SBIR Gateway
SBIR / STTR
Grants & Contracts News for 2009
Updated 11/13/09
 


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Calendar
Headlines
DoD Issues FY-10.1 SBIR - (11/13/09)
DHS Issues FY-10.1 SBIR - (11/02/09)
NIST Opens FY-2010 SBIR - (10/30/09)
Congress Passes Bill To Extend SBIR/STTR For 3 Months - (10/29/09)
Senate Passes Bill To Extend SBIR/STTR For 6 Months - (10/26/09)
DoD Gets 1 Year SBIR/STTR Reauthorization - (10/22/09)
DOC/NOAA Opens FY-10 SBIR - (10/14/09)
DOC/NOAA SBIR Presolicitation Announcement - (10/07/09)
DOT Opens FY-2010 SBIR - (10/04/09)
DOE Opens FY-2010 SBIR/STTR - (9/24/09)
NSF Releases FY-2010 SBIR - (8/31/09)
HHS/NIH/CDC Opens PHS 2010-1 SBIR Contracts Solicitation - (8/21/09)
NSF Releases FY-2010 STTR - (8/10/09)
DOE Opens SBIR/STTR - (8/6/09)
DoD Releases FY-09.3 SBIR - (7/27/09)
DoD Releases FY-09.B STTR - (7/27/09)
NASA Opens FY-09 SBIR/STTR - (7/7/09)
NIH (ACF) SBIR Opens - (7/7/09)
House & Senate Reauthorization - (6/14/09)
USDA Opens FY-2010 SBIR - (6/11/09)
DoD Issues FY-09.2 SBIR Pre-release - (4/20/09)
EPA Opens FY-2010 SBIR - (3/22/09)
New CR Keeps SBIR Going Through July 31, 2009 - (3/16/09)
NSF Opens FY-2010 SBIR - (3/02/09)
EPA Presolicitation Announcement - (2/27/09)
DHS DNDO Opens FY09.1 SBIR - (2/24/09) - Updated 5-19-09
DOT Opens FY09.1 SBIR - (2/14/09)
DoD releases FY-09A STTR - (1/27/09)
DHHS Opens 2009-2 Omnibus SBIR/STTR - (1/22/09)
Department of Transportation FY-09 SBIR Prerelease - (1/17/09)
Kevin Wheeler, SBIR Gateway 2008 Person of the Year - (12/14/08)

Archived News Articles 2008
Archived News Articles 2007
Archived News Articles 2006
Archived News Articles 2005
Archived News Articles 2004
Archived News Articles 2003
Archived News Articles 2002

RETURN TO SBIR GATEWAY

DoD Issues SBIR 10.1 Prerelease (11/13/09) - The DoD has issued the prereleased of their FY2010.1 SBIR solicitation with offerings from the Air Force, Army, Navy, DARPA, CDB, DTRA and SOCOM. The solicitation opens and proposals will be accepted starting December 10, 2010 with a closing date of January 13, 2010 at 6:00am EST. The DoD topics will be included in Zyn's SBIR Gateway Search Engine soon.

Each of the DoD's agency components (Air Force, Army Navy etc..) have slightly different rules and procedures. Sometimes there can be specific instructions for a particular topic, so it is strongly advised that you study the solicitation instructions thoroughly.

Between November 12 and December 9, 2009, you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting December 10, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

NOTE: In DoD terms this is actually a prerelease. During this period until the solicitation opens on December 10, 2008, topics may be added, modified or withdrawn. Changes are often made to topics, especially during the first week of a pre-release, so make sure to monitor the DoD for updates/changes! You can sign up with the SBIR Gateway to be alerted when changes are made to the DoD solicitation.

Do you want the Zyn SBIR Gateway to notify you when changes to the DoD FY10.1 SBIR are made? If so, please enter your email address below and you will receive an email notification.

Please notify me if changes are made to the DoD 10.1 SBIR solicitation.
Email Address:
Email addresses will remain private and will not be shared.

The DoD solicitation can be downloaded from their site at www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/solicitations/sbir101


DHS Issues FY-10.1 SBIR (11/02/09) - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) has issued their FY-2010.1 SBIR solicitation which will open to receive proposals on November 18, 2009 and close January 4, 2010, 4:30pm est.

The solicitation contains 6 technical topics and similar to the DoD's policy, you can communicate directly with the topic technical point of contact (TPOC) until the solicitation officially opens on November 18.

