Title:  Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Solicitation
Date:   August 18, 1998
Replaces:  nsf9829



SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR)
PROGRAM SOLICITATION AND GUIDELINES

Closing Date: December 14, 1998

Nanotechnology
Sensors for Harsh Environments

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
NSF 98-153 (Replaces NSF 98-29)

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funds research and education in most
fields of science and engineering. Grantees are wholly responsible for
conducting their project activities and preparing the results for publication.
Thus, the Foundation does not assume responsibility for such findings or their
interpretation.

NSF welcomes proposals from all qualified scientists, engineers and educators.
The Foundation strongly encourages women, minorities, and persons with
disabilities to compete fully in its programs. In accordance with federal
statutes, regulations, and NSF policies, no person on grounds of race, color,
age, sex, national origin, or disability shall be excluded from participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any
program or activity receiving financial assistance from NSF (unless otherwise
specified in the eligibility requirements for a particular program).

Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED)
provide funding for special assistance or equipment to enable persons with
disabilities (investigators and other staff, including student research
assistants) to work on NSF-supported projects. See the program announcement or
contact the program coordinator at (703) 306-1636. The National Science
Foundation has Telephonic Device for the Deaf (TDD) and Federal Information
Relay Service (FIRS) capabilities that enable individuals with hearing
impairments to communicate with the Foundation regarding NSF programs,
employment, or general information. TDD may be accessed at (703) 306-0090 or
through FIRS on 1-800-877-8339.

PRIVACY ACT AND PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENTS

The information requested on proposal forms and project reports is solicited
under the authority of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as
amended. The information on proposal forms will be used in connection with the
selection of qualified proposals; project reports submitted by awardees will
be used for program evaluation and reporting within the Executive Branch and
to Congress. The information requested may be disclosed to qualified reviewers
and staff assistants as part of the review process; to applicant
institutions/grantees to provide or obtain data regarding the proposal review
process, award decisions, or the administration of awards; to government
contractors, experts, volunteers and researchers and educators as necessary to
complete assigned work; to other government agencies needing information as
part of the review process or in order to coordinate programs; and to another
Federal agency, court or party in a court or Federal administrative proceeding
if the government is a party. Information about Principal Investigators may be
added to the Reviewer file and used to select potential candidates to serve as
peer reviewers or advisory committee members. See Systems of Records, NSF-50,
"Principal Investigator/Proposal File and Associated Records," 63 Federal
Register 267 (January 5, 1998), and NSF-51, "Reviewer/Proposal File and
Associated Records," 63 Federal Register 268 (January 5, 1998). Submission of
the information is voluntary. Failure to provide full and complete
information, however, may reduce the possibility of receiving an award.

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to
average 120 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions.
Send comments regarding this burden estimate and any other aspect of this
collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to:
Reports Clearance Officer; Information Dissemination Branch, DAS; National
Science Foundation; Arlington, VA 22230.

YEAR 2000 REMINDER
In accordance with Important Notice No. 120 dated June 27, 1997, Subject: Year
2000 Computer Problem, NSF awardees are reminded of their responsibility to
take appropriate actions to ensure that the NSF activity being supported is
not adversely affected by the Year 2000 problem. Potentially affected items
include: computer systems, databases, and equipment. The National Science
Foundation should be notified if an awardee concludes that the Year 2000 will
have a significant impact on its ability to carry out an NSF funded activity.
Information concerning Year 2000 activities can be found on the NSF web site
at http://www.nsf.gov/oirm/y2k/start.htm.

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAM
PROPOSAL CHECKLIST

Do not submit this checklist with your proposal.
DOES THE PROPOSAL MEET THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS?

* Proposal is 25 pages or less and conforms to page size and type
requirements--excluding NSF Form 1225 (Attachment A), Certification
Page-Attachment B (side 2) and the Written Cooperative Agreement.
* COVER PAGE is complete--Attachment B.
* CERTIFICATION PAGE is signed by PI and research institution PI, and
Authorized Institutional Representative (Attachment B, side 2).
* Project duration does not exceed 12 months.
* PROJECT SUMMARY is complete--Attachment C.
* Principal Investigator is primarily employed by this firm.
* Not less than 40 percent of the work will be performed by the small business
concern, and not less than 30 percent of the work will be performed by the
research institution.
* Written Cooperative Agreement will be completed and signed. (See Sec. 5.3 O.)
* Statement of current and pending support is included. If funding for
overlapping or equivalent work has been requested or received, the box on the
cover sheet is checked off and the proposal includes a statement discussing
the status of the funding request.
* Proposal describes commercial potential.
* PROPOSAL BUDGET is on NSF 1030A (Attachment D), is for $100,000 or less, and
is signed by the PI and Institutional Representative.  University budget is on
Form 1030A and is signed by the Research Institution PI and university's
Institutional Representative.
* Proposal budget excludes foreign travel and equipment purchase.
* Ten (10) copies (an original and 9 copies) of the proposal are submitted.
* Will meet deadline for receipt at the National Science Foundation: 5:00 p.m.
EST, December 14, 1998.
* Proposer has read all instructions in this Solicitation.

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
PROGRAM SOLICITATION FOR
SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR)

The National Science Foundation (NSF), an independent agency of the Federal
Government, invites small business concerns to submit proposals for
innovative, commercially feasible, cooperative research with a nonprofit
research institution partner under this Program Solicitation. STTR requires
researchers at universities and other research institutions to play a
significant intellectual role in the conduct of each STTR project. These
university-based researchers, by joining forces with a small company, can spin
off their commercially promising ideas while they remain primarily employed at
the research institution.

1. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
1.1 The Federal STTR Program
The STTR Program, currently in five Federal agencies, was established by the
Small Business Technology Transfer Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-564, Title II).
Under this program a small portion of a Federal Agency's extramural research
and research and development (R/R&D) effort is reserved for awards to small
business concerns and their nonprofit research institution partners for
cooperative research and development efforts. For information on the other
STTR programs, see website: http://www.sba.gov/sbir/.

1.2 The NSF STTR Program
The NSF STTR Program expands the public/private partnership to include joint
venture opportunities for small businesses and the nation's premier nonprofit
research institutions. NSF expects synergism in the proposed research. A team
approach is required in which at least one research investigator is employed
by the small business concern and at least one investigator is employed by the
research institution. STTR combines the strengths of both entities by
introducing entrepreneurial skills to high technology research efforts.

The STTR Program is not a substitute for existing unsolicited proposal
mechanisms used in other NSF programs. Unsolicited proposals will not be
accepted under the STTR Program in either Phase I or II. The proposed research
must be responsive to the NSF program focus.
1.3 Program Emphasis for 1998
Proposals will be accepted in the areas of Nanotechnology and Sensors for
Harsh Environments only. (See Section 11, Research Topic Description).

This solicitation is for Phase I proposals only.
1.4 Phase I--Concept Feasibility

In Phase I, the proposer shows the scientific, technical, and commercial merit
and feasibility of the cooperative research effort.

The work proposed for Phase I should be a base for progression to Phases II
and III. The ultimate objective of the research must be to develop
commercializable products, processes, or techniques. Under this solicitation
NSF anticipates that it will make about 10-15 Phase I awards of up to $100,000
each. Work under Phase I should be completed within 12 months.

