Partnerships

Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) Programs

All Federal agencies with an annual extramural R&D budget exceeding $100 million have an SBIR program that funds competitive proposals received from small businesses. In addition, the STTR program was established to more strongly encourage small businesses to seek out partnerships with Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and universities. As an FFRDC, ORNL can partner with small businesses pursuing research funding from Federal agency's SBIR and STTR Programs.

It is necessary for the small business to contact ORNL early in the proposal process to allow time to determine if ORNL researchers can contribute significantly to the success of the research project, agree on a work scope, and complete necessary approvals. ORNL will provide a “Letter of Intent to Partner”, including a brief work scope and budget, to the small business for submittal with its proposal.

The degree of collaboration varies greatly from project to project and ORNL's support is usually provided to the small business through a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) between the small business and ORNL. All SBIR/STTR funds are sent by the sponsoring Federal agency to the small business. Funding for ORNL’s portion of the project work is transmitted to ORNL from the small business after the small business receives the funding from the sponsoring agency.

Assistance in SBIR/STTR proposal preparation is available to Tennessee small businesses from the Tennessee SBIR Proposal Assistance Center.

For further information please contact Alan Liby.