The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program
was established by Congress in 1982 to provide increased opportunities
for small businesses to participate in R&D, to increase employment,
and to improve U.S. competitiveness. The program's specific objectives
are to stimulate U.S. technological innovation, use small businesses
to meet federal research and development needs, increase private-sector
commercialization of innovations derived from federal R&D, and foster
and encourage participation by socially disadvantaged businesses.
Legislation enacted in 2000 extended and strengthened the SBIR program
and increased its emphasis on pursuing commercial applications of
SBIR project results.
The Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program awards
contracts to small business concerns for cooperative research and
development with a non-profit research institution (RI), such as
a university. The goal of the Congress in establishing the STTR
program is to facilitate the transfer of technology developed by
an RI through the entrepreneurship of a small business. The small
business and its partnering institution are required to sign an
agreement on how intellectual property will be shared between them.
Modeled after the SBIR Program with the same basic requirements
and phased funding structure described above, STTR is nevertheless
a separate activity and is separately funded. It differs from SBIR
in several important aspects:
STTR is a smaller program. The funding set-aside is 0.30
% of the extra-mural R&D budget, approximately one-twentieth
of the amount for SBIR. The small company must take the
research and intellectual property of the research institution
and convert it into a useful product. In comparison to SBIR,
twice as much time is allowed for performance of the Phase
1. The Phase 2 activity is two years. Also, while the proposal
is still submitted by the SBC, at least 30% of the funding
and work must originate with the RI, while only a minimum
of 40% must come from the SBC. Phase 1 STTR projects receive
up to $100,000 in funds for a one-year effort. The maximum
contract value for STTR Phase 2 is $600,000.
The STTR Program Solicitation research areas correspond to the
central underlying technological competencies of each participating
NASA Center. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) does not
participate in the management of the STTR Program.
|