1.5 Phase II--Concept Refinement
The objective of Phase II is to continue the research effort from Phase I.
Only Phase I awardees are eligible to participate in Phase II. Phase II
proposals may only be submitted to the Federal agency that awarded Phase I of
the effort. Phase II awards have an expected period of performance of 24
months and the level of support usually will not exceed $450,000 for the
24-month period. It is estimated that approximately one-third of the Phase I
awardees will receive Phase II grants depending upon availability of funds.
1.6 Phase III--Commercial Applications
The objective of the third phase is to pursue commercial applications from the
government-funded research in order to stimulate technological innovation and
improve the return on investment from Federally-funded research for its
economic and social benefits to the nation. Phase III is to be conducted with
non-STTR funds (either Federal or non-Federal). NSF will not fund Phase III
efforts. 2. ELIGIBILITY For both Phases I and II, the research conducted by
the proposing small business concern and the research institution must be
performed in the United States. "United States" means the 50 States, the
territories and possessions of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Trust Territory of
the Pacific Islands, and the District of Columbia. 2.1. Eligibility of
Proposer: The Small Business Concern Only a small business concern is eligible
to submit a proposal for cooperative research with a research institution. A
proposing small business must qualify under the definition of small business
given in Section 3.05 of this solicitation. Joint ventures and limited
partnerships are eligible provided the entity qualifies as a small business as
defined in this program solicitation. 2.2 Eligibility of Research Institution
The cooperating research institution must qualify as a research institution
under the definition given in Section 3.09 of this solicitation. However, NSF
does not normally support activities of those scientists and engineers
employed by Federally Funded Research and Development Centers. 2.3 Eligibility
of the Principal Investigator and the Research Institution Investigator The
Principal Investigator (PI) must be primarily employed by the small business
concern. Primary employment means that more than one-half of the Principal
Investigator's time is spent in the employ of the small business concern. The
individual who is proposed as the PI at the time of the submission of the
Phase I proposal is expected to be the PI from the time of the inception of
the Phase I award until its completion. A change in PI prior to an award could
affect whether an award will be made. The Research Institution Investigator
must have a primary employment affiliation with the research institution. NSF
will not normally make an award to a Small Business Concern where the Research
Institution Investigator is an owner, officer or employee. 2.4 Management of
the STTR Program The small business concern must provide satisfactory evidence
that it will exercise management, direction and control of the performance of
the STTR funding agreement. Regardless of the proportion of the work or
funding of each of the performers under an award, the small business concern
is to be the grantee with overall responsibility for performance of the
research project. 3. DEFINITIONS The following definitions apply for the
purposes of this solicitation: 3.01. Principal Investigator--The Code of
Federal Regulations, Title 42, Part 52 defines a Principal Investigator as
"the single individual designated by the grantee in a grant application...who
is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the project."
3.02. Research--Any activity which is a systematic, intensive study directed
toward greater knowledge or understanding of the subject studied or a
systematic study directed specifically toward applying new knowledge to meet a
recognized need. 3.03. Development--A systematic application of knowledge
toward the production of useful materials, devices, and systems or methods,
including design, development, and improvement of prototypes and new processes
to meet specific requirements. 3.04. Subcontract--Any agreement, other than
one involving an employer-employee relationship, entered into by a Federal
Government funding agreement awardee calling for supplies or services required
solely for the performance of the original funding agreement. 3.05. Small
Business--A business concern that at the time of award of Phase I and Phase II
funding agreements meets the following criteria: (1) Is independently owned
and operated, is not dominant in the field of operation in which it is
proposing, has its principal place of business located in the United States,
and is organized for profit; (2) Is at least 51 percent owned, or in the case
of a publicly owned business, at least 51 percent of its voting stock is owned
by United States citizens, or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens; (3)
Has, including its affiliates, a number of employees not exceeding 500, 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 1938, 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) third parties (or party) control(s) or have the power to control both.
Control can be exercised through common ownership, common management, and
contractual relationships. The term "affiliates" is defined in great detail in
13 CFR 121.3-2(a). The term "number of employees" is defined in 13 CFR
121.3-2(t). Business concerns include, but are not limited to, any individual,
partnership, corporation, joint venture, association or cooperative. 3.06.
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Small Business--A socially and
economically disadvantaged small business concern is one that is (1) At least
51 percent owned by (i) an Indian tribe or a native Hawaiian organization, or
(ii) one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, and (2)
Whose management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more
of such individuals. A socially and economically disadvantaged individual is
defined as a member of any of the following groups: (1) Black Americans (2)
Hispanic Americans (3) Native Americans (4) Asian-Pacific Americans (5)
Subcontinent Asian Americans (6) Other groups designated from time to time by
SBA to be socially disadvantaged; or (7) Any other individual found to be
socially and economically disadvantaged by SBA pursuant to Section 8(a) of the
Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 637(a). 3.07. Women-Owned Small Business--A
small business that is at least 51 percent owned by a woman or women who also
control and operate it. "Control" in this context means exercising the power
to make policy decisions. "Operate" in this context means being actively
involved in the day-to-day management. 3.08 Cooperative Research and
Development--Research and development conducted jointly by a small business
concern and a research institution in which not less than 40 percent of the
work is performed by the small business concern, and not less than 30 percent
of the work is performed by the research institution. 3.09 Research
Institution--A research organization that is (1) A nonprofit university, or
(2) A nonprofit research institution as defined in section 4(5) of the
Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, or (3) A
contractor-operated federally-funded research and development center, as
identified by the National Science Foundation in accordance with the
government-wide Federal Acquisition Regulation issued in accordance with
section 35(c) (1) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (or any
successor legislation thereto). 3.10 Technical Data--Data developed by the
grantee during the performance of a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
grant, such as data relating to an invention or a manufacturing process or
software developed under the grant. 3.11 Proprietary Information--Trade
secrets or commercial or financial information submitted by a proposer or
grantee that is privileged or confidential. Information is confidential if
disclosure of the information is likely to cause substantial harm to the
competitive position of the proposer or grantee. 3.12 Overlapping Work--Any
steps in the performance of work on one proposal that would not need to be
repeated to perform the work on the second proposal. 3.13 Overlapping
Proposals--One proposal that involves the performance of work that overlaps
with the work entailed by the second proposal. 3.14 Equivalent Proposals--One
proposal that entails the performance of work that completely overlaps with
the work entailed by the second proposal. 3.15 Consultant--Persons who are not
employees of the small business concern or research institution named anywhere
in the proposal as contributing to the research. 4. METHOD OF SELECTION AND
EVALUATION CRITERIA * Proposals will be screened to determine responsiveness
to the specific requirements of the solicitation. * Scientists and engineers
in the field will then evaluate proposals passing this technical screen. *
Each proposal will be evaluated on its merits and judged on a competitive
basis. * NSF is under no obligation to fund any proposal or any specific
number of proposals on a given topic. 4.1. Administrative Screening NSF will
review each proposal to determine if it satisfies all of the requirements
described in Section 5, Proposal Preparation Instructions and Requirements. *
Nonresponsive proposals will be returned to the proposer without further
consideration. 4.2. Merit Review Academic and industrial scientists and
engineers in the appropriate field will competitively evaluate responsive
proposals in a process of external merit review. Most reviewers are located in
universities and Government. Others may be employees of nonprofit research
laboratories, recent retirees from industrial firms, and employees of
industrial organizations. In all instances, proposals will be handled on a
confidential basis and care taken to avoid conflicts of interest. Evaluations
will be confidential to NSF and to the proposed Principal Investigator, to the
extent permitted by law. In the Phase I merit review process, approximately
equal consideration will be given to these two criteria: Following each
criterion are potential considerations that the reviewer may employ in the
evaluation of STTR proposals. (1) What is the merit of the proposed activity?
How well conceived is the proposed cooperative research activity? Is the
cooperative research plan a sound approach for establishing the technical and
commercial feasibility of the concept? How well qualified is the team (small
business concern and university or other Federally funded research and
development center) to conduct the STTR project? If appropriate, the reviewer
will comment on the success of prior work to commercialize technology. To what
extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore unique or ingenious
concepts or applications? Is there sufficient access to resources? (2) What
are the broader impacts of the proposed activity? What may be the commercial,
societal or scientific research instrumentation benefits of the proposed
activity? Can the proposed cooperative work lead to a marketable product or
process? What is the likelihood that the project could attract further
development funding after the STTR project ends? How well does the proposed
activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender,
ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)? 4.3. Selection for Award NSF cannot
support all the meritorious Phase I proposals that are recommended for
funding. Evaluation scores, rankings, and comments from review panels and/or
external reviewers are advisory to the National Science Foundation.
Recommended proposals are then reviewed by the STTR program officer who
