal for an STTR topic and vice versa. Utilize the DOD Topic Search Engine to find topics that match your company’s capabilities.
Read the solicitations in detail as SBIR and STTR are slightly different. Also, read the separate Component-specific (Army, AF, DARPA, MDA, etc.) instructions as proposal requirements vary among the Components.
The DOD will begin accepting proposals on August 17th and all proposals must be submitted before 6:00 AM on September 15th. You are urged to contact the topic Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) to ask additional technical questions not found in the topic itself. You may NOT make direct contact with the TPOC after August 16th–don’t wait until the last minute to ask questions and expect them to respond to you ASAP, it might take some time for them to get back with you.
Your company will need a Tax ID #, DUNs #, and CAGE code before you register to submit your proposal. If you do not have these numbers, you need to start soon as obtaining these numbers might take some time. See the document “Registration Requirements” for more information.
The Department of Defense has released its DOD 2010.2 SBIR solicitation. There are over 400 topics in this solicitation. Not every DOD Component participates in every SBIR solicitation; the participating Components in this DOD solicitation are:
- Army
- Navy
- DARPA
- DMEA
- DTRA
- OSD
The military is looking for very specific solutions to their problems, but if you have the capabilities to solve their problems, not only could you receive up to $850,000 for Phase I and Phase II SBIR funding, you are positioned to possibly receive additional follow-on funding.
Proposals are due June 23rd at 6:00 AM, but you only have until May 19th to contact the topic’s technical point of contact to ask additional technical questions. The full solicitation contains the specific proposal details, but be sure to also read and follow the Component’s specific instructions to get a list of topics and topic descriptions.
Topics are quite diverse. Do not rule out the DOD just because your company does not have “military-related technologies.” Here is a sample of the 400+ topics found in this solicitation:
- Real-time Resource Allocation Co-Processor
- Artificial Tissue Matrices for Bone Repair
- Large Scale Graphene Synthesis Technology
- Forensic DNA Analysis Kit for Genetic Intelligence
- Shipboard Clothes Dryers, “Green Technology”
- Lithium Ion Batteries with Wide Operating Temperature Range
- Many Many MANY more!
Do a few keyword topic searches in the DOD Search Engine to see what the DOD needs–topics might surprise you!
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 Defense pre-released its 2010.1 SBIR Topics this morning. The solicitation will be open to proposal submission from December 10, 2009 at 6AM ET through January 13, 2010 6AM ET.
You may directly contact the Topic Manger (listed with the topic) to ask technical questions/clarification prior to December 10th. After this date, your questions and the responding answers will be made public on the website. The DOD is looking for specific solutions to their specific problems A clear understanding of the full problem, mission of the unit needing the solution, and the role of any prime contractors already involved in the solution can be critical information necessary for an effective proposal. Be sure to take advantage of this time to ask questions while you have a competitive advantage.
The DOD components with topics in this solicitation are:
- Army
- Navy
- Air Force
- CBD
- DARPA
- DARTA
- SOCOM
Each component has its own set of instructions, so be sure to read the DOD’s the full solicitation and the component’s specific instructions.
The DOD has its own DOD SBIR search engine to search for topics specifically in this solicitation. All proposals will be submitted through the DODSBIR.net system.
The FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was has reached the House and Senate floor and should be voted upon this week.
What does that have to do with SBIR? Apparently 2 pages of language were inserted in this document to reauthorize not only the DoD SBIR/STTR program until 9/30/2010, but to also extend the Commercialization Pilot Program (CPP) as well.
Unfortunately, this does not apply to the other 10 agencies SBIR/STTR programs, which are still up for reauthorization.
The NSF has released its 2010 STTR solicitation. Proposals may not exceed a $150,000 budget or a 12-month timeframe to conduct a Phase I feasibility study. Proposals are due November 17th at 5:00 PM.
This solicitation has one topic: "Multi-Functional Materials (MM)" with 4 subtopics:
A. Bio-inspired Materials and Systems (BMS)
B. Materials for Energy Generation and Storage (ME)
C. Materials for Sustainability (MS)
D. Nanostructured Materials (NM)
E. Smart Materials and Structures (SMS)
Proposals must address one of these subtopics. Instructions and proposal details can be found in the solicitation. Note: For STTRs, a company must subcontract with a non-profit research institute for 30-60% of the research.