The topics are:

  • H-SB010.1-001 Rechargeable, High Efficient, High Capacity Energy Storage
  • H-SB010.1-002 Rare Variant Detection Using Next Generation Sequencing Technology
  • H-SB010.1-003 Precision Information Environments
  • H-SB010.1-004 Molecular Recognition for Explosives Detection
  • H-SB010.1-005 Synthetic Biometrics
  • H-SB010.1-006 GPS Resolution in Denied Location (GRIDLOC)
Proposal submittal is electronic only via the DHS SBIR web site at https://www.sbir.dhs.gov

The official announcement can be found on FedBizOpps at:
https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=cbe7d797ee20b1fc244ab65f18110dc4&tab=core&_cview=0
and the DHS S&T SBIR web site at www.sbir.dhs.gov/index.asp


NIST Opens FY-2010 SBIR (10/31/09) - The Department Of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has opened their FY-2010 SBIR with a closing date of January 22, 2010. Although the solicitation is posted on FedBizOpps at:
www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=9e934db29e0287d8fcf4431f5fc40b36&tab=core&_cview=1
it is advisable to monitor the NIST SBIR web site at www.nist.gov/sbir which includes a special section for solicitation Q&s;A's.

The NIST solicitation contains 14 Topics consisting of 49 sub topics. The topics are divided into two areas of the solicitation:

  • R Topics (40 in all) are the customary type of SBIR topics that address the objective of stimulating small business innovation in areas that meet NIST's programmatic goals while holding the potential for commercial application beyond NIST for the successful awardee.

  • TT Topics (9 in all) are unique to the NIST program to address the objective of increasing the commercial application of innovations derived from Federal R&D. While NIST Laboratory scientists conduct breakthrough research that leads to innovations, the range of NIST's effort does not extend to product development in any of its intramural research areas. The remaining work needed to fully exploit NIST technologies for commercial viability necessarily requires innovation on behalf of the private sector. As with all SBIR awards, these TT subtopics are intended to cultivate private sector innovation. Specifically, each TT subtopic identifies a commercially promising NIST technology and the technological gaps that must be filled in order to transition it to the marketplace.
Complete details are available on the NIST web site at www.nist.gov/sbir. NIST topics are included in the SBIR Gateway Search engine.

Ten Agency SBIR/STTR Programs Extended Through January 31, 2010 (10/29/09) - As reported to you on Oct 26, Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), chair and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship (SBE) were able to get the Senate to pass S. 1929 that extends SBIR/STTR for all agencies (except DoD which was handled separately) for 6 months, expiring on April 30, 2010. The bill was then sent to the House for a vote.

Naturally, Representative Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), chair of the House Small Business Committee (SBC), didn't see eye to eye with the Senate, so she amended the bill by changing 6 months to 3 with an expiration date of January 31, 2010. With the short leash of the current October 31, 2009 expiration, and the fact that the House will not meet on Friday, the Senate will concur with the amendment and the President will sign this new Continuing Resolution (CR).

Bottom line, the SBIR/STTR programs will be extended through January 31, 2010, except for the DoD which was addressed separately by the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, and run through September 30, 2010.

Complete details are in the SBIR Insider newsletter at www.zynsys.com/sbir/insider/sb-insider10-29-09.htm


Senate Passes Bill To Extend SBIR/STTR For 6 Months (10/26/09) - The Senate passed S.1929 that extends SBIR/STTR for all agencies (except DoD) as well as other small business programs for 6 months, expiring on April 30, 2010. The House must weigh in on the bill, optionally make amendments and vote to approve.

Complete details are in the SBIR Insider newsletter at www.zynsys.com/sbir/insider/sb-insider10-26-09.htm


DoD Gets 1 Year SBIR/STTR Reauthorization (10/22/09) - The DoD SBIR/STTR and CPP program has been extended through September 30, 2010. However, this does not include any of the other 10 federal agency SBIR programs.

Complete details are in the SBIR Insider newsletter at www.zynsys.com/sbir/insider/sb-insider10-22-09.htm


DOC/NOAA Opens FY-10 SBIR (10/14/09) - The U. S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released their FY-2010 SBIR (Solicitation No. NOAA2010-1) with an opening date of October 14, 2009, closing on January 14, 2010 at 4pm.

