Frequently Asked Questions

• Read the FOA to understand all applicant requirements
• Check compliance using our Level of Effort and Max Funding Workbook at https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Applicant-Resources/Grant-Application
• Letters of commitment are required for each consultant, subcontract, research institution, and TABA vendor(s).
• Budget form and budget justification are in exact agreement, including any Subawards
• Don’t ask for more than the maximum award amount per the topic (not including $6,500 to use your own TABA vendor(s))
• Phase I Period of Performance
  • Can be from 6 to 12 months
  • Is it enough time to complete the proposed work?
  • Phase II proposal is due 9.5 months after the grant start date
• Ensure compliance with proprietary information markings requirements
  • Section VIII, C (Starts on page 78 of the FOA)
  • Only certain application documents can contain proprietary information
  • Review and comply with the cover page requirements
  • Review and comply with the Proprietary Data Legend requirements
  • Each page containing proprietary data must be marked
• Start the submission process early!

When you submit an SBIR/STTR application, DOE performs an initial review as stated in the Funding Opportunity Announcement and all applications are first evaluated for responsiveness by DOE technical program experts to ensure that they (1) meet stated FOA requirements described in Part III - Eligibility Information, and Part IV, C. and D, (2) identify a topic and subtopic, (3) contain sufficient information for a meaningful technical review, (4) are for research or for research and development, (5) do not duplicate other previous or current DOE-funded work, and (6) are consistent with program area mission, policies, and other strategic and budget priorities. Applications failing to pass this initial review are declined without further review.

These can be found on our funding opportunities page: https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Funding-Opportunities

This document can be found at https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Applicant-Resources/Grant-Application

To find a DOE SBIR/STTR FOA and grants application forms, you may go directly to the DOE SBIR/STTR Programs funding opportunities page at https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Funding-Opportunities. If there is an open DOE SBIR/STTR FOA, you will find the FOA and associated topics document, and a link to the grant application forms within the FOA.

If you know the FOA number, e.g. DE-SC-000123 or the CFDA Number (81.049), you may also find the forms by:

1. Going to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html
2. Select Basic Search
3. Search by "Funding Opportunity Number" (changes depending on FOA) or CFDA Number (81.049, this may result in multiple DOE FOAs found)
4. Select the DOE SBIR/STTR FOA of interest. You will be directed to the "Synopsis" page.
5. Select "Apply" button on the upper right. Login to Grants.gov to be directed to Workspace where you will find the application forms. You will need to register with Grants.gov to access these forms. (In order to submit your application through grants.gov, you will in addition need to complete registration with the System for Award Management (SAM). Please see the Grants.gov section on this FAQ page or the FOA for more information about the registration process.

https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Applicant-Resources/Grant-Application

https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Applicant-Resources/Grant-Application

https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Applicant-Resources/Grant-Application

https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Applicant-Resources/Grant-Application

https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Applicant-Resources/Letter-of-Intent

It is not required, but encouraged. The DOE Office of Science requires the use of the format approved by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which may be generated by the Science Experts Network Curriculum Vita (SciENcv), a cooperative venture maintained at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/, and is also presently available at https://nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/nsfapprovedformats/biosketch.pdf.

Requested information may be also appended to a biographical sketch, whether produced from a fillable PDF or in SciENcv.

Please complete the biographical sketch to the best of your ability, including relevant professional experience. Take note that you need to include the education and experience that supports your qualifications for the proposed role. Requested information may be appended to a biographical sketch, whether produced from a fillable PDF or in SciENcv.

Complete a biographical sketch for only each senior/key person and attach to the “Attach Biographical Sketch” field in the Research and Related Senior/Key Person Profile

No there are no available guidelines for hourly rates, Personnel justification must include a brief justification explaining the need for individual personnel and the total hours and hourly rates for each individual. Justifications can include the institution’s labor rate history for personnel with similar educational and experience levels.

It should be noted that the consultant rate is a third-party cost and will impact the level of effort calculation.

No. The direct hours paid by the SBIR/STTR funds are strictly for R&D activities. The business development work performed by the small business can be completed using the fee.

There is no maximum expenditure on equipment purchase. Equipment is defined as an article of tangible, nonexpendable, personal property, including exempt property, charged directly to the grant, having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 per unit or more. Items of equipment to be leased or purchased must be described and their need justified.

