Department of Education 2024 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase IB

UPDATED 12/4/23: The Request for Proposal (RFP) has been issued for the 2024 SBIR Phase IB. Key dates are listed below.

1/3/24: Deadline for all questions related to the RFP which must be submitted via email to Alexander.Lelansky@ed.gov and Cc. David.geary@ed.gov. (recommended to use excel Questions template in attachments section)

1/18/24: Proposal submission deadline 11am EST and must be submitted via email to Alexander.Lelansky@ed.gov and Cc. David.geary@ed.gov.

4/17/24: On or before this date, official results email notification to all offerors.

5/1/24: Start date for awardees.

The program, known as ED/IES SBIR, provides awards to eligible for-profit businesses and partners for the research and development and evaluation of new, commercially viable education technology products (“products”). The goal of ED/IES SBIR is to grow a portfolio of research-based and commercially viable products that are widely deployed to address pressing needs in education. Small Business firms and partners who possess strong research and development and evaluation capabilities for education technology products in the below priority area are encouraged to participate:

• PRIORITY AREA IB: A New Component to be Added to an Existing Education Technology Prototype of Product for Use by Learners, or Educators or Administrators (or Other School Personnel)

The ED/IES SBIR Phase IB program solicitation #91990024R0011 invites eligible for-profit small business firms and partners to submit proposals for $250,000 contracts to develop and evaluate a prototype of a new component to be integrated with an existing education technology prototype or product over a period of 8 months. Successful Phase I awardees under the solicitation will be eligible to apply for a Phase II award for $1,000,000 in 2025, to fully develop and evaluate the component and the existing education technology prototype or product over a period of 2 years and to prepare for commercialization. The result from Phase IB and the subsequent Phase II funding under this solicitation will be a new version of an existing education technology product.

Other 2024 ED/IES SBIR solicitations:

• On the same day the Phase IB solicitation is released, ED/IES SBIR is also releasing a Phase IA program solicitation 91990024R0010 requesting proposals for the development a prototype of an entirely new education technology product (where no or limited previous development has occurred) over a period of 8 months. The goal of the Phase IA track is to stimulate novel (e.g., first of its kind) approaches to solve pressing problems in education.

• In late January 2024, ED/IES SBIR anticipates releasing a Direct to Phase II program solicitation #91990024R0012 for awards of $1,000,000 over a period of 2 years. The due date for Direct to Phase II proposals will be 45 days later, in March, 2024. The Direct to Phase II program solicitation will request proposals for the development of new education technology products to ready existing evidence-based innovations (e.g., products, interventions, tools) for commercial use at scale. Projects that focus on advancing innovations that are not evidence-based will not be eligible for the Direct to Phase II program. The existing evidence-based innovation is required to have originally been conceptualized and developed by an academic researcher while at an academic institution or by a researcher at a non-profit education research organization. 

Important Notes:
 

• Offerors will not be permitted to submit the same or similar proposals under the 2024 Phase IA, IB, of the Direct to Phase II solicitations. Any duplicate or similar proposals that are submitted under more than one of these 2024 solicitations will be rejected without review. (Offerors are permitted to submit multiple proposals provided the focus of each proposal is different.)
   
• For more information and specifications, please refer to the Phase IA, Phase IB, and Direct to Phase II solicitations after they are released.

About the ED/IES SBIR Program

The purpose of the SBIR program is to stimulate technological innovation in the private sector, strengthen the role of small business in meeting Department research and development needs, increase the commercial potential of Department-supported research results, and improve the return on investment from Federally-funded research for economic and social benefits to the Nation. Phase I is to determine, insofar as possible, the scientific or technical merit of ideas submitted under the SBIR program. The proposal should concentrate on Research/Research & Development (R/R&D) that will establish the feasibility of the technological approach, a prerequisite for further Department support in Phase II. ED/IES SBIR is a highly competitive program – historically between 5 and 7% of submitted proposals result in a Phase I award, and about 50% of Phase I awardees win a Phase II award the following year.

For more information about the ED/IES SBIR program, please see here:  www.ies.ed.gov/sbir     

Please note that due to an office transition, the primary means of communication with Department personnel should be via email.  The listed phone numbers may not be active or may change in the future.