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Dept. of Education Opens FY2004 SBIR Grants Solicitation - 12/22/03
Former DoD SADBU Chief Gets 24 Year Jail Sentence - 12/16/03
Air Force Cancels SBIR Topic #AF04-206 - 12/03/03
NIMA Changes Name to NGA - 11/26/03
Navy Cancels SBIR Topic #N04-046 - 11/24/03
Homeland Security (HSARPA) Releases SBIR Solicitation
NIMA SBIR Solicitation Change
NIST Opens SBIR Solicitation
Homeland Security (DHS) HSARPA to Release SBIR Solicitation
VCs & Biotech Lobby Congress For SBIR size Exemption
DoD Adds 3rd SBIR Solicitation for FY 2004 - (Corrected 10/22/03)
Air Force Adds 21 Topics after Oct 1 Release
NOAA Releases SBIR FY 2004 Solicitation
NIST Announces FY 2004 SBIR Topics
DOE Releases SBIR / STTR FY04 Solicitation
DoD Releases SBIR FY04.1 Solicitation
NSF Releases SBIR/STTR For AM & BT
New Business & Technology Insider Internet Radio Program
SBA Proposes New STTR Policy Directive - 06/17/03
SBA Proposes SBIR Rule Change - 06/05/03
DoD Releases SBIR 2003.2 - 05/01/03
NSF SBIR Web Site Back On Line - 04/14/03
Dept. of Education Releases SBIR Phase I Grant Solicitation - 04/07/03
EPA Releases 4 SBIR Solicitations - 03/28/03
DoD Announces New DoD SBIR/STTR Program Administrator - 03/05/03
Dept. of Education Releases SBIR Contract Solicitation - 03/05/03
DoD Reopens SBIR 2003.1 Solicitation - 03/01/03
NSF Releases SBIR/STTR Solicitation - 03/01/03
DoD Reverses Decision on Rejected SBIR Proposals - 02/26/03
Dept. of Education Issue SBIR Presolicitation Announcement - 02/22/03
FAST & ROP Programs Eliminated from Congressional FY2003 Budget - 02/17/03
Dept. of Transportation (DOT) Opens SBIR Solicitation - 02/14/03
Dept. of Education SBIR Web Site is Back with New Address - 02/05/03
GAO Protest Puts DoD SBIR 2003.1 on Hold - 01/30/03
Editorial on DoD SBIR Rejections - 01/29/03
DoD Rejects Late SBIR Proposal Submissions - 01/23/03
PHS-HHS Opens 2003-2 Omnibus SBIR/STTR Solicitation - 01/16/03
New NIH SBIR Opportunities in Immunotherapy & Chemical Screens - 01/03/03
DoD Releases FY2003 STTR Solicitation - 01/02/03

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Archived News Articles 2002

RETURN TO SBIR GATEWAY

Dept. of Education Opens FY2004 SBIR Grants Solicitation: (12/22/03) - The Department of Education's (ED) Institute of Education Sciences has released their FY2004 SBIR Grants solicitation which closes February 19, 2004.

ED expresses their Technical "Topics" as "Priorities" and this offering has two major priorities:

  • Priority 1 - Services:   This priority supports research to develop effective business consulting services that can better serve the education community at both the local and State levels. The Institute's SBIR program invites proposals that seek to develop a plan or a business model for the provision of such services. More details about this priority can be found in the application package.

  • Priority 2 - Products:   This priority supports the development of empirically derived educational products in the areas of reading, mathematics, science or character/pro-social development at the pre-kindergarten through postsecondary levels, including products that support teachers and administrators as well as products that are used directly by students. More details about this priority can be found in the application package.
Successful applicants will be expected to collect some empirical evidence as to the effectiveness of the service or product they are proposing, or, at a minimum, to incorporate a plan for measuring its efficacy and usefulness.

The complete solicitation (application package) can be downloaded from the ED web site at: www.ed.gov/programs/sbir/applicant.html



Former DoD SADBU Chief Gets 24 Year Jail Sentence: (12/16/03 Alexandria, VA) - Robert L. Neal Jr., former chief of the powerful DoD Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (SADBU), from 1996 to 2001, was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison for a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme that prosecutors called the most serious case of defense procurement corruption since the 1980s. Neal's position as a high-level Pentagon official put him in control of amongst other things, the DoD's SBIR and STTR programs.