The main topics for this solicitation are in the areas of: Ecosystems, Climate, Weather and Water, and Commerce and Transportation, with each topic consisting of several subtopics. The topics will be included soon in Zyn's SBIR Gateway Topic Search Engine.

NOAA's solicitation is contracts based and is available on FedBizOpps at: www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=b9877e0b080e61f9c7aeca2832848206&tab=core&_cview=0

NOAA requires hard copy submission (not electronic submissions) so be sure to allow enough time for delivery of your proposal.


DOC/NOAA SBIR Presolicitation Announcement (10/7/09) - The U. S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a presolicitation notice for their upcoming FY-2010 SBIR (Solicitation No. NOAA2010-1).

The solicitation is expected to be released on or about October 14, 2009, and historically the closing date would fall around January 14, 2010. The topics for this solicitation will be in the areas of: Ecosystems, Climate, Weather and Water, and Commerce and Transportation.

NOAA's solicitation is contracts based and will be available on FedBizOpps at: www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=b9877e0b080e61f9c7aeca2832848206&tab=core&_cview=0


Department of Transportation Opens FY10 SBIR (10/01/09) - The Department of Transportation's (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) of the Volpe National Transportation System Center, has opened their FY-10 SBIR solicitation (DTRT57-10-R-SBIR1) on October 1, 2009 with a closing date of November 16, 2009 at 11:59pm est.

The solicitation consists of 14 technical topics from 6 of their administrations.

The submission procedure is the same as their FY-09 solicitation in that proposals must be in PDF format and submitted directly through DOT's own web site. The DOT's solicitation is a contracts offering available on DOT's web site at www.volpe.dot.gov/sbir/sol10


DOE Opens FY-10 SBIR/STTR (9/25/09) - The Department of Energy opened their FY-2010 SBIR/STTR on September 24, 2009 with a closing date of November 20, 2009 at 8:00pm EST. Unlike the DOE's recent ARRA SBIR solicitation, this is their traditional annual SBIR/STTR offering.

The solicitation has 66 topics each of which contain several subtopics. This rich set of topics are shared by both SBIR and STTR programs and DOE expects make up to 360 total awards. Of course everything is subject to availability of funding (reauthorization or continuation of both SBIR/STTR programs).

The DOE's SBIR/STTR program is grants based and thus uses grants.gov as their opportunities portal. This means that your submissions must be made through grants.gov and you must be registered with grants.gov. The process takes time so register early.

Although submission process questions should go through Grants.gov, proposal and content questions go through the FedConnect portal at www.compusearch.com/products/fedconnect/fedconnect.asp.

The easiest way to quickly browse the solicitation is to go to DOE's html version located at www.science.doe.gov/sbir/solicitations/FY%202010/C30_Notice.htm. The topics can be quickly browsed at www.science.doe.gov/sbir/solicitations/FY%202010/Table_of_contents_sub.htm

Further details are available on the DOE's SBIR web site at www.science.doe.gov/sbir/ The DOE Topics will be included in Zyn's SBIR Gateway Topic Search Engine next week.


NSF Releases FY-2010 SBIR (8/31/09) - The National Science Foundation has released its SBIR FY-2010 grants solicitation (09-609) with an opening date of November 3, 2009, and closing on December 3, 2009.

The NSF employs some detailed proposal screening items that must be adhered to or your proposal will not be evaluated. A company may only submit two proposals for this solicitation. Although this is a grants based SBIR program, proposal submission must be done through the NSF's trusty old NSF Fastlane web submission system, not grants.gov.

This solicitation has only 4 topic areas with several subtopics. The main topic areas are:

  • Biotech and Chemical Technologies (BC)
  • Education Applications (EA)
  • Information and Communication Technologies (IC)
  • Nanostructured Materials (NM)
  • Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, and Manufacturing (NM)

Complete information is available on the NSF SBIR web site at www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/sbir/


HHS/NIH/CDC Opens PHS 2010-1 SBIR Contracts Solicitation (8/21/09) - The NIH & CDC has released its PHS 2010-1 SBIR Contracts Solicitation which opened August 19, 2009 and closes on November 9, 2009 at 5pm est. This PHS/NIH/CDC SBIR solicitation is a separate and independent offering from NIH and is not connected to their currently open 2009-2 Omnibus SBIR/STTR Grants solicitation.

