Solicitation Information

**STOP**

Before proceeding to the solicitation, read the important Administrative and Technical Screening Information items below and also check the SBIR/STTR Frequently Asked Questions web page.

It is very important to read the solicitation document - it is the "requirements document" for the program. Please follow the link below and then contact the appropriate Program Manager if you have any questions. It is strongly suggested that you send your questions via email, so you can have a written response to your questions.

NSF STTR Solicitation (NSF-08-608)
The STTR program requires a Letter of Intent (LOI) and a full proposal. All proposals must respond to the one STTR topic "Multi-Functional Materials". The topic description is found in the solicitation under A.10 Research Topic.

NEW FOR THIS SOLICITATION:

• The NSF/STTR program will now officially recognize the Research Investigator as a Co-PI on a STTR award. The Co-PI is an important member of the project team and like the PI has responsibilities to the NSF grant (reference: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf08_1/aag_2.jsp for complete information on Grant Administration).The Principal Investigator is required to be primarily employed with the small business concern at the time of award.
• A Letter of intent is required to be sent by January 14, 2009. The requirements for the letter can be found in section V. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTION; A. Proposal Preparation Instructions. 
• Only Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) proposals will be accepted.
• Only 4 proposals in total per organization will be accepted.
  
  Proposals considered "inappropriate" will be returned without review.
  
  The following items will be used to "Administratively and Technically" screen all proposals. Proposals not meeting the administrative and technical requirements are not accepted by the STTR program and will be returned without review.

1. A proposal submitted after 5:00 p.m. (proposer's/submitter's local time) on the deadline date. The "Proposer" is the company and the time zone associated with the company's address will be used to determine if a proposal is late.
2. A Project Summary lacking required information (reference Section V.A.9.2).
3. A Project Description that exceeds 15 pages or does not have all the parts (reference Section V.A.9.3).
4. A proposal budget exceeding $150,000 (reference Section V.A.9.6).
5. A proposal missing a Company Commercialization History. If a company has certified that it has previously received SBIR/STTR Phase II awards a Company Commercialization History must be provided (reference Section V.A.9.9.2).
6. A proposal with documents placed in the “Additional Single Copy Documents" module in FastLane.
7. Collaborative proposals are not accepted. A collaborative proposal is defined as simultaneous proposal submissions from different organizations, with each organization requesting a separate award. Note: Small business concerns are required to collaborate with research institutions; however, the collaboration is reflected as a subaward and only one proposal should be submitted.
8. A proposal without sufficient technical and commercial potential to justify review.
9. A proposal that does not fall within the scope of the topic or subtopic
10. A proposal that does not have research proposed in science, engineering, or education.
11. Unacceptable objectives as defined in Section IV.