Neal and his assistant, Francis D. Jones Jr., both 51, were convicted in Alexandria, VA on charges that they received more than $1 million in cash, as well as sexual favors and gifts, in exchange for helping minority-owned companies secure government contracts. The 24-year sentence is considered unusually long for a Pentagon corruption case.

Although the DoD's SADBU office managed the SBIR/STTR program, it was not involved in the Neal/Jones charges. Some DoD insiders noticed a level of friction between Neal and Jon Baron, the DoD SBIR/STTR program manager who worked under Neal at the SADBU office. "Jon was not comfortable with some of Neal's decisions and he called them into question" said a source wishing to remain unnamed. As a result, Baron left the DoD program and was replaced by Ivory Fisher. Shortly thereafter Neal left SADBU and was replaced by Frank Ramos who currently occupies the position as Director of the SADBU Office. Ivory Fisher retired and was replaced by Jeff Bond, the current DoD SBIR/STTR program manager, and former BMDO/MDA SBIR program manager.



Air Force Cancels SBIR Topic AF04-206: (12/03/03) - The Air Force has announced cancellation of their FY2004.1 SBIR Topic #AF04-206 "Detection of Small-Size Slow-Moving Airborne Threat" (see: www.zynsys.com/sbir/sbres/sbir/dod/af/afsb04-1-206.htm).

Official notification of this topic change can be found on the DoD SBIR solicitation site at: www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/solicitations/sbir041/index.htm



NIMA Changes Name to NGA: (11/26/03) - With the signing of the FY2004 Defense Authorization Act, the DoD's National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) officially became the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). This does have a minor affect on the the NGA/NIMA SBIR FY2004.1 offering. The topic data remains the same but the topic number is now NGA04-001. NIMA/NGA also initiated some minor changes/corrections on November 4, 2003 (see NIMA SBIR Solicitation Change). The Zyn SBIR Gateway suggests that you download the most current copy of their SBIR solicitation (available at: www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/solicitations/sbir041/index.htm).

The mission of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA)is to provide timely, relevant, and accurate Geospatial Intelligence in support of national security. Therefore, NGA pursues research that will help guarantee the information edge over potential adversaries.

Additional information pertaining to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency can be obtained by viewing their web site at www.nga.mil/.



Navy Cancels SBIR Topic N04-046: (11/24/03) - The Navy has announced cancellation of their FY2004.1 SBIR Topic #N04-046 "MW Class Near Infrared Optics" (see: www.zynsys.com/sbir/sbres/sbir/dod/navy/navysb04-1-046.htm ).

The Navy suggests that companies interested in this topic visit Navy Topic #N04-101 "MW Class Near Infrared Optics" (see: www.zynsys.com/sbir/sbres/sbir/dod/navy/navysb04-1-101.htm).

Official notification of this topic change can be found on the DoD SBIR solicitation site at: www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/solicitations/sbir041/index.htm



Homeland Security (HSARPA) Releases SBIR Solicitation: The Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) has released their FY-04 SBIR solicitation on November 14, 2003. The HSARPA will begin accepting proposals November 19, 2003 (electronically only) on their web site at www.hsarpasbir.com (thier web site will not open until November 19). The solicitation closes on December 15, 2003.

You can download the complete solicitation from the FBO web site at: www.eps.gov/spg/DHS-DR/OCPO/DHS-OCPO/HSSCHQ-04-R-00103/listing.html

Objectives of the HSARPA SBIR Program include stimulating technological innovation, strengthening the role of small business in meeting research and development needs, fostering and encouraging participation by minority and disadvantaged persons in technological innovation, and increasing the commercial application of R&D supported research or R&D results.

The HSARPA solicitation consists of 8 topics. They are:

  • H-SB04.1-001 New System/Technologies To Detect Low Vapor Pressure Chemicals (E.G., TICS)
  • H-SB04.1-002 Chem-Bio Sensors Employing Novel Receptor Scaffolds
  • H-SB04.1-003 Advanced Low Cost Aerosol Collectors For Surveillance Sensors And Personal Monitoring
  • H-SB04.1-004 Computer Modeling Tool For Vulnerability Assessment Of U.S. Infrastructure
  • H-SB04.1-005 Marine Asset Tag Tracking System
  • H-SB04.1-006 AIS Tracking And Collision Avoidance Equipment For Small Boats
  • H-SB04.1-007 Ship Compartment Inspection Device
  • H-SB04.1-008 Advanced Secure Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) And Related Distributed Control Systems

Note: The HSARPA SBIR Program plans to implement a Fast Track process for SBIR projects that attract matching cash from an outside investor for the Phase II SBIR effort. Additional information will be provided on Fast Track Applications to Phase I awardees.