There are important differences between this PHS/NIH/CDC SBIR Contracts solicitation and NIH's year long omnibus Grants solicitation. The contracts solicitation is much smaller, the topics are different and are much more focused, and is for SBIR only. In the NIH SBIR Contracts solicitation, proposals are only accepted if they respond specifically to a research topic, and there is only 1 receipt date.

NOTE: Because this solicitation is contracts based and not grants, it does not use the Grants.gov web site or the ERA Commons. Submissions must be in hard copy and sent directly to the relevant Institute/organization. Please allow ample time for your submission to be received.

Complete instructions are included in the solicitation located on the NIH's web site at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm#contracts.


NSF Releases FY-2010 STTR (8/10/09) - The National Science Foundation has released its STTR grants solicitation (09-605) with an opening date of October 17, 2009, and closing on November 17, 2009. Due to the potential overload from thousands of ARRA submissions, the Grants.gov system will not be used for NSF proposal submission. Instead proposers will use the trusty old NSF Fastlane web submission system.

This solicitation has only 1 topic, Multi-Functional Materials (MM) with 5 subtopics. They are:

  1. Bio-inspired Materials and Systems (BMS)
  2. Materials for Energy Generation and Storage (ME)
  3. Materials for Sustainability (MS)
  4. Nanostructured Materials (NM)
  5. Smart Materials and Structures (SMS)
Although no letter of intent is required, a company planning to submit a proposal in response to this solicitation is encouraged to describe the innovation and business opportunity to the cognizant program manager and receive feedback prior to proposal submission. A small business may submit only 1 proposal to NSF under this solicitation.

Complete information is available on the NSF SBIR web site at www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/sbir/


DOE Opens SBIR/STTR (8/6/09) - The Department of Energy has opened their SBIR/STTR on August 6, 2009 with a closing date of September 4, 2009 at 8:00pm EST. This is a combined SBIR and STTR solicitation with all ten topic areas emphasizing investment in clean energy technologies and U.S. jobs. The topic areas are open to both programs.

This DOE solicitation falls under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)and may have differences from past DOE SBIR solicitations. The solicitation should be read carefully. DOE notes:

Projects under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will be funded, in whole or in part, with funds appropriated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Pub. L. 111-5, (Recovery Act or Act). The Recovery Act�s purposes are to stimulate the economy and to create and retain jobs. The Act gives preference to activities that can be started and completed expeditiously. Accordingly, special consideration will be given to projects that promote and enhance the objectives of the Act, especially job creation, preservation and economic recovery in an expeditious manner.

The DOE's SBIR/STTR program is grants based and thus uses grants.gov as their opportunities portal. This means that your submissions must be made through grants.gov and you must be registered with grants.gov. This process takes time so register early.

NOTE: Just like last year, DOE cautions you that Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 are incompatible with Grants.gov. Actually Grants.gov has made some improvements in that area and but Adobe Reader and/or Adobe Acrobat are still subject to incompatibility issues.

The solicitation is available on Grants.gov and on the DOE's site at www.science.doe.gov/sbir/.


DOE Small Business Research Programs Funding Opportunity Announcement (7/30/09) - The Department of Energy will soon accept Phase I grant applications from qualified small businesses for an upcoming Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program Solicitation. A total of $37M in Recovery Act funds will be made available for SBIR and STTR Phase I and Phase II grants through the end of FY 2010. An emphasis will be placed on near-term, clean energy technology commercialization potential and U.S. jobs creation. A detailed Funding Opportunity Announcement describing research areas in which applications are sought will be available August 5, 2009.

Small businesses with strong research capabilities in science or engineering in any of the following research areas are encouraged to apply: 1) advanced building air conditioning and refrigeration, thermal load shifting, and cool roofs; 2) water usage in electric power production; 3) power plant cooling; 4) advanced gas turbines and materials; 5) sensors, controls, and wireless networks; 6) advanced water power technology development; 7) smart controllers for smart grid applications; 8) advanced solar technologies; 9) advanced industrial technologies development; and 10) advanced manufacturing processes.

The deadline for submission of grant applications is September 4, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. EST. Applications will only be accepted electronically through www.grants.gov . Successful applicants (approximately 60) may receive up to $150,000 for a Phase I grant for a period of six months to demonstrate the feasibility of the idea.


