U.S. Department of
Energy
Small Business Innovation Research Program
Fact Sheet
-updated 10/01/04-
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program
was created by the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 (P.L.
97-219), reauthorized until September 30, 2000 by the Small Business Research
and Development Enhancement Act (P.L. 102-564), and reauthorized again until
September 30, 2008 by the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2000 (P.L.
106-554). The purposes of P.L. 106-554 were to: expand and improve the SBIR
program, provide electronic access to SBIR information to the public and
Government, examine how the SBIR program has stimulated technological innovation
and used small businesses to meet Federal research and development needs,
strengthen the technological competitiveness of small businesses in the States,
and simplify reporting requirements amongst Federal agencies.
Federal agencies with extramural R&D budgets over
$100 million are required to administer SBIR programs using an annual set-aside
of 2.5%. Currently, eleven Federal
agencies participate in the SBIR program: the Environmental Protection Agency,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science
Foundation, and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education,
Energy, Health and Human Services, Transportation, and Homeland Security.
So far, over $10 billion has been awarded by the SBIR program to various
small businesses.
Funding for the DOE SBIR program totaled over $1
billion over twenty-one years. The
program's budget for FY 2005 is expected to be about $102 million, based on a set-aside
of 2.5%. These funds are used to
support an annual competition for Phase I awards of up to $100,000 each for
about 9 months to explore the feasibility of innovative concepts.
Phase II is the principal research or R&D effort, and the awards are
up to $750,000 over a two-year period.
DOE funds approximately 280 Phase I projects and about 100 Phase II
projects per year. Success ratios
for applicants have been about 20% in Phase I and 45% in Phase II.
In Phase III, it is intended that non-Federal capital be used by the
small business concern to pursue commercial applications of the R&D.
Also under Phase III, Federal agencies may award non-SBIR funded follow-on
grants or contracts for products or processes that meet the mission needs of
those agencies, or for further research or R&D.
DOE's annual solicitation contains topics in
technical areas such as: Electric
Transmission and Distribution, Basic
Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, High Energy and Nuclear
Physics, Fusion Energy Sciences, Advanced Scientific and Computational Research,
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Nuclear Energy, Fossil Energy, and
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation.
Each year about 45 topics are allocated among the technical areas in
proportion to their contributions to the budget.
DOE plans to select for award those grant applications of the highest
overall merit within their technical subject area.
To aid awardees in seeking follow-on funding for
Phase III, DOE has sponsored a Commercialization Assistance Project for the past
ten years which has provided individual assistance in developing business plans
and in preparation of presentations to potential investment sponsors.
Half the companies that completed this program have already received
approximately $400 million for commercialization of their SBIR research
The FY
2005 SBIR solicitation was issued September 28, 2004 and will close for receipt of grant applications on
December 13, 2004. If you have any questions about the SBIR program, please telephone (301)
903-1414, send e-mail to sbir-sttr@science.doe.gov,
or write to the following address:
SBIR Program Manager
SC-32/Germantown
Building