NIMA SBIR Solicitation Change: The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) has made changes to their SBIR 04.1 proposal submission instructions and topic. The changes affect:
  1. Evaluation Process: NIMA will apply the evaluation criteria in descending order of importance with the first criterion on soundness, technical merit, and incremental progress toward topic or subtopic solution being the most important.

  2. Submission Process: NIMA has removed the requirement for a hard copy of the proposal to be mailed to NIMA. Electronic submission is now the only manner of transmittal.

  3. Topic Correction: A minor typo has been corrected on their Technical Topic: In addition there are now (corrected from no) vast quantities of motion imagery available...

The official corrections are available at: http://dtica.dtic.mil/sbir/srch/sbir532.html



NIST Opens SBIR Solicitation: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has opened their FY-2004 SBIR solicitation. There are 54 topics/subtopics included in the solicitation which closes on January 30, 2004.

The topics are included in the Zyn SBIR Gateway Search Engine or you can browse the NIST topics by clicking on the button below.



Homeland Security (DHS) HSARPA to Release SBIR Solicitation: The Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA), the external funding arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate will issue a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Solicitation on or about November 14, 2003. The purpose of this solicitation is to invite small businesses to submit innovative research proposals that address high priority requirements of the DHS.

HSARPA awards procurement contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or other transactions for research or prototypes to public or private entities, businesses, federally funded research and development centers and universities.

HSARPA invests in programs offering the potential for revolutionary changes in technologies that promote homeland security and accelerates the prototyping and deployment of technologies intended to reduce homeland vulnerabilities.

HSARPA MISSIONS:

  • Identify and develop revolutionary technologies;
  • Satisfy DHS customers' operational needs for advanced technology;
  • Rapid prototyping/commercial adaptation of technologies.

Zyn will post the solicitation topics on the SBIR Gateway database as soon as they are made available. You can read the DHS presolicitation notice at www.eps.gov/spg/DHS%2DDR/OCPO/DHS%2DOCPO/HSSCHQ%2D04%2DPSN%2D0003/listing.html.



DoD to add Third SBIR Solicitation for FY 2004: (updated and corrected 10/22/03) - Jeff Bond, DoD SBIR program manager, confirmed that the DoD is adding a third SBIR solicitation to its FY 2004 offerings. Mr. Bond corrected an earlier SBIR Gateway article by noting that the added solicitation will be inserted between the two traditional DoD SBIR cycles. The added solicitation is the FY 2004.2 offering, to be released March 1, 2004, and will close June 17, 2004. The FY 2004.3 will be released May 1, 2004 and close on August 12, 2004.

Vinny Schaper, Navy SBIR program manager, is pleased with the additional offering. He expects the Navy to have around 47 new topics for the 2004.2 solicitation. Schaper believes that the Navy's needs and small businesses will be better served by having more frequent solicitations.

In recent years, the Army and the Air Force have only participated in one of the two DoD fiscal year solicitations, and it is not expected that they will have offerings in the 2004.2 round. It is possible that DARPA will offer some topics.

It has been hinted that there may be more than three DoD SBIR solicitations for FY 2005.



Air Force Adds 21 Topics After Oct 1 Release: If you downloaded the Air Force SBIR solicitation on Monday Oct 1, you should be aware that it is void of 21 topics that were added shortly after the first day's (Oct 1, 2003) offering. You can identify the early release by a yellow header on page 9 of the AF SBIR 04.1 Proposal Submission Instructions (Word revision 5) which points out that additional topics may be added until the solicitation opens on December 1, 2003. The current most up-to-date (as of Oct 21) is revision #33 by Mike Stone. If you are using the Word version you can confirm this information by going to (F)ile, (P)roperties then click on the Statistics tab.

