INSTRUCTIONS for 2018-NIST-SBIR-01 APPLICATIONS - Amended.pdf

INSTRUCTIONS for

2018-NIST-SBIR-01 APPLICATIONS

(Amended March 26, 2018) Applicants are strongly advised to use Grants.gov’s “Download Submitted Forms and Applications” option to check that their application’s required attachments were contained in their submission.

After submitting the application, follow the directions found at this link, https://go.usa.gov/xQqeh, in the Grants.gov Online Users Guide.

If any, or all, of the required attachments are absent from the submission, follow the attachment directions found above, resubmit the application, and check again for the presence of the required attachments.

If the directions found at https://go.usa.gov/xQqeh are not effective, please contact the Grants.gov Help Desk immediately. If calling from within the United States or from a U.S. territory, please call 800-518-4726. If calling from a place outside the United States or a U.S. territory, please call 606-545-5035. E-mails should be addressed to support@grants.gov. Assistance from the Grants.gov Help Desk will be available around the clock every day, with the exception of Federal holidays. Help Desk service will resume at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time the day after Federal holidays.

This document consists of seven important sections:

1) Overview;

2) Required Application Forms and Documents;

3) Application Format;

4) Grants.gov Application Submission Process;

5) Attachment of Required Documents;

6) Verifying the Submission and Tracking the Application; and

7) Submission Date and Time.

1) Overview

We strongly recommend that applicants do not wait until the last minute to submit an application. Allowances will not make for any late submissions. To avoid any potential processing backlogs due to last minute Grants.gov registrations, applicants are highly encouraged to begin their Grants.gov registration process early.

https://go.usa.gov/xQqeh mailto:support@grants.gov

When developing your submission timeline, please keep in mind that (1) all applicants are required to have a current registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov); (2) the free annual registration process in the electronic System for Award Management (SAM.gov) may take between three and five business days or as long as more than two weeks; and (3) electronic applicants are required to have a current registration in Grants.gov; and (4) applicants using Grants.gov will receive a series of e-mail messages over a period of up to two business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s electronic system has received its application.

Please note that a federal assistance award cannot be issued if the designated recipient’s registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) is not current at the time of the award.

Applicants will find instructions on registering with SAM.gov as part of the Grants.gov process at:

http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html .

All applicants should be aware that adequate time must be factored into an applicant’s schedule for delivery of the application.

Submitters are advised that volume on Grants.gov may be extremely heavy leading up to the deadline date.

2) Required Application Forms and Documents

Applicants should review the following list carefully to ensure the proposal includes all required forms and documents. Failure to include any of the applicable listed forms and/or documents will result in rejection of the proposal without consideration. All required forms and documents must be complete. Please also review Section 4.02 Phase I Screening Criteria. Guidelines provided below are based on frequently asked questions and are not intended to be comprehensive – all forms must be fully completed.

A complete application contains the following forms and documents:

1. SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. Item 12 should list the NOFO number 2018-NIST-SBIR-01. The response to #19 should be ‘no’ – the NIST SBIR Program is not covered by that Executive Order. For SF-424, Item 21, the list of certifications and assurances is contained in the SF-424B, which is item 3 in this list of Required Forms and Documents.

2. SF-424A, Budget Information – Non-Construction Programs. The budget should reflect all anticipated expenses for the project.

http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html

In Section A, the Grant Program Function or Activity on Line 1 under Column (a) should be entered as “Science, Tech., Business and/or Educ. Outreach”. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number on Line 1 under Column (b) should be entered as “11.620”.

In Section B, Acceptable fees (see Section 5.06 of this NOFO) should be included in “Other (h)”.

These sections of the SF-424A should reflect funds for the entirety of the award:

Section A; Section B; Section C; and Section D. Section E is not relevant to the 2018-NIST-SBIR-01 program.

3. SF-424B, Assurances - Non-Construction Programs.

4. CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying. Enter “2018-NIST-SBIR-01” in the Award Number Field. Enter the title of the application used in field 15 of the SF-424, or an abbreviation of that title, in the Project Name field.

5. SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if applicable).

6. Cover Sheet and Technical Proposal. Read Section 3.02 of this NOFO very carefully, and in its entirety, for directions on completing this section of the application. Attach this document to the SF-424 as described at the end of Section 8.01.