considers the evaluations and comments from external reviewers as well as the
past performance in the STTR and SBIR program, commercial potential, program
balance, and other factors in making recommendations for awards. 4.4.
Debriefing When an award or declination is made, the PI receives: * verbatim
copies of reviews, excluding the names of the reviewers; * summaries of review
panel deliberations, if any; * a description of the process by which the
proposal was reviewed; and * the context of the decision (such as the number
of proposals and awards, and information about funding availability). 5.
PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS 5.1. Contact with NSF
Requests for copies of the solicitation may be addressed to: STTR Program
Office, National Science Foundation, Room 590, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington,
VA 22230, telephone (703) 306-1390 or by e-mail to pubs@nsf.gov. * Questions
about the NSF STTR Program may be addressed to the STTR Program Manager at the
above address. * Questions concerning the scientific and engineering aspects
of the research topic should be addressed to the cognizant Program Director
listed under the topic description (See Section 11). * The solicitation may
also be downloaded onto a PC from the SBIR/STTR web page:
http//:www.eng.nsf.gov/sbir/sttr. 5.2. Proposal Preparation Proposals not
meeting these requirements will be returned without further consideration. *
Limit the Phase I proposal to a total of 25 consecutively numbered pages
(single- or double-spaced) including Cover Page, Project Summary, main text,
references, other enclosures or attachments (except those specifically
excluded from the page count) and the Proposal Budgets. Use standard size
pages. Metric size A4 (210 mm X 297 mm) is preferred. 8 1/2" x 11" (216 mm X
279 mm) may be used. * Margins not less than 25 mm and type no smaller than
12-point font size must be used, except as legends on reduced drawings, but
not tables). * Do not send in any supplementary materials, revisions, and
substitutions. * When responding to this solicitation, use the metric system
of weights and measures, unless impractical or inefficient. A proposal must
contain adequate information to be reviewed as research. NSF reserves the
right not to submit to technical review any proposal which it finds to have
insufficient scientific or technical information. 5.3. Phase I Proposal Format
* The proposal should include all of the following items in the order shown. *
NSF forms may be photocopied as required. * One proposal must contain original
signatures and should be clearly marked as the original. A. NSF Form 1225
(Attachment A)--Attach this form to the cover page of the copy of the original
proposal only. * Provide information for both the Principal Investigator and
the Research Institution Investigator. * This form is not included in the page
count for the proposal nor does it go to reviewers. B. Cover Sheet (Attachment
B)-Complete page 1 of this form and use it as page 1 of each proposal. * Page
2 of this form--Certification Page--must be completed and fully signed. Attach
this page to the original proposal only. The Certification Page is not
included in the proposal page count. 1. The Phase I performance period is
normally 12 months. 2. The title of the proposal should be brief, technically
valid, intelligible to the non-scientist or engineer, and suitable for use in
the public press. NSF may edit the title of the project before making an
award. C. Project Summary (Attachment C)--Use this Form as page 2 for all
copies of each proposal. Under "Technical Abstract": * identify the problem or
opportunity and research objectives * describe the research, anticipated
results, and potential applications of the research * complete the sections
entitled Key Words and Potential Commercial Applications of the Research. * be
brief, technically valid, and intelligible to the non-scientist or engineer.
In the event of an award, this information will be made public. D.
Identification and Significance of the Problem or Opportunity--Make a clear
statement of the specific research problem or opportunity addressed and its
importance. This section will begin page 3 of your proposal. E. Background,
Technical Approach, and Anticipated Benefits * Describe the overall background
and technical approach to the problem or opportunity and how the proposed
research will provide the needed results. * Highlight the innovativeness and
originality of the research. * State the anticipated results and potential
commercial applications if the research is successful, including the
significance of the research and its potential to: (1) provide the research
base to attract follow-on investment for product or process development in
Phase III; and (2) stimulate or achieve technological innovation. F. Phase I
Research Objectives--List and explain the specific objectives to be
accomplished in the course of the Phase I research, including the questions it
will try to answer which determine the technical feasibility of the proposed
approach. Establish the connections with the Phase II research and Phase III
efforts. G. Phase I Research Plan--Describe the Phase I research plan in
detail. * Indicate not only what is planned but also how the research will be
carried out. * Include a technical discussion of the proposed concept, the
methods planned to achieve each objective or task, and the sequence of
experiments, tests and computations. * Link the objectives and the questions
that the Phase I research effort is designed to answer. * Specifically address
the amount and type of work to be performed both by the small business concern
and by the research institution and describe the necessary cooperation,
coordination, and complementarity. List key personnel involved in the project
and describe the programmatic and fiscal arrangements for the cooperative
research. Scheduling and project staff activities charts may be useful. Such
charts might include each task, scheduled completion dates, and decision
points. Also, indicate which tasks are key starting points for Phase II work.
This is a key section and should be about one-third of the total proposal--8
or more pages. H. Commercial Potential * Describe the potential applications
of the research results in the marketplace and the plans to market and
commercialize the technology. * Describe the current plan for commercializing
the results of the research. This plan should include a brief description of
the proposing company, its field of interest, and the commercial applications
or market niche the STTR research is addressing. * Briefly describe the major
competitive products in those fields; any significant advantages the approach
has over existing technology in application, performance, technique,
efficiency or cost; and how the small business concern plans to move from
research to market, as anticipated at this time. * Proposing firms with prior
NSF or other SBIR support should indicate the number of SBIR Phase I and Phase
II awards that they have received and summarize their progress in
commercializing that support. Past performance in the commercialization of
SBIR and STTR results is a consideration in award decisions. I. Related
Research-- Describe: * significant and recent research directly related to the
proposed effort, * how it relates to the proposed research, and * any planned
coordination with outside sources. Include a concise bibliography. J.
Principal Investigator, Research Institution Investigator, and Senior
Personnel--Provide information on the Principal Investigator, the Research
Institution Investigator, and other senior personnel from either the small
business concern or the research institution which shows that they have the
qualifications to undertake the cooperative research effort. The
appropriateness and strength of the complementarity of the research team
should be described. The Principal Investigator and Senior Personnel must be
employees of the small business. The Principal Investigator must be primarily
employed by the small business concern. (See Sec. 2.3.) Pages devoted to vitae
are included within the 25-page limit on the proposal. For administrative
purposes, an investigator from the small business concern must be designated
as the Principal Investigator. K. Consultants and Subcontracts 1.
Consultants-- Present information on the qualifications of the consultants,
their education, experience, any directly relevant publications, and how their
efforts will contribute to the proposal. Proposers should have in their own
file evidence of the commitment of consultants to participate in the project.
In addition, provide a signed statement from each consultant, whether paid or
unpaid, confirming his/her availability and time commitment, role in the
project, and agreed consulting rate--not to exceed the daily rate paid to an
Executive Schedule Level IV or equivalent, currently $453/day--for
participation in this project. 2. Subcontracts--Where a subcontract involves
research other than at the cooperating research institution, the subcontractor
should furnish a letter signed by an appropriate official describing the
programmatic arrangements and confirming its agreed participation in the
research along with its proposed budget on Form 1030A for this participation.
*See Note in Section P. Budget Section on Expenditure Breakdown and
percentages of work. L. Equipment, Instrumentation, Computers, and
Facilities--Describe the necessary equipment, instrumentation, computers, and
physical facilities to carry out the research and/or analytical efforts
including its availability and location--at the small business concern, at the
cooperating research institution, or elsewhere. Do not list equipment,
instrumentation, computers, and facilities that are not necessary to the
proposed project. M. Current and Pending Support of Principal Investigator,
Research Institution Investigator, and Senior Personnel--Provide information
about all research to which the Principal Investigator, the Research
Institution Investigator, and other senior personnel have committed time for
the period of performance under an STTR grant, whether or not salary for the
person involved is included in the budgets of the various projects. If none,
report none. Provide the following information: * titles and dates of each
current grant or contract and each pending grant or contract where,
respectively time has been or will be committed; * name of each granting or
contracting organization; * person-months devoted to each project by the
Principal Investigator, the Research Institution Investigator, and each of the
senior personnel during the proposed grant period; * identical information for
all proposed STTR research that is being considered by or that will be
submitted in the near future to other possible sponsors; and * identical
information for all proposed research that is being considered by, or that
will be submitted in the near future to, other NSF programs. The current and
pending support statement should be included in the proposal at the time of
submission. N. Equivalent or Overlapping Proposals to Other Federal Agencies
--A proposal that contains the same or overlapping work can be sent to any
other Federal agency. See Secs. 3.13 and 3.14. Where an equivalent or
overlapping proposal has already been submitted, or where one will be
submitted in the near future to another Federal agency, a statement must be
included which provides the following information for each equivalent or
overlapping proposal: * The name and address of the agency to which the
proposal was or will be submitted; * Date of proposal submission; * Title,
number, and date of solicitation under which the proposal was submitted or
will be submitted; * The specific applicable research topics for each STTR