Regarding the effort on the budget field, you will need to convert the number of hours to number of months that each Senior/Key person will work on the Phase I project.

Yes, but key personnel must be identified at the time of application.

Fringe benefits are listed for each Senior/Key person on the Research and Related Budget form

If you are proposing indirect costs and do not already have an Indirect Cost Rate Agreement with your Cognizant Federal Agency or documentation of rates accepted for estimating purposes by DOE or another Federal agency, it is recommended that you begin preparing an Indirect Cost Rate Proposal to be submitted, upon request, to the DOE contract specialist/grants management specialist who will evaluate your application if you are selected for award.

For your convenience in preparing an Indirect Cost Rate proposal, a link to applicant resources, including indirect rate model templates, has been provided below: https://science.osti.gov/sbir/applicant-resources/grant-application/.

Although there is no absolute cap on indirect costs, applications will be evaluated for overall economy and value to DOE.

Yes. A reasonable fee, not to exceed 7% of total costs (direct and indirect) for each Phase (I and II) of the project is available to small business concerns receiving awards under the SBIR/STTR programs. The fee is intended to be a reasonable profit factor available to for-profit organizations, consistent with normal profit margins provided to profit- making firms for R&D work. Please keep in mind that the fee applies solely to the small business concern receiving the award and not to any other participant in the project. The fee is not a direct or indirect "cost" item and may be used by the small business concern for any purpose, including additional effort under the SBIR/STTR award. Please refer to the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for more guidance in this regard.

The max length is 4 pages.

The DOE Office of Science requires the use of the format approved by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which may be generated by the Science Experts Network Curriculum Vita (SciENcv), a cooperative venture maintained at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/, and is also presently available at https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/nsfapprovedformats/cps.pdf

The PI and each senior/key person at the prime applicant and any proposed subaward must provide a current and pending support form.

All funding should be included. Each current and pending support form should list all sponsored activities, awards, and appointments, whether paid or unpaid; provided as a gift with terms or conditions or provided as a gift without terms or conditions; full-time, part-time, or voluntary; faculty, visiting, adjunct, or honorary; cash or in-kind; foreign or domestic; governmental or private-sector; directly supporting the individual’s research or indirectly supporting the individual by supporting students, research staff, space, equipment, or other research expenses. All foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs must be identified in current and pending support.

All SBIR and STTR applicants must select one of two options for their Data Management Plan (DMP):

Option 1) "It is anticipated that all generated digital data will be protected as SBIR/STTR data and therefore will not be publicly shared during the applicable SBIR/STTR data protection period. If any data generated under this award are published, an effort will be made to also release any related digital data that is not protected SBIR/STTR data."

Please note that if you do not include a DMP with your application, Option 1 for the DMP will be assumed for your application. However, if you plan to publicly disclose generated digital data, you must provide a DMP under Option 2.

Option 2) Please submit a DMP, following the instructions in Section VIII of the FOA.

All SBIR and STTR applicants must disclose their foreign relationships as required by the SBIR and STTR Extension Act of 2022. The required form that must be used to disclose these relationships is available here: https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Applicant-Resources/GrantApplication. Instructions are included on the form. Please note that even if you do not have any foreign relationships, you must complete this form to certify that such relationships do not exist. Failure to include this form may result in declination of your application without review at DOE’s discretion.

The completed and signed foreign relationship disclosure form is attached to field 12 of the Research and Related: Other Project Information form.

The FOA provides an overview of the important elements to include in your application and references to more detailed Grants.gov assistance.

A good place to start is the following Grants.gov training site which includes a number of tutorial videos, such as an overview of Grants.gov and getting started with the Workspace: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/applicant-training.html

The letter of commitment (LoC) must be supplied by consultants, subcontractors, research institution and other sub-awardees, as applicable. The LOC should be on official letterhead from an authorized representative of the sub-awardee which commits the institution to participate in the project as described in the application. The LOC must include name and address of institution, dollar amount of subcontract, and certifying official’s name, phone number and email address.

Letters of commitment are uploaded in field 12 of the Research and Related: Other Project Information Form.