DoD Issues SBIR 09.2 Prerelease (07/27/09) - The DoD has issued the pre-release of their FY2009.3 SBIR solicitation with offerings from the Air Force, Army, Navy, DARPA, DLA, MDA and OSD. The solicitation opens and proposals will be accepted starting August 24, 2009 with a closing date of September 23, 2009 at 6:00am EDT. The DoD topics will be included in Zyn's SBIR Gateway Search Engine by 7/30/09.

Each of the DoD's agency components (Army, Navy etc..) have slightly different rules and procedures. Sometimes there can be specific instructions for a particular topic, so it is strongly advised that you study the solicitation instructions thoroughly.

During the pre-release period, July 27 through August 23, 2009, you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting August 24, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

NOTE: In DoD terms this is actually a pre-release. During this period until the solicitation opens on August 24, 2009, topics may be added, modified or withdrawn. Changes are often made to topics, especially during the first week of a pre-release, so make sure to monitor the DoD for updates/changes! You can sign up with the SBIR Gateway to be alerted when changes are made to the DoD solicitation.

Do you want the Zyn SBIR Gateway to notify you when changes to the DoD FY09.3 SBIR are made? If so, please enter your email address below and you will receive an email notification.

Please notify me if changes are made to the DoD 09.3 SBIR solicitation.
Email Address:
Email addresses will remain private and will not be shared.

The DoD solicitation can be downloaded from their site at www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/solicitations/sbir093


DoD Issues STTR 2009.B Prerelease (7/27/09) - The DoD has issued the prerelease of their FY2009.B STTR solicitation with offerings from the Air Force, Navy, DARPA, MDA, and OSD. The solicitation opens and proposals will be accepted starting August 24, 2009 with a closing date of September 23, 2009 at 6:00am EST. Army has 30 topics and the Navy has 37. The DoD STTR topics will be included in Zyn's SBIR Gateway Search Engine by July 31.

The STTR program requires the small business to partner with organizations such as universities, contractor-operated federally funded research and development centers (Affords) or other non-profit research institutions. The small business must perform at least 40% of the project, and a minimum of 30% by the research partner. The DoD has a Model Agreement for the Allocation of Rights that can serve as a guide.

Between July 27 through August 23, 2009 you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed in each topic description page. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting February 24, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

NOTE: The SBIR Gateway will host it's STTR Partnering Experiment where universities, small businesses, non-profits and federally funded research & development centers (FFRDCs) can express their interest in partnering on specific DoD and NASA STTR topics. This should open for topic registration by August 2.

Do you want the Zyn SBIR Gateway to notify you when the STTR Partnering Site Opens? If so, please enter your email address below and you will receive an email notification.

Please notify me when the STTR Partnering Site Opens
Email Address:
Email addresses will remain private and will not be shared.

The DoD STTR solicitation can be downloaded from their site at www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/solicitations/sttr09B


NASA Opens 2009 SBIR/STTR (7/7/09) - NASA has opened its 2009 SBIR and STTR solicitations on July 7, 2009 with a closing date of September, 3, 2009. Although this is a combined SBIR/STTR solicitation, the topics, rules and procedures for their SBIR and STTR are independent.

Although awards are always linked to "Subject to the availability of funds", this notice takes on new meaning since the SBIR authorization expires July 31, 2009 (unless reauthorized or extended by a CR) while STTR doesn't expire until September 30, 2009.

This solicitation contains about 130 SBIR topics and 13 STTR topics, all of which will be included in Zyn's SBIR Topic Search engine by July 10. NASA projects approximately 300 SBIR and 30 STTR Phase 1 proposals will be selected for negotiation of fixed-price contracts in November 2009. Historically, the ratio of Phase 1 proposals to awards is approximately 6:1 for SBIR and STTR, and approximately 45% of the selected Phase 1 contracts are selected for Phase 2 follow-on efforts.

NASA is continuing the use of their Electronic Hand Book (EHB) for the proposal submission process. The solicitation and support information, including several model SBIR and STTR contracts are available on NASA's SBIR web site at sbir.gsfc.nasa.gov/SBIR/sbirsttr2009/solicitation


NIH (ACF) Opens FY-09 SBIR (7/7/09) - The NIH's Administration for Children and Families (ACF), through the Program Support Center (PSC), Division of Acquisition Management (DAM), opened their 09-233-SOL-00102 SBIR solicitation on July 6, 2009 with a closing date of August 6, 2009.