proposal submitted; * Titles of the proposal; * Name and title of Principal
Investigator (Project Manager). NSF will not make awards that essentially
duplicate research funded (or expected to be funded) by other agencies.
Receiving duplicate funding from Federal sources or from a Federal source and
any other source for the same research, or essentially the same research, is
fraudulent. If no equivalent or overlapping proposals are under consideration,
state none. O. Written Cooperative Agreement-- Note: The Written Cooperative
Agreement should be provided to NSF with the Phase I proposal. If the
Agreement has not been signed at the time the proposal has been submitted, the
negotiation process should be underway and a statement to that effect must be
provided to NSF with the Phase I proposal. When an award is being considered,
the signed Agreement must be provided to NSF upon request. The Agreement
between the small business concern and the research institution must cover the
allocation of intellectual property rights and rights, if any, to carry out
follow-on research, development, or commercialization. A model agreement
relating to these issues is provided in Section 12 of this solicitation. This
model is for guidance only and may be modified by the parties. The Agreement
must contain the signatures of an official of the small business concern and
an appropriate official of the research institution. By signing the proposal,
the official of the small business concern certifies that the agreement
negotiated with the research institution is satisfactory to the small business
concern. P. Budget--The NSF Summary Proposal Budget Form 1030A (Attachment D)
Must Be Used. In the STTR Program, research is to be conducted jointly by a
small business concern and a nonprofit research institution. Not less than 40
percent of the work conducted under an STTR award must be performed by the
small business concern, and not less than 30 percent of the work must be
performed by the nonprofit research institution. That is, a minimum of 40
percent of the total budget must be allocated to the small business concern,
and a minimum of 30 percent of the total budget must be allocated to the
cooperating research institution. * Complete a Form 1030A for the total
budget. Phase I estimates must be shown in detail on this form. Funds for the
research institution should be shown on G.5. --Subcontracts--of the NSF
Summary Proposal Budget. * Breakouts of the budgets for the small business
concern and for the subcontract to the research institution must be provided
on separate Form 1030As. Proposers are encouraged to use photocopies of
Attachment D for these breakouts. * Purchases of routine analytical or other
routine services from commercial sources are not regarded as reportable
subcontract activity. For such activity no letter is required. The item--
routine analytical or other routine services--should be reported in the Budget
(Attachment D) under Other Direct Costs/Other. In the Summary Proposal Budget
and in the breakout budget for the small business concern, the Principal
Investigator and senior personnel employed by the small business concern
should be listed by name with their time commitments budgeted in person-months
and in dollar amount for the period of performance. In the breakout budget for
the subcontracting research institution, the Research Institution Investigator
and senior personnel employed by the research institution should be listed by
name with their time commitments budgeted in person-months and in dollar
amount for the period of performance. * The budget should reflect cost for
work to be done only after the effective date of the award. Any costs incurred
prior to the issuance of an award document are at the grantee's own risk. *
The reimbursement rates for consultants are a direct cost that cannot exceed
the daily rate paid to a Level IV of the Executive Schedule or
equivalent--currently $453 per day. Consultant travel should be shown under
the travel category. * Equipment and foreign travel cannot be included in the
Phase I budget. Equipment is defined as an article of non-expendable, tangible
property, having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost
of $5,000 or more per unit. * The budget should indicate in general terms the
categories of expendable materials and supplies required, with their estimated
costs. The breakdown should be more detailed when the costs shown on line G.
1. of NSF Budget Form 1030 exceed $5,000. * The total budget on line L of Form
1030A (including a fee of up to 7%) must not exceed $100,000 for the Phase I
proposal. * Reasonable fees (estimated profit) will be considered under both
phases of the solicitation. The amount of the fee included in the proposed
budget will not exceed 7 percent of total project costs. Cost sharing is
permitted; however, it is not required nor will it be a factor in the
evaluation of a proposal. * The small firm and the research institution should
submit separate copies of NSF Form 1030A. Each organization should have its
own principal investigator and organizational representative sign Form 1030A.
* Budgets for travel funds must be justified and related to the needs of the
project. Travel expenses for attendance at technical conferences are not
permitted unless the conference directly relates to the project. * Tuition
costs are not considered research or research and development. Accordingly,
they are not acceptable costs and should not be included in the budget.
Graduate students should be paid as employees of the organization where they
do their work. 5.4. Checklist--The Checklist, which appears as page iii, has
been included for your convenience; it should not be submitted as part of your
proposal. 6. SCHEDULE 6.1. Phase I Proposal due at NSF by December 14, 1998
Notification by NSF of receipt of proposal by January 1999 Mail notification
of awards and declinations June 1999 Estimated Phase I award effective date
July 1999 Phase I Final Report due within 30 days after the end of the
12-month grant support/performance period 6.2. Phase II Instructions from NSF
for preparing Phase II proposals by January, 2000 Phase II Proposal Due at NSF
by September, 2000 7. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS 7.1. Awards NSF anticipates making
about 10-15 Phase I fixed-price grants of up to $100,000 each. Awards will be
made normally for a twelve (12)-month period of performance. Prior to any
award, the Foundation may require certain organizational, management and
financial information for administrative purposes to assure that the applicant
adheres to certain business and financial standards. When requested by NSF,
this information should be returned to the requesting office as expeditiously
as possible. 7.2. Payment Schedule No invoices are necessary under Phase I
grants. Phase I payments will be made as follows: 40 percent approximately 3-4
weeks after the effective date of the award provided that a Request for
Initial Payment and ACH Vendor/Miscellaneous Payment enrollment Form are
received by the NSF Division of Financial Management, 40 percent six months
after the award, and the remainder upon acceptance of a satisfactory Phase I
Final Report by NSF. 7.3. Grantee Commitments In the event of an award, the
awardee will be required to make certain legal commitments through acceptance
of the terms and conditions of the Phase I funding agreements. Copies of
complete terms and conditions are available upon request. 7.4. Reports
Additional instructions will be sent to Phase I awardees before the scheduled
completion of Phase I. A. Phase I Final Report--Twelve (12) copies of a
comprehensive Phase I Final Report not to exceed 30 pages in length, must be
submitted to: STTR Program, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd.,
Room 590, Arlington VA 22230. The Phase I Final Report is due within 30 days
after the end of the Phase I 12- month grant support/performance period
(unless otherwise stated in the grant letter). The final report shall include:
* a verbatim statement of Phase I objectives from the Phase I proposal, * a
summary description of the research carried out, * the research findings or
results, and * the potential commercial applications of the research. The
balance of the report should then describe in detail these same topics as well
as the problems addressed and estimates of technical feasibility. The Phase I
Final Report delivered under the grant, including technical data, may be made
available to the public by the Government, except for that portion of the
report containing technical data properly identified and marked as set forth
in 7.5.B below. To the extent permitted by law, except for evaluation
purposes, the Government will not release properly identified and marked
technical data outside the Government without the approval of the grantee for
a period of four years from the expiration of the Phase II grant or of the
Phase I grant, when no Phase II award is made. The Phase I Final Report will
be sent by NSF to the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) four years
following expiration of the Phase II grant or four years from the expiration
of the Phase I grant when no Phase II award is made. All final reports must
carry the following acknowledgment on the cover page: "This material is based
upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under award number
_________________. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations
expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation." An
acknowledgment of NSF support and disclaimer also must appear in publications
of any materials, whether copyrighted or not, based on or developed under
NSF-supported projects. The disclaimer may be deleted from any articles or
papers published in scientific, technical or professional journals. B. NSF
Form 98A--Within 90 days after the expiration of a grant, the investigator is
required to submit a Form 98A: National Science Foundation Final Project
Report to the NSF STTR Program Officer. Form 98A is distinct from, and not to
be confused with, the Phase I Final Report. NSF will send Form 98A along with
a postage-paid self-addressed envelope to each Principal Investigator
approximately 30 days prior to the expiration date of a grant. The Form 98A
fulfills the second of the two reporting requirements for a Phase I grant. A
Phase II proposal cannot be processed until this form has been received from
the grantee. 7.5. Proprietary Information, Inventions, and Patents Proposals
may contain proprietary information. In addition, Phase II proposals and Final
Reports delivered under a grant may also contain technical data developed
under the grant. The grantee may have rights in these technical data. A.
Proprietary Information in Proposals--Information contained in unsuccessful
proposals will remain the property of the proposer, but NSF will retain file
copies of all proposals. Public release of information in any proposal will be
subject to existing statutory and regulatory requirements. Proposers should
limit proprietary information to that deemed essential for proper evaluation
of the proposal. Proprietary information may be included in the body of the
proposal or set apart from other text. Any proprietary information included in
the body of the proposal must be clearly marked, by sentence or paragraph, as
proprietary. Any proprietary information set apart from other text should be
on a separate page, and keyed to the text by numbers. Confine it to those
critical items that, if disclosed, could jeopardize the obtaining of foreign
or domestic patents or could reveal trade secrets or commercial or other
financial information that could jeopardize the competitive position of the
proposers. NSF may find proposals or reports that attempt to restrict