The topic numbers not appearing in the original version are: 063, 132, 135, 138, 149, 203, 206, 208, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 236, 243, 248, 255, 264, 279, 289, and 298.

The current number of topics for each DoD agency component are: Air Force 230, Navy 152, DARPA 32, CBD 20, MDA 87, NIMA 1, OSD 4, SOCOM 5. You can download the latest version of the Air Force 2004.1 SBIR solicitation at: www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/solicitations/sbir041/index.htm.

Note: It is not uncommon for one of the DoD agency components to cancel one or more of their SBIR topics. They post notifications of these cancellations on their web site.

Do you want to be notified if any DoD SBIR topics are cancelled If so, please enter your email address below and Zyn will send you an email notification as soon as the information is available.

Please notify me if any DoD SBIR topics are cancelled
Email Address:



NOAA Releases SBIR FY 2004 Solicitation: NOAA has opened their FY 2004 SBIR solicitations. The closing date is January 14, 2004. The topics are now included in the Zyn SBIR Gateway Search engine at www.zynsys.com/sbir/sbres/sbcss.htm. The solicitation can be found on the NOAA web site at: www.ofa.noaa.gov/~amd/sbirs/sbir.html

NIST Announces FY 2004 SBIR Topics: NIST has issued a presolicitation notice for their upcoming FY04 SBIR solicitation. The NIST 2004 solicitation will be issued on or about October 31, 2003 and will close January 15, 2004. Electronic copies of the solicitation will be located at www.nist.gov/sbir and www.fedbizopps.gov .

DOE Releases SBIR FY04 Solicitation: The DOE has opened their FY04 SBIR and STTR solicitations. The due date of January 6, 2004. The 48 topics are now included in the Zyn SBIR Gateway Search engine at www.zynsys.com/sbir/sbres/sbcss.htm. The solicitation can be found on the DOE web site at: sbir.er.doe.gov/sbir/

NOTE: New for FY2004 is a requirement by DOE that all grant applicants must provide a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number when applying for a Federal grant or cooperative agreement on or after October 1, 2003. You can obtain a DUNS number free of charge by calling D&B toll free at 866-705-5711. Individuals who would personally receive a grant award apart from any business is exempt from this requirement.



DoD Releases SBIR FY04.1 Solicitation: The DoD has released their SBIR FY04.1 Solicitation with a opening date of December 1, 2003 and a closing date of January 15, 2004 at 6 a.m. EST.

The DoD's solicitation is quite large and encompasses the Air Force, Navy, DARPA, DTRA, MDA, NIMA, CBD, SOCOM and OSD. Due to the volume of data and popularity of the program, the DoD's web site is sometimes saturated with requests during the early days of the solicitation release. For this reason the DoD has an alternate site (mirror) if you have trouble reaching the main web site.

The address for the main DoD solicitation is: www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/solicitations/sbir041/index.htm and the alternate site is www.dodsbir.net/solicitation/default.htm.

All of the DoD solicitation topics will be included in the Zyn SBIR Gateway Search Engine by October 4.



NSF Releases SBIR/STTR Solicitation for AM (Advanced Materials) and BT (Biotechnology): The NSF has released its SBIR/STTR solicitation NSF 03-535 for Advanced Materials, Manufacturing, and Chemical Processes (AM) and Biotechnology (BT) which starts accepting proposals on December 20, 2003 and closes January 20, 2004. Although it is not prominently displayed on the NSF web site, proposals will not be accepted until December 20, 2003 (see: www.nsf.gov/pubs/2003/nsf03535/nsf03535.htm).

The NSF proposal is available on their web site at www.eng.nsf.gov/sbir/ and the proposal topics will be included in our Zyn SBIR Gateway Search Engine by Oct 4.



New Business & Technology Insider Internet Radio Program: Paladin International Inc. of Alexandria, VA, has launched a free 1 hour daily internet radio show for small businesses. The show is designed to help you find business opportunities and give you up-to-date information on the impact of new legislation (federal and state) along with other important business topics.

Each day focuses on a different topic. Monday: Policy, Tuseday: Technology, Wednesday: Health & Science, Thursday: Small Business, Friday: Federal Contracting. Recent guests on SBIR topics have included Maurice Swinton of SBA and Rick Shindell of Zyn Systems. The show features other topics of importance to small high tech businesses such as e-government and electronic filing of patent applications featuring Nick Godici, the Commissioner for Patents USPTO.