NOTE: This solicitation should not be confused with the larger NIH SBIR solicitations, as this is from a small entity within NIH and is contracts based rather than grants, which means you will not submit via Grants.gov. Proposals must be in hardcopy sent (mail or delivery) to the ACF facility in Rockville, MD, and received by 4:30pm EDT. There are two topics in this solicitation:

  1. Disaster Case Management Information System (OHSEPR-01-09)ACF Green Business Initiative (OCS-01-09)
  2. ACF Green Business Initiative (OCS-01-09)
The solicitation is available on the FBO web site at https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=70357bac8ca5bee9fbcf0c42758e5b87&tab=core&_cview=1

House & Senate Work on SBIR Reauthorization (6/14/09) - The House and the Senate started work on their SBIR/STTR reauthorization bills hoping to enable new legislation before the programs expire on July 31, 2009. See the full story in the SBIR Insider, June 14, 2009 Edition.
DHS Issues FY-09.2 SBIR Pre-release (05/01/09) - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) has issued their FY-2009.2 SBIR opening on May 18, 2009 and closing July 2, 2009 at 4:00pm.

The solicitation contains 8 technical topics but after May 17, you can no longer directly contact the topic authors. However, proposers may submit written questions to [email protected].

The official announcement can be found on FedBizOpps at:
https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=7541efe416944f4336c9050e142101d4&tab=core&_cview=0
and the DHS S&T SBIR web site at www.sbir.dhs.gov


USDA Opens FY-2010 SBIR (6/11/09) - The USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) has opened it's FY-2010 SBIR solicitation (funding No. USDA-CSREES-SBIR-002363), that opened on June 10, 2009 and closes on September 3, 2009. The USDA SBIR program is grants based and utilizes grants.gov for the submission process. Grants.gov is still a complex process and takes time to get registered, so it is advisable to start the registration process early.

Depending upon the availability of funds, USDA expects to make approximately 85 Phase I awards not to exceed $90,000 each to small businesses in FY 2010. Awards are anticipated to be made on or after May 1, 2010. USDA will announce the names of those concerns receiving awards and successful applicants will then typically have eight months after awards are made to carry out their proposed Phase I effort.

Special consideration will be given to applications that address Agriculturally-related Manufacturing Technology and Energy Efficiency and Alternative and Renewable Energy as two cross-cutting priorities with relevance to all topic areas.

USDA Topics Areas Are:

  • 8.1 Forests and Related Resources
  • 8.2 Plant Production and Protection - Biology
  • 8.3 Animal Production and Protection
  • 8.4 Air, Water and Soils
  • 8.5 Food Science and Nutrition
  • 8.6 Rural Development
  • 8.7 Aquaculture
  • 8.8 Biofuels and Biobased Products
  • 8.9 Marketing and Trade
  • 8.11 Animal Manure Management
  • 8.12 Small and Mid-Size Farms
  • 8.13 Plant Production and Protection - Engineering

The solicitation is available from the USDA SBIR web site at www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/sbir.cfm


DHS Issues FY-09.2 SBIR Pre-release (05/01/09) - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) has issued their FY-2009.2 SBIR opening on May 18, 2009 and closing July 2, 2009 at 4:00pm.

The solicitation contains 8 technical topics but after May 17, you can no longer directly contact the topic authors. However, proposers may submit written questions to [email protected].

The official announcement can be found on FedBizOpps at:
https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=7541efe416944f4336c9050e142101d4&tab=core&_cview=0
and the DHS S&T SBIR web site at www.sbir.dhs.gov


DoD Issues SBIR 09.2 Prerelease (04/20/09) - The DoD has issued the pre-release of their FY2009.2 SBIR solicitation with offerings from the Army, Navy, DARPA, DMEA, DTRA and OSD. The solicitation opens and proposals will be accepted starting May 18, 2009 with a closing date of June 17, 2009 at 6:00am EDT. The DoD topics will be included in Zyn's SBIR Gateway Search Engine by 4/24/09.

Each of the DoD's agency components (Army, Navy etc..) have slightly different rules and procedures. Sometimes there can be specific instructions for a particular topic, so it is strongly advised that you study the solicitation instructions thoroughly.