dissemination of large amounts of information unacceptable. Proprietary
information submitted to NSF will be treated in confidence, to the extent
permitted by law, if it is clearly identified, by sentence or paragraph in the
proposal text, or on a separate page. List the numbers of those pages
containing proprietary information as indicated at the bottom of the Proposal
Cover Page (Attachment B). Without assuming any liability for inadvertent
disclosure, NSF will limit dissemination of properly marked information to its
employees and, as necessary, for the evaluation of the proposal, to outside
reviewers on a confidential basis. Phase II may also contain technical data
developed under the Phase I grant. The grantee must properly identify and mark
such technical data as described directly below in Section 7.5.B. Since Final
Reports by the Principal Investigator will be made available to public (see
Section 7.4.A above) such reports should contain no restrictive language
purporting to limit their use, except for technical data described in Section
7.4.B. B. Rights in Data Developed Under STTR--The grantee may retain rights
in technical data, including software developed under the NSF grant, except
that the Government shall have the right to use such data for Governmental
purposes. The Final Report delivered under the grant, including technical
data, may be made available to the public by the Government except for that
portion of the report containing technical data properly identified and marked
as set forth below. To the extent permitted by law, the Government will not
release properly identified and marked technical data, such as data relating
to an invention or software, outside the Government except for evaluation
purposes for a period of four years from the expiration of the Phase II grant
or of the Phase I grant, when no Phase II award is made, without approval of
the grantee. The grantee must properly identify such data and set it off on a
separate page keyed to the text by numbers in any submission to the
Foundation. Such data must be clearly labeled as proprietary and marked with a
legend similar to the following: "The following is proprietary information
which (name of grantee) requests not be released to persons outside the
Government except for purposes of evaluation, for a period of four years from
the expiration of Grant No.___________ or, if a follow-on Phase II grant is
awarded, whichever is later." In addition to the rights vested in the
Government to use such technical data during the four-year period mentioned
above, the Government shall retain a royalty free, irrevocable, world-wide
license to use the data after the conclusion of the four-year period whether
or not the grantee has sought or obtained patent protection or claimed
copyright protection. 7.6. Copyrights The grantee normally may copyright and
publish (consistent with appropriate security considerations, if any) material
developed with NSF support. NSF receives a royalty-free license for the
Federal Government and requires that each publication contains an
acknowledgment and disclaimer statement as shown in Section 7.4., Reports.
7.7. Patents Each award agreement will contain a patent rights clause under
which small business firms normally retain the principal worldwide patent
rights to any invention made with NSF support. NSF receives a royalty-free
license for Federal Government use, reserves the right to require the patent
holder to license others in certain circumstances, and requires that anyone
exclusively licensed to sell the invention in the United States must normally
manufacture it domestically. To the extent authorized by 35 U.S.C. 205, NSF
will not make public any disclosure by the grantee of a NSF-supported
invention for a four-year period to allow the grantee a reasonable time to
file a patent application. The time period for filing is specified in the
patent rights clause and applicable Federal regulations. Additional
information may be obtained from the Office of the General Counsel, Room 1265,
National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230. 7.8. Additional Critical
Information --Management Responsibility. The performance of the Principal
Investigator and other employees or consultants who carry out the proposed
work is to be managed by the small business concern receiving an STTR award.
--Accuracy of Information. The proposing organization, the Principal
Investigator and the Authorized Organizational Representative are responsible
for the accuracy and validity of all the administrative, fiscal, and
scientific information in the proposal. Deliberate withholding, falsification,
or misrepresentation of information could result in administrative actions
such as declination of a proposal or the suspension and/or termination of an
award, as well as possible criminal penalties. --Audits. Phase I and Phase II
awards are subject to Federal audit as specified in the applicable Grant Terms
and Conditions. --Changes in Principal Investigator, Organization, or Research
Institution Investigator Status. Any changes of the PI or Research Institution
Investigator must be requested in writing 30 days prior to when the awardee
wants the change to become effective (except in extraordinary circumstances,
such as the death of the PI) and must be approved in writing by the Grants
Officer. These changes must be acceptable to the STTR program and then can be
approved in writing by the NSF Grants Officer. Address all requests to STTR
Program Manager, Room 590, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard,
Arlington, VA 22230. --The STTR Program must be notified promptly if there is
any change in the name or address of the business concern, if the concern no
longer qualifies as a small business, or if the Research Institution
Investigator changes. Significant changes in the financial capability or
structure of the awardee small business concern that could have a material
effect on the awardee's performance under the award must also be reported.
--This Program Solicitation is Intended for Informational Purposes and
Reflects Current Planning. If there is any inconsistency between the
information contained herein and the terms of any resulting STTR grant, the
terms of the grant are controlling. 8. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS 8.1. Deadline
for Proposals Deadline for receipt (10 copies) at the National Science
Foundation is 5:00 p.m., EST, December 14, 1998. Proposals which do not meet
the deadline or that do not adhere to other requirements of this solicitation
will be returned to the proposer without further consideration. Evaluation and
processing will require about four (4) months for completion. No information
on proposal status will be available until formal notification is made
(approximately June 1999). 8.2 Proposal Submission Proposals (10 copies)
should be addressed to: Proposal Processing Unit, Room P1-60 NSF Solicitation
No. 98-29 4201 Wilson Blvd. Arlington VA 22230 ATTN: STTR A. Packaging--Secure
packaging is mandatory. The Foundation cannot be responsible for the
processing of proposals damaged in transit. All 10 copies of a proposal shall
be sent in the same package. Do not send separate "information" copies or
several packages containing parts of a single proposal. The Principal
Investigator and the corporate official must sign one copy as an original. The
other copies of the proposal need only contain copies of the original
signatures. B. Bindings and Covers--Do not use any special binding or cover.
Staple the pages in the upper left-hand corner of the cover sheet of each
proposal. 9. PHASE II 9.1. Eligibility Only those NSF Phase I grantees who
successfully complete their awards and submit acceptable Phase I Final Reports
are eligible to submit Phase II proposals to NSF. Instructions for submittal
of Phase II proposals will be provided to all Phase I awardees. All Phase II
awards are contingent on the availability of STTR funds. The budget request
and period of performance in Phase II should depend upon the scope of research
proposed, but will not normally exceed 24 months and $450,000. It is estimated
that approximately one-third of the Phase I awardees will receive Phase II
grants depending upon availability of funds. 9.2. Phase II Criteria In
evaluation of Phase II proposals, approximately equal consideration will be
given to the following criteria: Following each criterion are potential
considerations that the reviewer may employ in the evaluation of STTR
proposals. (1) What is the merit of the proposed activity? Degree to which the
Phase I objectives were met (from Phase I Final Report). How well conceived is
the proposed cooperative research activity? Is the Phase II cooperative
research plan a sound approach for attaining a laboratory prototype or
equivalent for Phase III product development and commercialization? How well
qualified is the team (small business concern and university or other
Federally funded research and development center) to conduct the STTR project?
If appropriate, the reviewer will comment on the success of prior work to
commercialize technology. To what extent does the proposed activity suggest
and explore unique or ingenious concepts or applications? Is there sufficient
access to resources? (2) What are the broader impacts of the proposed
activity? What may be the commercial, societal or scientific research
instrumentation benefits of the proposed activity? Can the proposed
cooperative work lead to a marketable product or process? What is the
potential of the proposed concept for commercial applications as evidenced by:
(a) the small business's record of commercializing research; (b) the existence
of acceptable second-phase funding commitments from private sector or non-STTR
funding sources; (c) the existence of acceptable third-phase follow-on funding
commitments for the subject of the research, and; (d) the presence of other
indicators of commercial potential of the idea. How well does the proposed
activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender,
ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)? In the case of proposals of
otherwise approximately equal merit, the provision of the Phase III follow-on
funding commitments will be an important consideration. Resubmission of a
declined Phase II proposal is not permitted. 9.3 Annual Commercialization
Report Phase II awardees are required to provide an annual commercialization
report over the award period, and they may be asked to continue reporting
commercial results for five years after the award period. The report would
include the amount and type of continuing investment obtained to pursue
commercialization and any products, sales, royalties, patents or spin-offs
attributable to the STTR project. The purpose of this report is to help
monitor the extent of commercial application derived from STTR-supported
research. The STTR Program Manager will provide specific instructions. 10.
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION SOURCES Proposers may want to obtain
scientific and technical information related to their proposed effort as
background or for other purposes. Literature searches, abstracts,
publications, and the names of potential consultants in the specific research
area may be obtained at good technical libraries, some state organizations,
and also from the organizations listed below. Documents should be ordered soon
after receipt of a solicitation as it may take some time to acquire them. To
obtain this service or additional information, contact any of the following
organizations. National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) 316 Washington
Avenue Duvall Center Wheeling, WV 26003 1-800-678-6882 National Technical
Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 (703) 487-4600
1-800-553-6847 NASA Technology Transfer Centers:

