Current Solicitations

Large industry currently supports about half of the R&D in nanotechnology in the U.S.—about $2 billion per year. The other half comes from small business and investors, as well as Federal, state and local governments.

Federal research grants are defined and awarded by individual government departments and agencies, in accordance with their respective missions. Read Current Solicitations for links to funding home pages for the departments and agencies participating in the NNI. You can also use a new solicitation database offered by the DOE Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies to learn
about opportunities for nanoscience research funding by Federal agencies.

In addition to grants are special programs designed to seed commercialization activity that facilitates economic growth. These programs support small business collaboration with universities and other research institutions. See Funding Partnerships for an overview of these Federal government programs, the largest of which are the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

Facilitating business partnerships, state and regional funding and a positive business environment are goals of economic development initiatives that have formed across the country specifically for nanotechnology. Read more about these state and regional initiatives.

Special Resources for R&D

Tech-Net, sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration, is an Internet-based database of information containing Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards, Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards, Advanced Technology Program (ATP) awards, and Manufacturing Extension Partners (MEP) centers. It is a free service for those seeking small business partners, small business contractors and subcontractors, leading edge technology research, research partners (small businesses, universities, federal labs and non-profit organizations), manufacturing centers and investment opportunities.

A minority-owned business?
All federal agencies have minority business development programs. For more information, see Minority Business Development Agency at the Department of Commerce.

Interested in patent information?
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has an Electronic Business Center to allow for online searches.