NOAA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) seeks to stimulate technological innovation in the private sector, strengthen the role of small businesses in meeting federal research and development needs, increase private sector commercialization of i

This listing provides federal assistance to US-based small business concerns (SBCs) in three phases: proof of concept, research and development and commercialization.

Applicant Eligibility (1) is organized for profit, with a place of business located in the United States, which operates primarily within the United States, or which makes a significant contribution to the United States economy through the payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor; (2) is in the legal form of an individual proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, joint venture, association, trust or cooperative, except that where the form is a joint venture, there can be no more than 49 percent participation by foreign business entities in the joint venture; (3) is at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the United States, except in the case of a joint venture, where each entity in the venture must be 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in the United States; and (4) has, including its affiliates, not more than 500 employees. The term "affiliates" is defined in greater detail in 13 CFR 121.103. The term "number of employees" is defined in 13 CFR 121.106.

Each year, NOAA sets aside a portion of its extramural R & D budget to fund research from small science and technology-based firms. The NOAA SBIR Program supports innovative research projects that fall within NOAA's core mission of science, service, and stewardship.

The selected areas of research are: Extreme Events and Cascading Hazards, Coastal Resilience, The Changing Ocean, Water Availability, Quality, and Risk, Effects of Space Weather, Monitoring and Modeling for Climate Change Mitigation, The Small Business Innovation Research Program is carried out in three separate phases: The purpose of Phase I is to determine the scientific, technical, and commercial merit and feasibility of the proposed research. NOAA Phase I grants are up to $175,000 for a 6-month period of performance. Phase II is the research and development (R & D) or prototype development phase. It requires a comprehensive proposal outlining the research and a detailed plan to commercialize the final product. Phase II grants are up to $650,000 for a 24-month period of performance. Phase III is to be conducted by the small business concern (including joint ventures and limited partnerships), and will be non-SBIR funded through the exercising of a follow-on funding commitment. The purpose of Phase III is to stimulate technological innovation and the national return on investment from research through the pursuit of commercialization objectives resulting from the supported work carried out in Phases I and II. Grant funds must be used for allowable costs necessary to conduct approved fundamental and applied research, extension and education objectives . Under Phase III, the grantee is required to obtain funding from the private sector, a non-SBIR government source, or both, to further develop the prototype into a viable product or service for sale in the federal government and/or private sector markets.

Phase I grants are normally limited to six (6) months. Phase II grants are normally limited to two (2) years.

1. The scientific merit and technical approach of the proposed research (40 points); 2. The level of innovation the proposed effort offers to the research topic area (see Sec. 9.0) (20 points); 3. Consideration of an application's commercial and societal impacts and potential applications (20 points); and 4. Qualifications of the proposed principal/key investigators, supporting staff, and consultants and availability of instrumentation and physical facilities necessary to complete the proposed work (20 points).

All Phase I and II proposals will be evaluated and judged on a competitive basis. A proposal will not be deemed acceptable if it represents presently available technology. Proposals will be initially screened to determine responsiveness. Proposals passing this initial screening will be technically evaluated by engineers or scientists (reviewers may be NOAA employees or outside of NOAA) to determine the most promising technical and scientific approaches. Each proposal will be judged on its own merit. NOAA is under no obligation to fund any proposal or any specific number of proposals in a given topic. It also may elect to fund several or none of the proposed approaches to the same topic or subtopic. Final award recommendation decisions will be made by NOAA based upon rankings assigned by the selection panel and consideration of additional factors, including possible duplication of other research, the importance of the proposed research as it relates to NOAA needs, and the availability of funding. In the event of a "tie" between proposals, manufacturing-related projects as well as those regarding energy efficiency and renewable energy systems will receive priority in the award selection process. NOAA may elect to fund several or none of the proposals received on a given subtopic. Upon recommendation of a proposal for a Phase I award, NOAA reserves the right to review and negotiate, if necessary, the amount of the award.

Notice is sent to applicants for each proposal submitted stating whether it was recommended or not for award no more than 90 days after the closing date of the solicitation. Awards are issued no more than 180 days after the closing of the solicitation.

Requests for extensions are noted in the NOFO.

Phase I applications may be revised and resubmitted during a later funding cycle, provided the subject matter of the proposal is not changed, and the topic area under which the proposal was originally submitted is still listed in the solicitation. Phase I grantees may apply for a Phase II grant only once for each Phase I project funded.