During the pre-release period, April 20 through May 17, 2009, you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting May 18,, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

NOTE: In DoD terms this is actually a pre-release. During this period until the solicitation opens on May 18, 2009, topics may be added, modified or withdrawn. Changes are often made to topics, especially during the first week of a pre-release, so make sure to monitor the DoD for updates/changes! You can sign up with the SBIR Gateway to be alerted when changes are made to the DoD solicitation.

Do you want the Zyn SBIR Gateway to notify you when changes to the DoD FY09.2 SBIR are made? If so, please enter your email address below and you will receive an email notification.

Please notify me if changes are made to the DoD 09.2 SBIR solicitation.
Email Address:
Email addresses will remain private and will not be shared.

The DoD solicitation can be downloaded from their site at www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/solicitations/sbir092


EPA Opens (3/22/09) - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) opened their FY-2010 SBIR solicitation on March 19, 2009 with a closing date of May 20, 2009.

EPA topics are:

A) Green Building Materials and Systems
B) Innovation in Manufacturing
C) Nanotechnology
D) Greenhouse Gases
E) Drinking Water and Water Monitoring
F) Water Infrastructure
G) Air Pollution
H) Biofuels and Vehicle Emissions Reduction
I) Waste Management
J) Homeland Security

SBIR submission(s) to the EPA must be done in hard copy and mailed/UPS/FEDEX/ETC to their center in NC (not DC), so be sure to allow yourself enough time so they can receive your proposal by Noon (EST), May 20, 2009! EPA's SBIR is a contracts based program and their solicitation can be found on their web site at es.epa.gov/ncer/sbir/.


NSF Opens FY-2010 SBIR (3/02/09) - The National Science Foundation (NSF) has opened its FY-2010 SBIR (NSF 09-541) with a closing date of June 9, 2009. Due to the uncertainty of SBIR legislation, the customary disclaimer of "Subject to the Availability of Funds" is an important consideration. NSF's guidance from their proposal check list recommends submitting your proposals 1-2 days prior to the deadline of June 9, 2009.

Although the NSF SBIR is a grants based program, it does not use Grants.gov as its submission portal. All submissions are done through the NSF's tried and true FastLane system (much better than Grants.gov).

The NSF has raised the phase I award limits for this FY-2010 solicitation to $150,000! NSF also has some unique rules in the SBIR arena, one being that they will only accept a maximum of 4 proposals from any one entity. There are other rules as well so please study their instructions carefully.

NSF Broad Area Topics are:

  • Biotech and Chemical Technologies (BC)
  • Education Applications (EA)
  • Information and Communication Technologies (IC)
  • Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (NM)
Complete information is available on the NSF SBIR web site at www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/sbir/stop.jsp
The NSF topics will be included in the Zyn SBIR Search Engine by Wednesday, March 4, 2009.

EPA SBIR Presolicitation (2/24/09) - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that the will open their FY-2010 SBIR solicitation on or about March 19, 2009 with a projected closing date of May 14, 2009.

Projected EPA topics are:

A) Green Building Materials and Systems
B) Innovation in Manufacturing
C) Nanotechnology
D) Greenhouse Gases
E) Drinking Water and Water Monitoring
F) Water Infrastructure
G) Air Pollution
H) Biofuels and Vehicle Emissions Reduction
I) Waste Management
J) Homeland Security
EPA's SBIR is a contracts based program and Presolicitation details are posted on FedBizOpps at:
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=db30497da39e4d615e3fcd373cdcbdca&tab=core&_cview=0

DHS DNDO Opens FY09.1 SBIR (2/24/09) - (updated 5-19-09) Note: Closing now extended to 5/22/09 - The Department of Homeland Security's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) has just released their FY09.1 solicitation with a deadline for questions March 7, 2009 and a closing date of April 6, 2009 extended to April 27, 2009 at 2:00pm est. This is not to be confused with the earlier DHS SBIR that was released by the DHS Science & Technology Directorate.

The DNDO is different and separate from their DHS S&T cousins, and their SBIR program consists of two technical topics. They are:

  • X-ray Generators to Enhance Material Discrimination Capability of Non Intrusive Inspection (NIT) Imaging Systems
  • Innovative Training Technology for Preventive RadNuc Detection

    The DNDO solicitation is available on FedBizOpps at:
    www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=970eb0c54b4e4855283e98c0f7cd7366&tab=core&_cview=1


    Department of Transportation Opens FY09.1 SBIR (2/13/09) - The Department of Transportation's (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) of the Volpe National Transportation System Center, has opened their FY-09.1 SBIR solicitation (DTRT57-09-R-SBIR1) on February 13, 2009 with a closing date of April 15, 2009 at 5:00pm est.