7. Budget Narrative. In addition to other mandatory budget information, a separate Budget Narrative is required. There is no set format for the budget narrative; however, it should provide a detailed breakdown of costs under each applicable object class category as reflected on the SF-424A (personnel, fringe benefits, equipment, travel, supplies, other direct costs and indirect costs), and written justification that includes the necessity and the basis for the cost.

Proposed funding levels must be consistent with the project scope, and only allowable costs that fall within the spending limitations specified in Section

1.03.01 of this NOFO should be included in the budget. The proposed budget should reflect planned costs, but the awardee must charge actual costs to the award consistent with cost principles applicable to the type of awardee in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 C.F.R. Part 200, which apply to awards in this program. More information is available at http://go.usa.gov/SBYh and http://go.usa.gov/SBg4. Information needed for each category in the budget narrative is as follows. Attach this document to the SF-424 as described at the end of Section 8.01.

(a) Personnel – At a minimum, the budget justification for all personnel should include the following: name, job title; commitment of effort on the proposed project in terms of average number of hours per week or percentage of time;

salary rate; total direct charges on the proposed project; description of the http://go.usa.gov/SBYh http://go.usa.gov/SBg4 role of the individual on the proposed project; and the work to be performed.

For Phase I, a minimum of two-thirds of the research and/or analytical effort must be performed by the awardee.

(b) Fringe Benefits – Fringe benefits should be identified separately from salaries and wages and based on rates determined by organizational policy.

The items included in the fringe benefit rate (e.g. health insurance, workers’ compensation, etc.) should not be charged under another cost category.

(c) Travel – For all travel costs, the budget justification for travel should include the following: destination; names or number of people traveling; dates and/or duration; mode of transportation, lodging and subsistence rates; and description of how the travel is directly related to the proposed project. For travel that is yet to be determined, please provide best estimates based on prior experience. If a destination is not known, an approximate amount may be used with the assumptions given for the location of the meeting.

(d) Equipment – Equipment is defined as an item of property that has an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more (unless the organization has established lower levels) and an expected service life of more than one year. Any items that do not meet the threshold for equipment can be included under the supplies line item. The budget justification should list each piece of equipment, the cost, and a description of how it will be used and why it is necessary to the successful completion of the proposed project. Please note that any general use equipment (computers, etc.) charged directly to the award should be allocated to the award according to expected usage on the project (i.e. prorated cost).

(e) Supplies –– Supplies are defined as all tangible personal property other than that described as equipment. Provide a list of each supply, and the breakdown of the total costs by quantity or unit of cost. Include the necessity of the cost for the completion of the proposed project.

(f) Contractual (i.e. Contracts/Subawards) – Each contract or subaward should be treated as a separate item. Identify the cost, and describe the services to be provided and the necessity of the subaward or contract to the successful performance of the proposed project. Contracts are for obtaining normal goods and services. Subawardees perform part of the project scope of work. The total cost for all consultant fees, facility leases, usage fees, and other subcontract/subaward or purchase agreements may not exceed one-third of the total award.

(g) Other Direct Costs – For costs that do not easily fit into the other cost categories, please list the cost, and the breakdown of the total costs by quantity or unit of cost. Include the necessity of the cost for the completion of the proposed project. Only allowable costs can be charged to the award.

Profit or fee not to exceed 7% of the sum of the direct and indirect costs must be listed in this cost category if included in the applicant’s budget.

8. Indirect Cost Rate Agreement. NIST will not negotiate indirect cost rates for Phase I awards. If indirect costs are included in the proposed budget, include the cost computation in the budget narrative, and provide a copy of the current, approved negotiated agreement if this rate was negotiated with a cognizant Federal audit agency. Attach this document to the SF-424 as described at the end of Section 8.01. If a rate has not been established, provide a statement to this effect and a computation for the cost in the budget narrative. Applicants without an established rate may propose estimated indirect costs at a rate not to exceed 40 percent of the total direct costs and will not be required to provide further justification if selected for an award. Any profit or fee requested is not considered a direct cost for the purpose of the indirect cost base calculation.

9. SBA Company Registry Form. SBA maintains and manages a Company Registry at http://www.sbir.gov/registration to track ownership and affiliation requirements for all companies applying to the SBIR Program. The SBIR Policy Directive requires each Phase I applicant to register in the Company Registry prior to submitting an application. The applicant must save its information from the registration in a .pdf document. Attach this document to the SF-424 as described at the end of Section 8.01.