The Business & Technology Insider radio show can be found at: www.btiradio.com/



SBA Proposes STTR Policy Directive: The Small Business Administration has published a notice of a proposed policy directive (PD) for the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR). The proposed policy directive was published in the June 16, 2003 Federal Register.

The purpose of the Policy Directive is to provide guidance to participating Federal agencies for the general conduct of the STTR Program. You can read/download the proposed policy directive in several formats.

1. Zyn's Version - Broken down into small portions (easy to reference and searchable):
www.zynsys.com/sbir/sbres/sba-ppd/

2. Direct from the government in PDF Format (23 pages):
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/pdf/03-14635.pdf

3. Direct from the government in Text Format:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-14635.htm

All comments pertaining to the proposed PD must be submitted on or before July 16, 2003. This policy directive is similar to the one enacted September 24, 2002 for the SBIR program. Interested parties may submit comments to:

Maurice Swinton
Assistant Administrator for Technology
Office of Technology, Office of Government Contracting/Business Development
U.S. Small Business Administration
409 3rd Street, SW.
Washington, DC 20416
or via email to: [email protected]



DoD Releases SBIR 2003.2: The DoD has released it SBIR 2003.2 with an opening date of July 1, 2003 and a closing date of August 14, 2003 at 6:00am EDT. The unusual closing time was selected to help reduce the "traffic jam" that has plagued the DoD's SBIR Submission site in the past. Submitters are forewarned: Plan ahead and submit early!

The DoD agency components participating in this solicitation are: Army, Navy, DARPA, OSD and SOCOM. You can download the solicitations from the DoD SBIR web site at: www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/solicitations/sbir032/index.htm

The DoD solicitation topics are now included in the Zyn Topic Search Engine.



NSF SBIR Web Site On Line: After almost a week of problem solving and reconfiguration, the NSF Web Site is now back on line and ready to serve you. The address is www.eng.nsf.gov/sbir/

EPA Releases 4 SBIR Solicitations: The EPA released their FY2003 Phase I solicitation along with 3 special SBIR Phase I solicitations. All solicitations have the same opening date of March 27, 2003, and closing date of May 23, 2003. The special solicitations focus on the following topic areas:
  • Air Pollution Monitoring
  • Safe Buildings and Water Security
  • Technology Solutions for Western USA Environmental Problems
You can download these solicitations directly from the EPA SBIR site at: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/sbir/. All EPA SBIR topics are included in the Zyn/SBIR Gateway Search engine.


Dept. of Education Releases SBIR Phase I Grant Solicitation: The Department of Education has released their Phase I Grant Application Package. The solicitation opened on April 3, 2003 and closes on June 3, 2003.

The Dept. of Education's SBIR Grants Program is only one year old and is evolving in a manner consistent with other Dept. of Education grant programs, which are quite different from other agencies' SBIR programs. You can use Ed's SBIR site (www.ed.gov/offices/IES/SBIR/Application.html) as a gateway to Ed's e-GRANTS web site (http://e-grants.ed.gov/egWelcome.asp). You must go to the e-GRANTS web site in order to download all forms and instructions needed to create a proposal. This also requires you to register with the site to obtain access to the information. You will receive a password immediately via email so you can start the submission process.

For your convenience, the SBIR Gateway has created an unofficial version of the two priority Ed solicitations. Although these closely match the current ED offerings, these files are provided without sanction of the Department of Education. We suggest you browse these files and then go to the Ed web site if you find areas of interest to you. These files are in PDF format and are about 100k in size:

You can also quickly browse the topic area's (referred by Ed as Invitational Priorities) by clicking on the button below.



EPA Releases 4 SBIR Solicitations: The EPA released their FY2003 Phase I solicitation along with 3 special SBIR Phase I solicitations. All solicitations have the same opening date of March 27, 2003, and closing date of May 23, 2003. The special solicitations focus on the following topic areas:
  • Air Pollution Monitoring
  • Safe Buildings and Water Security
  • Technology Solutions for Western USA Environmental Problems
You can download these solicitations directly from the EPA SBIR site at: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/sbir/. All EPA SBIR topics are included in the Zyn/SBIR Gateway Search engine.