DOE uses the Letter of Intent to anticipate the application review requirements which allows us to meet a Congressional requirement to shorten our review process. The Letter of Intent allows DOE program managers to identify appropriate technical reviewers prior to full application submission. We receive many requests from small businesses asking us to provide feedback on their Letters of Intent, specifically on whether they should submit an application. Although this is not the purpose of the Letter of Intent, we worked with the DOE General Counsel to determine if feedback could be provided regarding the responsiveness of the Letter of Intent to the topic. Because of the limited amount of information in a Letter of Intent, the minimal feedback we do provide is not decisional.

All small businesses that submit Letters of Intent, regardless of DOE feedback are eligible to submit applications.

The LOI is submitted via PAMS by the applicant’s Business Official. It should only take a few minutes to establish your PAMS account and instructions to do so can be found on in our tutorials site (https://doetutorials.dawnbreaker.com/tutorials/tutorial-12/) and in our application instructions guide (https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Applicant-Resources/Grant-Application)

DOE anticipates providing this feedback within 3 weeks of the LOI deadline.

The non-responsive notification is sent to the applicant’s Principal Investigator and the Business Official is copied on the email by the date shown on our funding opportunities page for the solicitation. The email will come from [email protected]. You should check your junk email folder and spam repository on this day.

No, you will not be notified. DOE will not provide a letter of encouragement in response to your LOI. Feedback will only be provided to those applicants where the proposed R&D described in the LOI appears to be non-responsive to the selected topic and subtopic.

Here is what cannot change from the LOI to the application:

• Topic/subtopic
• Prime small business
• Title – Slight change only

Here is what can change from the LOI to the application:

• Principal Investigator
• Research Institution
• Subcontractors
• Consultants

Yes, a non-responsive LOI does not preclude you from submitting a Phase I application.

Depending on the reviewer comments, the following should be considered:

• Do you need to adjust your approach?
• Can you address the reviewer’s comments
• Did you leave something important out?
• Were you too vague and is there an opportunity to clarify?
• Do you need to reach out to the Topic author with for clarification?

You should also consider that your idea is truly not a good fit, decline to submit a Phase I application to DOE SBIR/STTR, and look for other sources of funding.

You will receive an email from [email protected] once your Letter of Intent is submitted and when it is edited as well.

PAMS indicates the status of your LOI submission on the my letters of intent (LOI) page, either “In-progress” or “Submitted to DOE”.

Yes, but make sure to resubmit the LOI within PAMS after you have made your edits and ensure that the LOI is shown as submitted before the submission deadline.

Yes

It is recommended that the Letter of Support (LoS) be on official letterhead from an authorized representative of the institution committed its stated support. The LoS should include name and address of institution, specifics of the support, and certifying official’s name, phone number and email address.

Letters of support are uploaded in field 12 of the Research and Related: Other Project Information Form.

No, they are not required but encouraged.

https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Applicant-Resources/Grant-Application

Yes. You should use the Level of Effort and Max Funding Workbook to ensure that you meet the requirements of both Programs.

DOE Phase I awardees typically apply the following year for Phase II awards. DOE does accept Phase II applications from small businesses who have received a Phase I award from another agency. Please see Part III A of our Phase II Funding Opportunity Announcements for eligibility requirements.

Yes, a Phase I awardee may submit a Phase II proposal with a different title than Phase I. However, they must make sure they include their Phase I award # (SC-XXXXXXXXX) on the SF424 in field 4a (Identifier).

For the SBIR Program, the PI must be principally employed by the small business by the start of the award.

For the STTR Program, the PI must be principally employed by either the small business or the Research Institution by the start of the award.

No a Ph.D. is not required. The PI should be an expert in the technology field and have the ability to direct the Phase I feasibility study.

Co-PIs are not allowed.

No, you must include the required cover page information at the beginning of your Project Narrative, but that information does not need to be on its own separate page.

Yes

Yes

We do not provide a sample PIER plan, please see this page for suitable PIER plan topics.

The PIER plan is attached as an appendix to the Project Narrative, but is not counted in the project narrative page count.

No, the assigned technical reviewers are also responsible for reviewing the PIER plan.

Suitable topics for a PIER plan are listed here, including some that are appropriate for this situation.