The Department of Defense released two solicitations for its
sub-agencies: one is an SBIR solicitation and one is an STTR solicitation. SBIR proposals will be ONLY accepted from the
2009.3 solicitation topics and STTR proposals will ONLY be accepted from the
2009.B solicitation topics. For more
information and proposal preparation details, please carefully read the
appropriate solicitation.
The DOD will begin accepting proposals on August 24th
and will close at 6:00 AM on September 23rd. Prior to August 24th
you may (and are HIGHLY ENCOURAGED) to contact the matching Topic Manager for
the topic that fits your technical expertise to ask additional technical
questions not outlined in the topic itself. To search specifically for DOD topics, visit
the DOD search engine.
You’ve spent time writing what you think is a pretty decent proposal and now you are ready to submit it…or so you think. Have you thought about how will you submit it? Read the solicitation and read it early (see The Basics: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic (Part 1)). Each agency is different. Does the agency require a paper or electronic submission? If paper submission, did you allow time for the physical delivery of your proposal? Have you obtained all necessary data elements and completed any necessary electronic registration processes?
IMPORTANT: Electronic registration and obtaining basic data elements can take a few days, but it might take weeks (for example, NIH recommends new companies start no later than 6 weeks before proposals are due). There are several steps that MUST be completed prior to the actual registration. Each step is dependent on information generated from the previous step. Your hands are tied when waiting for each data element to be supplied/validated from its issuing organization. The length of time for the whole registration process depends on how many elements your company will need to obtain.
So how many elements will your company need? That depends on how established your company is, what you have already obtained by conducting other normal business, and if you have previously submitted a proposal. You might need to obtain some, all, or none of these basic data elements before you can submit a SBIR or STTR proposal:
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Does your company have a Tax ID Number (also known as an EIN)? New companies will need to obtain one from the IRS. Once assigned, the EIN will need to be validated (numbers are assigned immediately, but it can take 2-5 weeks to activate a new number).
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With activated EIN in hand, you can next apply for a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNs) Number from Dun and Bradstreet (D&B). This 9-digit number is a unique number for each physical location of your business. Once requested, a DUNs number is issued within 24-72 hours.
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With EIN and DUNs, you are now ready to register in Central Contractor Registration (CCR). CCR is the primary registrant database for the Federal Government. Registration will not only require your EIN and DUNs, it will also require banking Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Information for payment of invoices. Your CCR registration will be processed complete after 24-48 hours. Note: If you do not have a CAGE code(Commercial and Government Entity Code), necessary for any DOD submissions, CCR will assign one.
With these basic data elements in hand, you are now ready to register with the specific agency to which you will submit your proposal–read the agency's solicitation to know which system (grants.gov, FastLane.com, eRA Commons, dodsbir.net, EHB, etc). I will cover these specific registrations in future postings…
The DOD officially opened its 2009.2 SBIR solicitation yesterday. Proposals will continue to be accepted until 6:00 AM on June 17 (check out the solicitation for more details on this submission).
Meanwhile, the Air Force has already pre-released a draft of its 2009.3 SBIR topics. There are 224 Draft topicslisted in this pre-release. This gives you extra time to start fostering partnerships with contractors/primes, talk with the topic managers to find out more specifics, and write a clear proposal. It's NEVER too early to start!
The Department of Defence has pre-released its solicitation and topics for its 2009.2 SBIR. They will begin accepting proposals on May 18th and all proposals must be submitted prior to 6:00 AM on June 17th.
Between now and May 17th, you may contact the topic author directly to ask technical questions about the topic (topic author's name and contact information are found with the individual topics). After May 17th, you may still ask questions electronically until June 3rd, but your questions and answers will be posted with the topic via the DOD's SITIS Online System which might limit your competitive advantage.
Participating Sub-Agencies for this solicitation:
- Army
- Navy
- DARPA
- DEMA
- DTRA
- OSD
More information and submission instructions can be found with the solicitation.
Note: additional requirements and specifications can be found with each sub-agency. See the sub-agency matrix for more details.
To better identify topics, utilize the DOD's Topic Search Engine.