DoD Announces New DoD SBIR/STTR Program Administrator: The DoD Announced that Mr. Jeff Bond is the new "acting" DoD SBIR/STTR Program Administrator, replacing Mr. Ivory Fisher who has retired. Mr. Bond has almost 20 years experience within the government R&D community and served as SBIR/STTR Program Manager at the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (now called the Missile Defense Agency - MDA) for five and a half years. He may be contacted at 703-588-8616 or [email protected].

Dept. of Education Releases SBIR Contract Solicitation: On March 5th the Department of Education (ED) released their FY 2003 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Contract Solicitation. The solicitation closes on May 5, 2003.

For fiscal year 2003, ED has selected one (1) technical topic for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS). It is:

  • Development or Adaptation of Computer or Virtual Training-Based Instructional Materials That Will Assist Elementary and/or Secondary School Personnel to Plan For and Respond To Various Types of Disasters
You may download the solicitation through the "Application" section of the Department's SBIR website: www.ed.gov/offices/IES/SBIR/FY03Ph1Con.html#dates


NSF Releases SBIR/STTR 2003 Solicitation: The NSF has released two topic areas which will open May 12, 2003 and are due by June 12, 2003. The topic areas are Information-Based Technologies (IT) and Electronics (EL) Complete information can be found on the NSF web site at: http://www.eng.nsf.gov/sbir.

Dept. of Education Issue SBIR Presolicitation Announcement: The Dept. of Education (ED) has issued a presolicitation notice for their 2003 SBIR "Contracts" program. The solicitation is expected to open on March 5, 2003 and close on May 5, 2003. The topic will be from the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) and will concern: Development or Adaptation of Computer or Virtual Training-Based Instructional Materials that will Assist Elementary and/or Secondary School Personnel to Plan for and Respond to Various Types of Disasters. The presolicitation notice can be found on the Fedbizopps web site at www.eps.gov/spg/ED/OCFO/CPO/ED-03-Q-0003/SynopsisP.html . Additional information can also be found on the ED SBIR web site at: www.ed.gov/offices/IES/SBIR/News.html.

Congress Eliminates FAST & ROP Funding: Congress passed the Omnibus FY2003 appropriations bill on February 13, 2003 with no mention of either the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) or Rural Outreach Program (ROP). These programs are currently operating on FY2002 funds and are set to expire at the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2003. Many believed that the small amount of funding for these programs was safe. It is not known why the programs were eliminated from the FY2003 budget, but many state officials and intermediaries are looking at alternative ways to save them.

Dept. of Transportation (DOT) Opens SBIR Solicitation: The DOT opened their DTRS57-03-R SBIR solicitation on 02/14/03 which includes 9 Technical Topic Areas from various DOT Administrations. The solicitation closing date is 05/01/03.

The entire DOT solicitation is available on their SBIR site located at: www.volpe.dot.gov/sbir/sol03/index.html



Dept. of Education SBIR Web Site is Back with New Address: The Department of Education (ED) SBIR Web Site is back on line and better than ever. Improvements to the site will be an ongoing process, but Lee Eiden, ED SBIR program coordinator, promises some exciting new features. The former ED SBIR web site was suddenly removed from active service without notice in mid-December, then put into archive mode. The ED SBIR web site under the direction of Eiden, was well known for its additional resources to the entire SBIR community. You can view the new site at:
www.ed.gov/offices/IES/SBIR/


DoD Rejects Late SBIR Proposal Submissions. Web site inadequacies deemed no excuse: The DoD today rejected all SBIR 2003.1 proposals that were unable to be submitted to the DoD SBIR Submission web site by the deadline date of January 15, 2003 at 5:00pm EST see DoD Notice). The problem was due to inadequate web resources that could not handle the traffic on the last day, January 15, 2003.

Many companies were simply left out in the cold due to the DoD system failures. This was not just a last minute problem, it was a last several hours problem. Some cases reported to the SBIR Gateway told of getting into the system only to be bumped off in the middle of a file upload, then never being able to reconnect.

The DoD system failed and went into complete meltdown last August for their 2002.2 SBIR and they extended the deadline (see http://www.zynsys.com/sbir/bnews.htm#dodt ). This time the failure was less spectacular but nonetheless devastating for small businesses who spent a great deal of their time and money to try and submit proposals to the DoD within the DoD's own timeline.