Center for Technology Commercialization, Inc.
Massachusetts Technology Park
100 North Drive
Westborough, MA 01581
(508) 870-0042
Great Lakes Industrial Technology Center
Battelle Memorial Institute
25000 Great Northern Corporate Center, Suite 260
Cleveland, OH 44070-5310
(216) 734-0094
The Mid-Atlantic Technology Applications Center
823 William Pitt Union
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
1-800-257-2725
NASA Far West Regional Technology Transfer Center
3716 S. Hope Street, Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90007
CA Only (800) 642-2872
Others: 1-800-872-7477
NASA Mid-Continent Technology Transfer Center
Texas A & M University System
237 Wisenbaker Engineering Research Center
College Station, TX 77843-8000
(409) 845-8762
1-800-472-6785
NASA/Southern Technology Applications Center
University of Florida
College of Engineering
1 Progress Boulevard, Box 24
Alachua, FL 32615
1-800-472-6785
NERAC
1 Technology Drive
Tolland, CT 06084
(203) 872-7000
Knight-Ridder Information
1-800-334-2564
Chemical Abstract Service
STN International
1-800-753-4227
11. RESEARCH TOPIC DESCRIPTIONS
1. NANOTECHNOLOGY
The focus of this solicitation topic is on technology that arises from the
exploitation of physical, chemical and biological properties of systems that
are intermediate in size between isolated atoms/molecules and bulk materials
(1-100 nm), where phenomena length scales become comparable to the size of the
structure. The development of new experimental, modeling and simulation tools
at the "nano" scale provides fresh opportunities for scientific and
technological developments in nanoparticles, nanostructured materials and
nanodevices.