10. Data Management Plan. In accordance with NIST Policy 5700.001, Managing Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research, and NIST Order 5701.002, Managing Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research”, applicants must include a Data Management Plan (DMP).

The DMP is a supplementary document of not more than two pages that must include, at a minimum, a summary of proposed activities that are expected to generate data, a summary of the types of data expected to be generated by the identified activities, a plan for storage and maintenance of the data expected to be generated by the identified activities, and a plan describing whether and how data generated by the identified activities will be reviewed and made available to the public. As long as the DMP meets these NIST requirements, it may take the form specified by the applicant’s institution or some other entity (e.g., the National Science Foundation3 or the National Institutes of Health4).

All applications for activities that will generate scientific data using NIST funding are required to adhere to a DMP or explain why data sharing and/or preservation are not within the scope of the project.

For the purposes of the DMP, NIST adopted the definition of “research data” at 2 C.F.R. § 200.315(e)(3) (available at http://go.usa.gov/3sZvQ).

1 http://www.nist.gov/data/upload/Final-P-5700.pdf 2 http://www.nist.gov/data/upload/Final-O-5701_0.pdf 3 http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp 4 https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/data_sharing_guidance.htm http://www.sbir.gov/registration http://go.usa.gov/3sZvQ http://www.nist.gov/data/upload/Final-P-5700.pdf http://www.nist.gov/data/upload/Final-O-5701_0.pdf http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/data_sharing_guidance.htm

Reasonable costs for data preservation and access may be included in the application.

The sufficiency of the DMP will be considered as part of the administrative review (see Section 4.02. of this NOFO); however, the DMP will not be evaluated against any evaluation criteria. Attach this document to the SF-424 as described at the end of Section 8.01.

11. Research & Related Personal Data. Complete and print the form available at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms/r-r-family.html#sortby=1. Attach this document to the SF-424 as described at the end of Section 8.01.

12. Compliance with SBIR Program Requirements, Applicant Fraud Awareness Training - Certificate of Training Completion. Complete the training at: https://www.nist.gov/file/384881). After completion, print and fill out the last page of the training presentation. Attach this document to the SF-424 as described at the end of Section 8.01.

Please pay close attention to the guidance in Section 5) of this document, “Attachment of Required Documents”.

3) Application Format

See Section 3.02, Phase I Application, for instructions on the formatting of the application.

4) Grants.gov Application Submission Process

(1) Applications must be submitted via Grants.gov at www.grants.gov, under announcement 2018-NIST-SBIR-01.

a) Submitters of electronic applications should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions to ensure the attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov system. A receipt from Grants.gov indicating an application is received does not provide information about whether attachments have been received. For further information or questions regarding applying electronically for the 2018-NIST-SBIR-01 announcement, contact Christopher Hunton by phone at 301-975-5718 or by e-mail at grants@nist.gov.

b) Applicants are strongly encouraged to start early and not wait until the approaching due date before logging on and reviewing the instructions for submitting an application through Grants.gov. The Grants.gov registration process must be completed before a new registrant can apply electronically. If all goes well, the registration process takes https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms/r-r-family.html#sortby=1 https://www.nist.gov/file/384881 http://www.grants.gov/ mailto:grants@nist.gov three (3) to five (5) business days. If problems are encountered, the registration process can take up to two (2) weeks or more. Applicants must have a valid unique entity identifier number and must maintain a current registration in the Federal government’s primary registrant database, the System for Award Management (https://www.sam.gov/), as explained on the Grants.gov Web site. See also Section IV.4. of the Full Announcement/NOFO document. After registering, it may take several days or longer from the initial log-on before a new Grants.gov system user can submit an application. Only individuals authorized as organization representatives will be able to submit the application, and the system may need time to process a submitted application. Applicants should save and print the proof of submission they receive from Grants.gov. If problems occur while using Grants.gov, the applicant is advised to (a) print any error message received and (b) call Grants.gov directly for immediate assistance. If calling from within the United States or from a U.S. territory, please call 800-518-4726. If calling from a place other than the United States or a U.S. territory, please call 606-545-5035. Assistance from the Grants.gov Help Desk will be available around the clock every day, with the exception of Federal holidays. Help Desk service will resume at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time the day after Federal holidays. For assistance using Grants.gov, you may also contact support@grants.gov.

c) To find instructions on submitting an application on Grants.gov, Applicants should refer to the “Applicants” tab in the banner just below the top of the www.grants.gov home page. Clicking on the “Applicants” tab produces two useful sources of information, Applicant Actions and Applicant Resources, which applicants are advised to review.

