Phase I Program

NSF Program Philosophy

The NSF SBIR and STTR programs mission is to increase the incentive and opportunity for small firms to undertake cutting edge, high risk, high quality scientific, engineering, or science and engineering education research that would have potential of high economic payoff if the projects are successful.

Proposals submitted in response to the NSF programs must describe a compelling business opportunity to be enabled by the proposed innovation. The proposal must convey scope and nature of the business opportunity. All proposals shall provide evidence of a market opportunity.

Phase I Feasibility Study

A Phase I proposal must describe the research effort needed to investigate the feasibility of the innovative proposed project. The primary objective of a Phase I effort is to determine whether the innovation has sufficient technical and commercial merit for proceeding to a Phase II project.

Phase I Solicitations

SBIR and STTR proposals are only received based on an active solicitation. Check the SBIR/STTR home page for solicitation announcements. The solicitation is the ruling document in preparing a proposal. Always reference the solicitation as it over rules all other policy documents unless otherwise stated in the solicitation.

All proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. submitters'/proposers' time. All proposals are submitted to NSF electronically via the FastLane system.

Fastlane Step by Step Guide

Check Lists

SBIR/STTR Phase I Proposal Checklist 

Accounting Workshop for SBIR/STTR Phase I Grantees

An accounting workshop for Phase I grantees was held at the NSF SBIR Phase I Grantees Conference on Monday, September 29, 2010. This workshop was designed specifically for NSF SBIR Phase I grantees and focused on the adequacy of the small business’s accounting systems and financial viability self-assessments. All Phase I grantees that are recommended to receive a Phase II award will be subjected to an external accounting audit by a NSF-selected CPA firm. Therefore, it is vital that all Phase I awardees ensure the integrity of their accounting systems and resulting financial statements from the outset of the Phase I project. This workshop also provided detailed information regarding the financial information and documentation that will be required by the small business with the application for Phase II funding. A video of the workshop, along with the handouts and presentation materials, is available:

Part 1, Part 2

To access PDF documents, please download Adobe Acrobat Reader.