A Lesson In...
SBIR/STTR
Congress established the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program in 1982 to provide increased opportunities for small businesses to participate in R&D, increase employment and improve U.S. competitiveness.
The program’s specific objectives are to stimulate U.S. technological innovation, use small businesses to meet federal research-and-development (R&D) needs, increase private-sector commercialization of innovations derived from federal R&D, and foster and encourage
participation by socially disadvantaged businesses. Legislation enacted in 2000 extended and strengthened the SBIR program
and increased its emphasis on pursuing commercial
applications of SBIR project results. The Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program awards contracts to small-business concerns (SBC) for cooperative research and development with a nonprofit research institution, such as a university. The goal of Congress in establishing the STTR program is to facilitate the transfer of technology developed by a research institution through the entrepreneurship of a small business. The small business and its partnering institution are required to sign an agreement detailing how they will share intellectual property. Modeled after the SBIR program, with the same basic requirements and phased funding structure, the STTR program is nevertheless a separate activity and is separately funded.
The STTR program is smaller than the SBIR program. The funding set-aside is 0.3 percent of the extramural R&D budget, approximately one-twentieth of the amount for SBIR. The small company must take the research and intellectual property of the research institution and convert it into a useful product. In comparison to the SBIR program, twice as much time is allowed for Phase I, and Phase II lasts two years. Also, although the proposal is still submitted by the SBC, at least 30 percent of the funding and work must originate with the research institution, while only a minimum of 40 percent must come from the SBC. Phase I STTR projects receive up to $100,000 for a one-year effort. The maximum contract value for STTR Phase II is increasing from $500,000 to $600,000 as of the 2003 solicitation.
The STTR program solicitation research areas correspond to the central underlying technological competencies of each participating NASA Center. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) does not participate in the management of the STTR program.
For more information, please visit the SBIR/STTR Web site at http://sbir.gsfc.nasa.gov/SBIR/SBIR.html.
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