    The solicitation consists of 8 technical topics from 3 of their administrations. They are:

    Federal Highway Administration Awards - (5 Awards)
    091-FH1 Deployment-Ready Technologies Mitigating Shockwave Development On Roadway Systems
    091-FH2 Development of a Thermographic Device for Evaluating Integrity of Steel Bridge Coatings Nondestructively
    091-FH3 Vehicle Detection, Counting and Tracking System for Travel Surveys, Traffic Safety Systems, and Traffic Control Systems
    091-FH4Pedestrian Detection, Counting and Tracking Systems for Travel Surveys, Traffic Safety Systems and Traffic Control Systems
    091-FH5Self-Sustaining, Intelligent Pavement Systems
    Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Award - (1 Award)
    091-FM1Individualized Fatigue Risk Management in Trucking Operations
    Pipeline And Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Awards - (2 Award)
    091-PH1Development of in-field pipeline inspection tools
    091-PH2Hazardous Materials

    A new wrinkle for DOT's SBIR is a good one in that proposals must be in PDF format and submitted directly through DOT's own web site. The DOT's solicitation is a contracts offering available on DOT's web site at www.volpe.dot.gov/sbir/sol09


    DoD Issues STTR 2009.A Prerelease (1/27/09) - The DoD has issued the prereleased their FY2009.A STTR solicitation with offerings from the Army and Navy. The solicitation opens and proposals will be accepted starting February 24, 2009 with a closing date of March 25, 2009 at 6:00am EST. Army has 30 topics and the Navy has 37. The DoD topics are included in Zyn's SBIR Gateway Search Engine.

    The STTR program requires the small business to partner with organizations such as universities, contractor-operated federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) or other non-profit research institutions. The small business must perform at least 40% of the project, and a minimum of 30% by the research partner. The DoD has a Model Agreement for the Allocation of Rights that can serve as a guide.

    Between January 27 and February 23, 2009 you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed in each topic description page. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting February 24, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

    This is the second year in a row that the DoD has divided their STTR program into two separate solicitations. The next one (FY-2009B) is scheduled for November, 27.

    The DoD STTR solicitation can be downloaded from their site at www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/solicitations/sttr09A


    DHHS Opens 2009-2 Omnibus SBIR/STTR (1/23/09) - The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has released its PHS 2009-2 omnibus SBIR/STTR Grants solicitations that stays open all year and has 3 separate receipt dates. This complex solicitation, includes opportunities from three main components of DHHS, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Also included is the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

    The NIH is the largest entity in this solicitation and is comprised of many institutes, each with their own set of interests and topics. Although the technical topics are shared between the SBIR and STTR offerings, the rules and regulations are different and the NIH issues separate announcements for their SBIR (PA-09-050) and their STTR (PA-09-051).

    NIH has separate receipt dates for AIDS and Non-AIDS topics, both of which have 3 receipt dates that span the year. Non-Aids receipt dates are: April 5, Aug 5, Dec 5, 2009 and AIDS related dates are May 7, September 7, 2009 and January 7, 2010.

    The DHHS solicitation is grants based and requires registration and submission via the Grants.gov web site. It is a complex process but the NIH offers help and guidance on their web site at grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm.

    The NIH topics will be included in Zyn's SBIR Gateway Topic Search Engine by January 31, 2009. Unlike most other SBIR solicitations, the NIH topics are broad based and act as a guide to their areas of interest. Many of the participating NIH Institutes will accept a proposal that does not match one of their topics but addresses an area of interest within the mission of the institute. Respondents should not be timid about asking for guidance.


    Department of Transportation Announces FY09 SBIR Prerelease (1/16/09) - The Volpe National Transportation System Center, as part of the Department of Transportation (DOT), has announced they will be releasing an FY09 SBIR solicitation on or about February 16, 2009. Although no closing date was suggested, history would lead us to speculate a May 1, 2009 closing date.

    The presolicitation announcement is available on FedBizOpps at:
    www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=d4d4e2f2142c8b2fcf1f3e376df65d23&tab=core&_cview=0




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