Suitable topics for a PIER plan are listed here, including some that are appropriate for this situation

Yes. The PIER plan should include at least one specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound (SMART) milestone. The progress towards meeting this milestone should be reported in the Phase I final report and the Phase II continuation and final reports.

Resources for understanding STEM participation rates for certain underrepresented groups:

• The National Science Foundations’ National Center for Science and Engineering Statisticscontains datasets such as Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering.
• U.S. Census: Advancing Equity with Data (information on underserved communities)
• For information on the definition of socially and economically disadvantaged persons, visit CFR 124.103 and 124.104

Note that aspects other than demographics are important to improving the diversity of the U.S. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) research and development workforce such as cultivating respectful, professional and accessible environments and developing technologies that can help distressed communities, such as reduction in household energy burdens.

Yes, funds can be requested for execution of the PIER Plan, within allowable cost guidelines. The total budget for the proposed project, excluding any Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) funding requested, should not exceed the maximum funding specified in the topic.

Allowable cost guidelines should be followed in budgeting of PIER Plan expenses. For example, an intern salary would be a direct expense, whereas training costs may fall into the indirect cost category.

Please ensure compliance with proprietary information markings requirements by referring to Section VIII, C and following the instructions, noting the following:

• Only certain application documents can contain proprietary information
• Review and comply with the cover page requirements
• Review and comply with the Proprietary Data Legend requirements
• Each page containing proprietary data must be marked

The DOE recognizes that small businesses are for-profit institutions and as such, SBIR/STTR grants may include a profit or fee for the applicant. Fees are subject to negotiation and shall not exceed 7% of the total costs (direct and indirect).

The fee applies solely to the small business concern receiving the award and for-profit R&D subcontractors participating in the project. In addition, the grantee may pay a profit/fee to a contractor providing routine goods or non-R&D services in accordance with normal commercial practice.

SBIR differs from STTR in two important aspects:

1. With an SBIR award, the principal investigator (PI) must have primary employment with the small business concern (SBC). With an STTR, the PI may be employed by either the SBC or research institution.
2. With an STTR, using a research partner with a Phase I and Phase II award is required, and the minimum level-of-effort expended by the SBC must not be less than 40% in both Phase I and Phase II. With an SBIR, the SBC is not required to partner with a research institution; however, if using a research partner, the minimum level-of-effort expended by the SBA must not be less than 67% for Phase I and 50% for Phase II

Yes. You should use the Level of Effort and Max Funding Workbook to ensure that you meet the requirements of both Programs.

The applicant small business should disclose this information both in the Professor’s resume and in the budget justification.

As long as the person is employed by the small business, they can be paid by the small business. Only the PI must be primarily employed at the small business (SBIR).

No employees or owners of the small business can be paid as consultants.

When the awarded small business earns its fee (profit), the use of that fee is at the discretion of the small business and does not need to be explained in the budget justification.

Only U.S. small business concerns (SBCs) are eligible to submit SBIR/STTR applications. Joint ventures, as defined in the "Appendices/Reference Material" of each DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) may apply, provided the entity created also qualifies as a small business at the time of the award. An SBC is one that, at the time of award for both Phase I and Phase II SBIR awards, meets all of the following U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) defined criteria:

1. Organized for profit, with a place of business located in the United States (U.S.), which operates primarily within the U.S. or which makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor;
2. In the legal form of an individual proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, joint venture, association, trust or cooperative, except that where the form is a joint venture, there can be no more than 49% participation by foreign business entities in the joint venture;
3. At least 51% owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the U.S., or it must be a for-profit business concern that is at least 51% owned and controlled by another for-profit business concern that is at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the U.S. (except in the case of a joint venture, where each entity to the venture must be 51% owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the U.S.); and
4. Has, including its affiliates, not more than 500 employees and meets the other regulatory requirements found in 13 CFR Part 121. Business concerns, other than investment companies licensed, or state development companies qualifying under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, 15 U.S.C. 661, et seq., are affiliates of one another when either directly or indirectly, (a) one concern controls or has the power to control the other; or (b) a third-party/parties controls or has the power to control both.

Control can be exercised through common ownership, common management, and contractual relationships. The term "affiliates" is defined in greater detail in 13 CFR 121. The term "number of employees" is defined in 13 CFR 121.