Applicants will receive a series of e-mail messages over a period of up to two business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s electronic system has received its application. Closely following the detailed information in these subcategories will increase the likelihood of acceptance of the application by the Federal agency’s electronic system.

Applicants should pay close attention to the guidance under “Applicant FAQs,” as it contains information important to successful submission on Grants.gov, including essential details on the naming conventions for attachments to Grants.gov applications.

All applicants should be aware that adequate time must be factored into applicants’ schedules for delivery of their application. Applicants are advised that volume on Grants.gov may be extremely heavy on the deadline date.

https://www.sam.gov/

The application must be both received and validated by Grants.gov. The application is “received” when Grants.gov provides the applicant a confirmation of receipt and an application tracking number. If an applicant does not see this confirmation and tracking number, the application has not been received. After the application has been received, it must still be validated. During this process, it may be “validated” or “rejected with errors.” To know whether the application was rejected with errors and the reasons why, the applicant must log in to Grants.gov, select “Applicants” from the top navigation, and select “Track my application” from the drop-down list. If the status is “rejected with errors,” the applicant may still seek to correct the errors and resubmit your application before the deadline. If the applicant does not correct the errors, the application will not be forwarded to NIST by Grants.gov.

Refer to important information in Section 6.01, Deadline for Applications, of the Full Announcement/NOFO document to help ensure your Application is received on time.

5) Attachment of Required Documents

Items (1) through (5) in Section 2) above, Required Application Forms and Documents, are part of the standard application package in Grants.gov and can be completed through the download application process.

Items (6) through (12) in Section 2) above, Required Application Forms and Documents, must be completed and attached by clicking on “Add Attachments” found in item 15 of the SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. This will create a zip file that allows for transmittal of the documents electronically via Grants.gov.

Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions at www.grants.gov to ensure the attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov system. A receipt from Grants.gov indicates only that an application was transferred to a system. It does not provide details concerning whether all attachments (or how many attachments) transferred successfully. Applicants using Grants.gov will receive a series of e-mail messages over a period of up to two business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s electronic system has received its application.

6) Verifying the Submission and Tracking the Application

The Grants.gov Online Users Guide available at the Grants.gov site (http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh) provides vital information on application process.

Applicants are strongly advised to use Grants.gov’s “Download Submitted Forms and Applications” option to check that their application’s required attachments were contained in their submission.

http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh

After submitting the application, follow the directions found at this link, https://go.usa.gov/xQqeh, in the Grants.gov Online Users Guide.

If any, or all, of the required attachments are absent from the submission, follow the attachment directions found above, resubmit the application, and check again for the presence of the required attachments.

If the directions found at https://go.usa.gov/xQqeh are not effective, please contact the Grants.gov Help Desk immediately. If calling from within the United States or from a U.S. territory, please call 800-518-4726. If calling from a place outside the United States or a U.S. territory, please call 606-545-5035. E-mails should be addressed to support@grants.gov. Assistance from the Grants.gov Help Desk will be available around the clock every day, with the exception of Federal holidays. Help Desk service will resume at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time the day after Federal holidays.

Applicants can track their submission in the Grants.gov system by following the procedures at the Grants.gov site (http://go.usa.gov/cjamz). It can take up to two business days for an application to fully move through the Grants.gov system to

NIST.

NIST uses the Tracking Numbers assigned by Grants.gov, and does not issue its own Agency Tracking Numbers.

7) Submission Date and Time

Electronic applications must be received at Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, Wednesday, April 4, 2018. Applications received after this deadline will not be reviewed or considered. Paper applications will not be accepted.

Applicants should be aware, and factor in their application submission planning, that the Grants.gov system is expected to be closed for routine maintenance at these times:

from 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, Saturday, February 17, 2018 until Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time; and from 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, Saturday, March 17, 2018 until Monday, March 19, 2018 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Applications cannot be submitted when Grants.gov is closed.

http://go.usa.gov/cjamz