The USDA has released it’s FY 2011 SBIR solicitation. Proposals will be due no later than September 2nd and must include a budget of no more than $100,000 for an 8-month period.
The USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has identified five primary “societal challenge areas”. Proposals that fit in one of the topics below AND address these challenge areas are highly encouraged:
1. Global Food Security and Hunger
2. Climate Change
3. Sustainable Bioenergy
4. Childhood Obesity
5. Food Safety
Proposals are also encouraged in these government-wide initiatives:
1. Agriculturally-related Manufacturing Technology
2. Energy Efficiency and Alternative and Renewable Energy
The Topics for this solicitiation are:
8.1-Forests and Related Resources;
8.2-Plant Production and Protection – Biology;
8.3-Animal Production and Protection;
8.4-Air, Soil and Water Resources;
8.5-Food Science and Nutrition;
8.6-Rural and Community Development;
8.7-Aquaculture;
8.8- Biofuels and Biobased Products;
8.12-Small and Mid Size Farms;
8.13-Plant Production and Protection – Engineering
Please be sure to read the solicitation for proposal preparation instructions and topic descriptions.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate has an open SBIR Solicitation. Proposals are due on June 24th and could result in Phase I Awards up to $100,000. Companies may contact the DHS with technical questions before June 10th. Topics in this solicitation are:
- Detector for Smuggled Currency
- Next Generation Vacuum Systems for Hand-held Mass Spectrometers
- Large-Scale Network Survivability, Rapid Recovery, and Reconstitution
- Non-Detonable, Non-Hazardous, Low-Cost, Hexamethylene Triperoxide Diamine (HMTD) Training Aids for Canines
- Automated Tool for Assessing Usability
- Helmet with Embedded Active Display for Emergency Responders (HEADER)
- Accelerating the Deployment of DHS Center of Excellence Research through Advanced Business Practices
- Handheld Multisensor Wand for the Detection of Threat or Illicit Objects on Persons
- Personal Situational Awareness App
Read the solicitation for further details.
NOTE: DHS encourages submission of topics for future solicitations. Check their site out for more details.
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 Transportation Released its FY10.2 SBIR Solicitation. DOT is looking for technologies that address a focused list of topics:
*Driver Detecting Cell Phone Blocker System
*Global Positioning System (GPS) and Related Data Compression Algorithms
*Transportation System Performance Measurement Using Existing Loop Infrastructure
*Mobile Device Application Component
A Phase I Award for a 6-month feasibility study is $100,000. Proposals are due May 14th. See Program Solicitation for more details and topic descriptions.
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.
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 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.