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ips Juan E. Figueroa

Program Director Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships

(IIP)National Science Foundation

“Winning SBIR/STTR Proposals

from the National Science Foundation”

DOD SBIR/STTRHHS SBIR/STTRNASA SBIR/STTRDOE SBIR/STTRNSF SBIR/STTR >$110 MDHS SBIR USDA SBIRDOC SBIRED SBIREPA SBIRDOT SBIR

SBIR / STTR Participating Agencies

TOTAL ~ $2.2 B Est. FY 2008

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Directorate for Engineering

Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation

(EFRI)Sohi Rastegar

Chemical, Bioengineering,Environmental, and Transport

Systems(CBET)

John McGrath

Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing

Innovation(CMMI)

Steven McKnight

Electrical, Communications,

and Cyber Systems(ECCS)

Robert Trew

EngineeringEducation and

Centers(EEC)

Theresa Maldonado

IndustrialInnovation andPartnerships

(IIP)Don Senich

(Acting)

Office of the Assistant DirectorThomas Peterson

Deputy Assistant DirectorKesh Narayanan

Senior Advisor forNanotechnology

Mihail Roco

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Innovation ClusterCheryl Albus

Grant Opportunitiesfor AcademicLiaison with

IndustryDonald Senich

Small Business PartnershipsJoe Hennessey

Division DirectorDonald Senich (Acting)

AAAS Fellow Reeshemah

Burrell

Academic PartnershipsDonald Senich

Einstein FellowsRobert Pauley

Mark Supal

Operations Specialist

Greg Misiorek

ProgramSupport Manager

Amanda MayIndustry/University

CooperativeResearch CentersRathindra DasGupta

Larry Hornak

Partnerships for Innovation (PFI)

Sara Nerlove

Accelerating Innovation Research (AIR) Karlene Hoo

Industrial Innovation and Partnerships

I-CorpsE. Arkilic, R. DasGupta,

R. Voyles (CISE)

Nanotechnology, Advanced Material & Manufacturing (NM)

Ben Schrag, Grace Wang

Biological and Chemical Technology (BC)

Prakash Balan, Ruth Shuman,

Electronics, Information & Communication Technology (EI)

Juan Figueroa, Murali Nair

Education Applications (EA)

Glenn Larsen

Experts/Special Topics

George Vermont

AnalystsAlex Schwarzkopf,

Kevin Simmons

National Science Foundation SBIR/STTR Program

National Science Foundation Mission

To promote the progress of science; to advance the national health,

prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense

Primary Objective National Science Foundation SBIR/STTR

To increase the incentive and opportunity for small firms to

undertake cutting-edge, high risk, high quality scientific,

engineering, or science/engineering education research that

would have a high potential economic payoff if the research is

successful.

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IIP Vision & MissionVision - To be the pre-eminent federal resource driving the expansion of our nation’s innovation capacity by stimulating partnerships among industry, academe, investors, government and other stakeholders

Mission – IIP will enhance our nation’s economic competitiveness by catalyzing the transformation of discovery into societal benefits through stimulating partnerships and promoting learning environments for innovators

The SBIR/STTR ProgramSmall Business Innovation Development Act of 1982

Congress designated 4 major goals

Stimulate technological innovation in the private sector

Use small business to meet federal R&D needs

Foster and encourage participation by minorities and

disadvantaged persons in technological innovation

Increase private-sector commercialization innovations derived

from federal R&D

INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION PARTNERSHIPS

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NSF SBIR Culture/MantraResearch: Transformation of money into knowledge

Innovation: Transformation of knowledge into money

-Geoff Nicholson, 3M

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Non-Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Non-disclosure and General Conflict of Interest Proposals are proprietary - NDA Financial resources are deployed – COI

Declare actual and perceived “specific” conflicts Typical conflicts:

close friend or relative financial tie or direct competitor to the firm student or advisor relationship co-author of paper within past 48 months from subaward institution

If conflict, leave room during discussion of the proposal Turn in “specific” Conflict-of-Interest form

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Private Sector HandoffNSF – Discovery FOR InnovationIIP – Discovery TO Innovation

TechnologyMaturity Level

Market Penetration

Re$

ourc

esAv

aila

ble

Product Dev

GrowthPublic Sector

Private Sector

AcademicResearch

Basic Research

InitialCommercialization

Mature

Innovation/TranslationalResearch

INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION PARTNERSHIPS

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NSF SBIR Program Foundations

Great emphasis on Commercial Potential Innovation-Business proposals Not basic/fundamental research proposals No “idea” proposals

Deliverables Milestones

INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION PARTNERSHIPS

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Get to Rome (Private Sector)

Venture Capital Threshold

Angel Capital Threshold

Strategic Partners Threshold

NSFSBIR/STTRThreshold

Technology Risk

Market Risk

People RiskFinance Risk

FriendsAnd FamilyThreshold

Phase I

Phase II

Phase IIB

The Larger Context

Rule 1

When you go to a Federal agency asking for money, be sure your request

fits within the goals of the agency

Your Funding BaseNSF should not be the sole source of funding for your research Internal support State support Industry support Other Federal agency support

List the potential funding sources for your research area

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NSF is not the Final Customer

NSF is not buying your product/process or software or

your intellectual property

NSF wants to see you successfully commercialize your

high-tech research

You need investment $ beyond NSF SBIR

Doing Business with NSF

Funding Criteria Must be high-payback innovations involving high risk and

commercial potential

Demonstrate Strategic Partnerships with Research Collaborators, Customers and Equity Investors

We do NOT fund

Evolutionary optimization of existing products and processes or modifications to broaden the scope of an existing product, process or application

Analytical or “market” studies of technologies

DON’TsRush

Wait until last minute (1 month) to contact program directors

Make the proposed work (research and education) too broad

Make the proposed work too narrow

Scope it wrongly Too much work for the money asked Too much money for work to be done Outside the expectations of the program

Ignore rules (Grant Proposal Guide) and misc. items

Proposal BasicsWrite to the reviewers (not to Program Officer and not to yourself)Your proposal will be judged by the reviewersReviewers want to know four things:

What is it about (the research objective)? How will you do it (the technical approach)? Can you do it (you and your facilities)? Is it worth doing (intellectual merit and broader

impact)?

This is, basically, all the proposal needs to convey – but it needs to convey this

Follow the NSF Guidelines

Proposal & Award Policies &

Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Grant Proposal Guide (GPG)

Grants.gov Application Guide

Program Solicitation

Budget guidelines

Grant Proposal Guide (GPG)Provides guidance for preparation and submission of proposals to NSF;

Allowable fonts, margins, page limits, bio format, etc. Process for deviations from the GPG Process and criteria by which proposals will be reviewed Reasons why a proposal may be returned without review Reconsideration process Process for withdrawals, returns & declinations Award process and procedures for requesting continued

support Budget line item definitions Process for submission of collaborative proposals

(subawards and multiple proposals)

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SBIR/STTR Home Page

Juan E. Figueroa

jfiguero@nsf.gov

http://www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/sbir/