ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program (ATP) has announced a new competition for cost-sharing awards to support high-risk R&D; projects that accelerate the development of path-breaking new technologies important to the U.S. economy. The competition announcement will appear in the April 18, 2002, Federal Register.

The NIST Advanced Technology Program (ATP) is soliciting proposals under a single ATP competition and announces a public meeting (Proposers' Conference) for all interested parties. This single competition will continue ATP's practice of being open to all technology areas, while also capturing the advantage and momentum of focused program planning. All fiscal year 2002 proposals received will be distributed to technology-specific source evaluation boards in areas such as advanced materials, biotechnology, chemistry, electronics, information technology, etc.

Funding
Approximately $60.7 million in first year funding for fiscal year 2001 is available for new awards. Because ATP is now funding applications on a rolling basis, some portion of this may be used for new awards to outstanding proposals submitted to the FY 2001 competition, or for applications submitted under a FY 2003 competition.

Proposal Acceptance
NIST will accept proposals for the 2002 competition from April 22, 2002, until 3 p.m. Eastern time on Sept. 30, 2002. The proposals will be grouped and evaluated in three batches, and only those postmarked by 3 p.m. Eastern time on June 10, 2002, will be considered for funding in the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2002. However, all proposals received before the Sept. 30 deadline will be evaluated and considered for future funding. Details of the deadline rules are in the Federal Register notice. This year, for the first time, NIST is offering all ATP applicants the option of submitting proposals electronically through digitally signed documents.

ATP will group all proposals received by each of the specified due dates and review them as a group called a "batch". Since ATP has established three due dates for proposal submission in fiscal year 2002, there will be three batches. All hand-delivered or electronically submitted proposals must be received by 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the specified dates below:

			(a) Batch 1 - Monday, June 10, 2002
			(b) Batch 2 - Wednesday, July 31, 2002
			(c) Batch 3 - Monday, September 30, 2002

All other proposals must be postmarked by 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the specified due dates and received by 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the specified dates below:

			(a) Batch 1 - postmarked by Monday, June 10, 2002, and received by Monday, June 24, 2002
			(b) Batch 2 - postmarked by Wednesday, July 31, 2002, and received by Wednesday, August 14, 2002
			(c) Batch 3 - postmarked by Monday, September 30, 2002, and received by Tuesday, October 15, 2002 To be considered for funding in fiscal year 2002, potential proposers must submit their proposals by the first due date of June 10, 2002. Proposals submitted after June 10, 2002, may not be considered for funding in fiscal year 2002, but rather for funding in fiscal year 2003, subject to the availability of funding.

The Federal Register notice announcing this competition, the ATP Proposal Preparation Kit (dated April 2002), and details on the Proposers Conference and the ATP Electronic Submission System may be found on the ATP Web site at www.atp.nist.gov/www/press/2002comp.htm.

The ATP Proposal Preparation Kit dated April 2002 (containing proposal cover sheets, other required forms, background material, and instructions for preparing ATP proposals) may be requested by phone: 1-800-ATP-FUND (1-800-287-3863); fax: 301-926-9524 or 301-590-3053; e-mail: atp@nist.gov; or by letter at the address shown above. The Kit is also available on-line at http://www.atp.nist.gov. The ATP is mailing the new Kit to all those individuals whose names are currently on the ATP mailing list. Those individuals need not contact the ATP to request a copy.

Public Meeting
A public meeting (Proposers' Conferences) for potential proposers and other interested parties will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, May 2, 2002 at:

Gaithersburg Hilton
620 Perry Parkway
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20877
301-977-89800

The meeting will provide general information regarding the ATP, tips on preparing good proposals, and an opportunity for audience questions. Attendance at the public meeting is not required. No registration fee will be charged. To register for the public meeting or for further information, contact ATP at 1-800-ATP-FUND (1-800-287-3863). Additional information can be found on the NIST web site at http://www.nist.gov/conferences. (Please scroll down the NIST conference listing to find the appropriate date.)