The DoD States: "The solicitation is clear that the deadline for electronic proposals was 5:00 PM on January 15, 2003, and that the deadline is firm." The solicitation also cautions that "As the close date draws near, heavy traffic on the web server may cause delays."

We believe that the decision of the DoD SBIR is unfair and capricious. Their inability to provide a reliable mechanism for their "time sensitive" requirement cries out for a fair remedy. There are many obvious and inexpensive avenues they can take to vastly improve this situation.

A Word in support of the DoD SBIR Program: Many of the Program Managers of the various DoD Agency components are hard working dedicated people who want you and your company to succeed in the SBIR program. Some of these people have been "clouded" by those abusers (yes, there a quite a few) who simply don't submit on time but want to blame the government for their own inadequacies. These people make it difficult for all.

A Word of Caution: Some months ago several small businesses submitted testimony to the SBA (and OMB) concerning a Policy Directive that would restrict government agencies from being subcontractors for SBIR respondents. The SBA protected the names of these companies so they would not become known to the agencies. It can be assumed that these companies remained stealth in order to prevent possible retaliation from the agencies. This may be a factor you want to consider before going public with your complaints.

Disclaimer: The SBIR Gateway is a non-commercial subsidiary of Zyn Systems and has no connection to any government agency or any other organization.

Comments: We welcome your comments and will withhold your identity on request. Send your comments to: [email protected].



PHS-HHS Opens 2003-2 SBIR/STTR Solicitation: This major Omnibus PHS-2003-2 SBIR/STTR Grant solicitation opened January 16, 2003. Organizations participating in this solicitation are: NIH, CDC and FDA. The receipt dates for the agencies are:
  • NIH [Non-AIDS Related] - April 1, August 1, and December 1, 2003
  • NIH [AIDS Related] - May 1, September 1, 2003 and January 2, 2004
  • CDC - April 1 and December 1, 2003
  • FDA - April 1, August 1, and December 1, 2003
The solicitation may be viewed or downloaded directly from the NIH site at http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm.
The solicitation topics are included in our Zyn SBIR Gateway Search Engine.


NIH Releases Two SBIR Type Opportunities: The NIH has issued an RFA (Request For Applications) and a PA (Program Announcement) on two separate topics that will be treated much like the NIH SBIR/STTR program while addressing needs and considerations that differ from traditional SBIR. They are:

Chemical Screens For New Inducers Of Fetal Hemoglobin (PA-03-049) - The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) invite grant applications for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards to support research and development of new drugs to increase fetal hemoglobin levels for the treatment of beta-chain hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell disease (SCD) and Cooley's anemia (CA; beta-thalassemia). The goal of this Program Announcement (PA)is to encourage the use of SBIR and STTR mechanisms to support new chemical activity screens and drug design efforts for new pharmacologic inducers of fetal hemoglobin.
EXPIRATION DATE: December 1, 2005, unless reissued.

Immunotherapy For Addiction Treatment (RFA NUMBER: DA-03-015) - This RFA from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), encourages small businesses, or small businesses in collaboration with research institutions, to develop effective methods for the large-scale production and clinical testing of monoclonal antibodies or vaccines as therapeutic agents for drug or nicotine addiction and/or overdose. Because the RFA is focused on the advanced phase development of these therapies, applicants should already have access to a new molecular entity (NME), either for active or passive immunization, which is in the advanced stages of preclinical development and is ready to begin the process for translation into clinical trials (large scale GMP production of the entity, toxicity testing, formulation development, stability testing and clinical evaluation).
LETTER OF INTENT RECEIPT DATE: March 24, 2003
APPLICATION RECEIPT DATE: April 23, 2003





DoD Releases FY2003 STTR Solicitation: The Department of Defense (DoD) has released their 2003 STTR solicitation which will officially start accepting proposals on March 3, 2003. The DoD Agency components participating in this solicitation are: Air Force, Army, DARPA, MDA and Navy. The deadline date for receipt of proposals is April 16, 2003 at 5:00pm EST. The proposals must be received by the appropriate DoD agency component by that deadline. The DoD STTR solicitation topics are included in our Zyn SBIR Gateway Search Engine .

The entire DoD STTR Solicitation can be found on their web site at: www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/solicitations/sttr03/index.htm.





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