This solicitation topic encourages interactive small firm-university team
approaches to innovative development in order to generate electronic, chemical
and optical devices, creation of bio-templates and sensors, "smart" materials
and films, self-assembly techniques, and fabrication techniques for
nanostructured materials, nanocomponents and nanodevices with unusual
properties. Areas of emphasis include:

* Synthesis/fabrication of nanostructures (1-100 nm) with tailored properties
to be used for building up functional nanostructures.

* Processing/conversion of molecules and nano-precursors into functional
nanostructures, nanostructured materials, nanocomponents and nanodevices,
including sensors.

* Physical, mathematical, chemical and biological modeling and simulation
techniques in the nanoscale range (about 1-100 nm).

* Development of instrumentation based on new principles for probing
properties and phenomena not well understood at the nanometer scale. We seek
step-changes in advancing nanotechnology development, not small incremental
improvements. Preference will be given to proposals that address real user
needs with products, processes or devices that users are likely to accept.
Prospective applicants are encouraged to discuss the appropriateness of their
proposal, prior to submission, with the Division of Chemical and Transport
Systems contact: Dr. Mike Roco, (703) 306-1370 or e-mail: mroco@nsf gov.
Questions related to the STTR Program should be directed to: Darryl Gorman,
STTR Program Manager, (703) 306-1391 or e-mail: dgorman @ nsf.gov.

2. SENSORS FOR HARSH ENVIRONMENTS

There is a variety of unavoidable harsh environment engineering applications
for sensors. Real-time monitoring and control of important key parameters is
often crucial in such environments. These harsh environments include extreme
physical conditions, such as high-temperature, high-pressure, corrosion,
toxicity, electromagnetic interference and high-energy radiation. Conventional
sensors may not perform adequately in such environments. This topic provides
an opportunity for innovative small firm-university teams to produce
commercially feasible products, processes and devices that perform well under
the stresses of harsh environmental conditions. Areas of emphasis include:
* new sensing mechanisms for harsh environment applications;
* mechanical, optical and optoelectronic components that are resistant to
harsh environmental conditions;
* advanced sensor packaging techniques;
* sensor instrumentation systems;
* high-temperature resistant electronic components and circuitry;
* extreme physical condition simulators for sensor testing.
We seek step changes in advancing sensor development, not small incremental
advances. Preference will be given to proposals that address real user needs
with products processes or devices that real users are likely to accept.
Prospective applicants are encouraged to discuss the appropriateness of their
proposal, prior to submission, with the Division of Electrical and
Communications Systems contact: Dr. Usha Varshney, (703) 306-1339 or e-mail:
uvarshne@nsf gov. Questions related to the STTR Program should be directed to:
Darryl Gorman, STTR Program Manager, (703) 306-1391 or e-mail: dgorman @
nsf.gov

<big>12. MODEL AGREEMENT</big>
<big>
MODEL AGREEMENT</big>
<big>SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM</big> <big>ALLOCATION
</big>

<big>OF RIGHTS IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND</big> <big>RIGHTS TO CARRY OUT
</big>

<big>FOLLOW-ON RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT,</big> <big>OR COMMERCIALIZATION</big>

This Agreement between
___________________________________________________________, a small business
concern organized as a__________________________________under the laws of
_________________ and having a principal place of business
at____________________________________________________________, ("SBC") and
__________________________________________________________, a research
institution having a principal place of business at
________________________________________, ("RI") is entered into for the
purpose of allocating between the parties certain rights relating to an STTR
project to be carried out by SBC and RI (hereinafter referred to as the
"PARTIES") under an STTR funding agreement that may be awarded by the National
Science Foundation (NSF) to SBC to fund a proposal entitled
"__________________________________________________
______________________________________________"submitted, or to be submitted,
to NSF by SBC on or about ________________, 199__.

1. Applicability of this Agreement.
(a) This Agreement shall be applicable only to matters relating to the STTR
project referred to in the preamble above.

(b) If a funding agreement for an STTR project is awarded to an SBC based upon
the STTR proposal referred to in the preamble above, SBC will promptly provide
a copy of such funding agreement to RI, and SBC will make a subaward to RI in
accordance with the funding agreement, the proposal, and this Agreement. If
the terms of such funding agreement appear to be inconsistent with the
provisions of this Agreement, the Parties will attempt in good faith to
resolve any such inconsistencies. However, if such resolution is not achieved
within a reasonable period, SBC shall not be obligated to award nor RI to
accept the subaward. If a subaward is made by SBC and accepted by RI, this
Agreement shall not be applicable to contradict the terms of such subaward or
of the funding agreement awarded by NSF to SBC except on the grounds of fraud,
misrepresentation, or mistake, but shall be considered to resolve ambiguities
in the terms of the subaward.

(c) The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to any and all consultants,
subcontractors, independent contractors, or other individuals employed by SBC
or RI for the purposes of this STTR project.

2. Background Intellectual Property.
(a) "Background Intellectual Property" means property and the legal right
therein of either or both parties developed before or independent of this
Agreement including inventions, patent applications, patents, copyrights,
trademarks, mask works, trade secrets and any information embodying
proprietary data such as technical data and computer software.

(b) This Agreement shall not be construed as implying that either party hereto
shall have the right to use Background Intellectual Property of the other in
connection with this STTR project except as otherwise provided hereunder.

(1) The following Background Intellectual Property of SBC may be used
nonexclusively and, except as noted, without compensation by RI in connection
with research or development activities for this STTR project (if "none" so
state):____________________________________________________________________________________;

(2) The following Background Intellectual Property of RI may be used
nonexclusively and, except as noted, without compensation by SBC in connection
with research or development activities for this STTR project (if "none" so
state):
__________________________________________________________________________________________;

(3) The following Background Intellectual Property of RI may be used by SBC
nonexclusively in connection with commercialization of the results of this
STTR project, to the extent that such use is reasonably necessary for
practical, efficient and competitive commercialization of such results but not
for commercialization independent of the commercialization of such results
upon the condition that SBC pay to RI, in addition to any other royalty
including any royalty specified in the following list, a royalty of __% of net
sales or leases made by or under the authority of SBC of any product or
service that embodies, or the manufacture or normal use of which entails the
use of, all or any part of such Background Intellectual Property (if "none" so
state): ___________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________.
3. Project Intellectual Property.
(a) "Project Intellectual Property" means the legal rights relating to
inventions (including Subject Inventions as defined in 37 CFR § 401), patent
applications, patents, copyrights, trademarks, mask works, trade secrets and
any other legally protectable information, including computer software, first
made or generated during the performance of this STTR Agreement.

(b) Except as otherwise provided herein, ownership of Project Intellectual
Property shall vest in the party whose personnel conceived the subject matter
or first actually reduced the subject matter to practice, and such party may
perfect legal protection therein in its own name and at its own expense.
Jointly made or generated Project Intellectual Property shall be jointly owned
by the Parties unless otherwise agreed in writing. The SBC shall have the
first option to perfect the rights in jointly made or generated Project
Intellectual Property unless otherwise agreed in writing.

(1) The ownership, including rights to any revenues and profits, resulting
from any product, process, or other innovation or invention based on the
cooperative shall be allocated between the SBC and the RI as follows: SBC
Percent: ________ RI Percent:

(2) Expenses and other liabilities associated with the development and
marketing of any product, process, or other innovation or invention shall be
allocated as follows: the SBC will be responsible for ___ percent and the RI
will be responsible for ___ percent.