Further information may be obtained by contacting the SBA Size District Office at http://www.sba.gov/size link. SBC's submitting to both the SBIR and STTR programs must meet eligibility requirements of both SBIR and STTR applicants.

Applicants must self-certify in their applications that their company meets the definition of a small business concern (SBC) and is otherwise eligible. Applicants should be certain of their compliance with the eligibility requirements before formally certifying as an SBC. Information on SBA size determination and protest procedures can be found at www.sba.gov/size link.

Yes. DOE SBIR/STTR grants are awarded only to small, for-profit, firms that meet the definition of an SBC as defined above.

No. The definition of an SBC is a firm that is at least 51 percent owned by individuals who are US citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens. Further, an SBC must have its principal place of business in the United States.

Yes, commonly recognized business structures (S-corp, LLC, C-corp, sole proprietorship, etc.) that are for-profit small businesses are eligible.

No. Small business owners or its employees cannot be paid as consultants, and this includes university professors that are small business owners.

Employees or owners of the SBC may not be employees of the subcontractor, except when the subcontractor is a research institution (STTR). Please note that conflicts of interest may arise when an employee/owner is also an employee of the research institution. Please see the conflict of interest section of the FOA regarding DOE required documentation. These documents need to be provided if selected for award, but not in the application.

While there is some gray area between these roles, R&D subcontractors participating in the project are typically other companies, non-profit research institutions, consulting firms, engineering design firms and more. A consultant is typically an individual or a small group who is providing subject matter expertise or other services on the project.

Yes

Complete a biographical sketch and current and pending support for the senior/key person for each sub-awardee. Each sub-awardee should provide a budget, budget justification and letter of commitment.

Questions of a technical nature: Topic questions should be directed to the DOE technical program manager listed in the specific subtopic to which you are interested in applying. Please note that technical program managers can only answer questions about the scope of their topic and whether your innovation appears to fall within the scope of the topic. They do not provide recommendations on whether you should or should not apply—that decision resides with the small business

Questions about the application process: During both the early release of topics and the open FOA, the DOE SBIR/STTR Programs Office staff is available to assist you with general and administrative questions concerning the grant application process. You may reach the DOE SBIR/STTR Programs Office staff via email at [email protected] or via telephone at (301) 903-5707.

All questions regarding Grants.gov must be directed to the Grants.gov helpdesk at 1-800-518-4726 as specified in each FOA.

There are four system registrations required to submit an Applications, PAMS, SAM.gov, Grants.gov and SBA.gov. Registration instructions are in our FOA, and links to the systems and tutorials are included in the table below. Note that FedConnect and FSRS are required for awards, not for an application, and DUNS has been replaced by the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), which is generated by SAM.gov.

Because SAM.gov and Grants.gov process takes up to 6 weeks, start early!

A SAM number is required to submit a grant application via Grants.gov. Applicants that have not completed their SAM registration prior to the DOE SBIR/STTR FOA closing date as noted on page 2 of the Phase I FOA cover page are not eligible to submit DOE SBIR or STTR grant applications. Extensions are not granted to applicants due to an incomplete or missing SAM number. For more information on registering for a SAM number please visit http://www.sam.gov.

Yes, for an applicant selected TABA vendor, a LoC is required.

TABA is in addition to the award maximum limit. As an example, for a topic allowing a maximum R&D budget of $200,000, the Phase I application can include a total budget of $206,500, where $6,500 is requested for the applicant’s third party TABA subcontractor.

No, they must be performed by a third party, either DOE’s contracted TABA vendor, or the applicant’s own selected TABA subcontractor.

If you plan to use our vendor, you do not need to include a request in the application. If selected for a Phase I award, you will automatically become eligible for the TABA services through our vendor.

You may propose/receive services in the following areas:

• Intellectual property protections (see FOA for more details)
• market research
• market validation
• development of certifications and regulatory plans
• development of manufacturing plans

Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) services (using DOE vendor or your own selected vendor) can only be performed during the period of performance, so it important to consider this when selecting your period of performance.

Applicants can contact the Topic Manager starting when the topics document has been released, until the time that you have submitted your Phase I application.

Applicants should restrict their questions to focus on clarifying the intent of the topics. Please give the Program Managers ample time to respond by asking early!