OpportunityTitle: Small Business Innovation Research Program Phase I Solicitation FY-2014 (Release 2)
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: *Organization Limit: Proposals may only be submitted by the following:   - Only firms qualifying as a small business concern are eligible to participate in the SBIR program (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://sbir.gov/sites/default/files/elig_size_compliance_guide.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Size Determination&quot;&gt;Size Determination&lt;/a&gt;for more information). The firm must be in compliance with the SBIR /STTR Policy Directive(s) and 13 CFR 121. Please note that NSF has elected not to use the authority given under 15 U.S.C. &amp;sect; 638(dd)(1) (also &amp;sect;5107 of the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act). Hence, small businesses that are majority-owned by one or more venture capital operating companies (VCOCs), hedge funds or private equity firms are NOTeligible to submit proposals or receive awards from the NSF SBIR/STTR program. Socially and economically disadvantaged small business concerns and women-owned small business concerns are particularly encouraged to participate. For an SBIR Phase I Proposal, a minimum of two-thirds of the research, as measured by the budget, must be performed by the small business concern and the balance may be outsourced to a consultant or subcontractor or a combination of the two.  Proposals from joint ventures and partnerships are permitted, provided the entity created qualifies as a small business concern(see &lt;a href=&quot;http://sbir.gov/sites/default/files/elig_size_compliance_guide.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Size Determination&quot;&gt;Size Determination&lt;/a&gt;for more information).   Proposing firms are also encouraged to take advantage of research expertise and facilities that may be available to them at colleges, universities, national laboratories, and from other research providers. Such collaborations may include research subcontracts, consulting agreements or the employment of faculty as senior personnel and of graduate or undergraduate students as assistants by the small business.        *PI Limit:         The primary employment of the Principal Investigator (PI) must be with the small business concern at the time of the award. A PI must spend a minimum of one calendar month on an SBIR Phase I project. Primary employment is defined as 51% employed by the small business. NSF considers afull timework week to be normally 40 hours and considers employment elsewhere of greater than 19.6 hours to be in conflict with this requirement.
Description: The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program stimulates technological innovation in the private sector by strengthening the role of small business concerns in meeting Federal research and development needs, increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results, and fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses.The SBIR program solicits proposals from the small business sector consistent with NSF&apos;s mission. The program is governed by Public Law 112-81 (SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011). A main purpose of the legislation is to stimulate technological innovation and increase private sector commercialization. The NSF SBIR program is therefore in a unique position to meet both the goals of NSF and the purpose of the SBIR legislation by transforming scientific discovery into both social and economic benefit, and by emphasizing private sector commercialization. Accordingly, NSF has formulated broad solicitation topics for SBIR that conform to the high-technology investment sector&apos;s interests.The topics, listed below, are detailed on the SBIR/STTR topics homepage:Educational Technologies and Applications (EA)Information and Communication Technologies (IC)Semiconductors (S) and Photonic (PH) Devices and MaterialsElectronic Hardware, Robotics and Wireless Technologies (EW)Advanced Manufacturing and Nanotechnology (MN)Advanced Materials and Instrumentation (MI)Chemical and Environmental Technologies (CT)Biological Technologies (BT)Smart Health (SH) and Biomedical (BM) TechnologiesCertain innovative technologies with high commercial potential may not appear to fit under any of the nine current solicitation topics or their associated subtopics. In this case, you may seek advice from the relevant Program Director (as detailed on the topic pages), or you may submit the proposal under the topic and subtopic that is the closest match. The SBIR/STTR Program Directors ensure that proposals are appropriately grouped into panels for review by experts in the field, and the review process is facilitated by a Program Director. The topics and subtopics guide the merit review process but are not used as a consideration in making award decisions. Note: The submission of the same project idea to both this SBIR Phase I solicitation and the concurrent STTR Phase I solicitation is strongly discouraged. More information about the NSF SBIR Program can be found on the Program Homepage.
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CloseDateExplanation: Proposals submitted outside the window of Nov. 2, 2013 - Dec. 2, 2013 will be returned without review. Proposer&apos;s time is defined as the time zone associated with the company&apos;s address as registered with NSF at the time of proposal submission.