(c) The Parties agree to disclose to each other, in writing, each and every
Subject Invention, which may be patentable or otherwise protectable under the
United States patent laws in Title 35, United States Code. The Parties
acknowledge that they will disclose Subject Inventions to each other and the
awarding agency within ______ months after their respective inventor(s) first
disclose the invention in writing to the person(s) responsible for patent
matters of the disclosing Party. All written disclosures of such inventions
shall contain sufficient detail of the invention, identification of any
statutory bars, and shall be marked confidential, in accordance with 35 U.S.C.
§205.

(d) Each party hereto may use Project Intellectual Property of the other
nonexclusively and without compensation in connection with research or
development activities for this STTR project, including inclusion in STTR
project reports to the NSF and proposals to the NSF for continued funding of
this STTR project through additional phases.

(e) In addition to the Government's rights under the Patent Rights clause of
37 CFR § 401.14, the Parties agree that the Government shall have an
irrevocable, royalty free, nonexclusive license for any governmental purpose
in any Project Intellectual Property.

(f) SBC will have an option to commercialize the Project Intellectual Property
of RI, subject to any rights of the Government therein, as follows--

1) Where Project Intellectual Property of RI is a potentially patentable
invention, SBC will have an exclusive option for a license to such invention,
for an initial option period of __ months after such invention has been
reported to SBC. SBC may, at its election and subject to the patent expense
reimbursement provisions of this section, extend such option for an additional
__ months by giving written notice of such election to RI prior to the
expiration of the initial option period. During the period of such option
following notice by SBC of election to extend, RI will pursue and maintain any
patent protection for the invention requested in writing by SBC and, except
with the written consent of SBC or upon the failure of SBC to reimburse
patenting expenses as required under this section, will not voluntarily
discontinue the pursuit and maintenance of any United States patent protection
for the invention initiated by RI or of any patent protection requested by
SBC. For any invention for which SBC gives notice of its election to extend
the option, SBC will, within ___ days after invoice, reimburse RI for the
expenses incurred by RI prior to expiration or termination of the option
period in pursuing and maintaining (i) any United States patent protection
initiated by RI and (ii) any patent protection requested by SBC. SBC may
terminate such option at will by giving written notice to RI, in which case
further accrual of reimbursable patenting expenses hereunder, other than prior
commitments not practically revocable, will cease upon RI's receipt of such
notice. At any time prior to the expiration or termination of an option, SBC
may exercise such option by giving written notice to RI, whereupon the parties
will promptly and in good faith enter into negotiations for a license under
RI's patent rights in the invention for SBC to make, use and/or sell products
and/or services that embody, or the development, manufacture and/or use of
which involves employment of the invention. The terms of such license will
include: (i) payment of reasonable royalties to RI on sales of products or
services which embody, or the development, manufacture or use of which
involves employment of, the invention; (ii) reimbursement by SBC of expenses
incurred by RI in seeking and maintaining patent protection for the invention
in countries covered by the license (which reimbursement, as well as any such
patent expenses incurred directly by SBC with RI's authorization, insofar as
deriving from RI's interest in such invention, may be offset in full against
up to of accrued royalties in excess of any minimum royalties due RI); and, in
the case of an exclusive license, (iii) reasonable commercialization
milestones and/or minimum royalties.

(2) Where Project Intellectual Property of RI is other than a potentially
patentable invention, SBC will have an exclusive option for a license, for an
option period extending until months following completion of RI's performance
of that phase of this STTR project in which such Project Intellectual Property
of RI was developed by RI. SBC may exercise such option by giving written
notice to RI, whereupon the parties will promptly and in good faith enter into
negotiations for a license under RI's interest in the subject matter for SBC
to make, use and/or sell products or services which embody, or the
development, manufacture and/or use of which involve employment of, such
Project Intellectual Property of RI. The terms of such license will include:
(i) payment of reasonable royalties to RI on sales of products or services
that embody, or the development, manufacture or use of which involves
employment of, the Project Intellectual Property of RI and, in the case of an
exclusive license, (ii) reasonable commercialization milestones and/or minimum
royalties.

(3) Where more than one royalty might otherwise be due in respect of any unit
of product or service under a license pursuant to this Agreement, the parties
shall in good faith negotiate to ameliorate any effect thereof that would
threaten the commercial viability of the affected products or services by
providing in such license(s) for a reasonable discount or cap on total
royalties due in respect of any such unit.

4. Follow-on Research or Development.
All follow-on work, including any licenses, contracts, subcontracts,
sublicenses or arrangements of any type, shall contain appropriate provisions
to implement the Project Intellectual Property rights provisions of this
agreement and insure that the Parties and the Government obtain and retain
such rights granted herein in all future resulting research, development, or
commercialization work.

5. Confidentiality/Publication.
(a) Background Intellectual Property and Project Intellectual Property of a
party, as well as other proprietary or confidential information of a party,
disclosed by that party to the other in connection with this STTR project
shall be received and held in confidence by the receiving party and, except
with the consent of the disclosing party or as permitted under this Agreement,
neither used by the receiving party nor disclosed by the receiving party to
others, provided that the receiving party has notice that such information is
regarded by the disclosing party as proprietary or confidential. However,
these confidentiality obligations shall not apply to use or disclosure by the
receiving party after such information is or becomes known to the public
without breach of this provision or is or becomes known to the receiving party
from a source reasonably believed to be independent of the disclosing party or
is developed by or for the receiving party independently of its disclosure by
the disclosing party.

(b) Subject to the terms of paragraph (a) above, either party may publish its
results from this STTR project. However, the publishing party will negotiate
the right of refusal with the other party with respect to a proposed
publication, as well as a day period in which to review proposed publications
and submit comments, which will be given full consideration before
publication. Furthermore, upon request of the reviewing party, publication
will be deferred for up to additional days for preparation and filing of a
patent application which the reviewing party has the right to file or to have
filed at its request by the publishing party.

6. Liability.
(a) Each party disclaims all warranties running to the other or through the
other to third parties, whether express or implied, including without
limitation warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose,
and freedom from infringement, as to any information, result, design,
prototype, product or process deriving directly or indirectly and in whole or
part from such party in connection with this STTR project.

(b) SBC will indemnify and hold harmless RI with regard to any claims arising
in connection with commercialization of the results of this STTR project by or
under the authority of SBC. The PARTIES will indemnify and hold harmless the
Government with regard to any claims arising in connection with
commercialization of the results of this STTR project.

7. Termination.
(a) This agreement may be terminated by either Party upon____ days written
notice to the other Party. This agreement may also be terminated by either
Party in the event of the failure of the other Party to comply with the terms
of this agreement.

(b) In the event of termination by either Party, each Party shall be
responsible for its share of the costs incurred through the effective date of
termination, as well as its share of the costs incurred after the effective
date of termination, and which are related to the termination. The
confidentiality, use, and/or non-disclosure obligations of this agreement
shall survive any termination of this agreement.

AGREED TO AND ACCEPTED--
Small Business Concern
By: _________________________________________________Date: _____________
Print name: _____________________________________________________________
Title: __________________________________________________________________
Research Institution
By: _________________________________________________ Date: ____________
Print name: _____________________________________________________________
Title: __________________________________________________________________
NSF 98-153
(Replaces NSF 98-29)
OMB #3145-0058
PT: 34
KW: 0901043; 1003008; 1009000; 1014001; 0605000; 1013018