Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Phase II | 2024 NIST SBIR 02

Opportunity Information: Apply for 2024 NIST SBIR 02

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is offering a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Phase II funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number: 2024 NIST SBIR 02; CFDA: 11.620) to support continued research and development for projects that already received a NIST SBIR Phase I award in Fiscal Year 2023. This Phase II competition is designed to help those prior Phase I awardees move beyond early feasibility work and push their technology toward a viable product or service that can realistically be launched into the commercial marketplace. In other words, it is a continuation path for successful Phase I efforts, focused on development, maturation, and commercialization readiness rather than exploratory proof-of-concept alone.

The opportunity is a discretionary federal program using a cooperative agreement as the funding instrument, which generally means the agency may expect more substantial involvement during the project compared with a standard grant (for example, coordination, technical engagement, or other forms of federal participation typical of cooperative agreements). The funding activity category is listed as science and technology and other research and development, aligning the program with applied R&D that can translate into market-facing outcomes.

Eligibility is restricted and specific: only previous FY 2023 NIST SBIR Phase I award recipients may apply for Phase II under this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). The applicant organization must meet the definition of a Small Business Concern for research/research and development (R/R&D) purposes as described in Section 1.05 of the NOFO, and it must meet that status at the time of award. A key personnel requirement also applies to the principal investigator (PI). The PI must have their primary employment with the small business at the time of award and throughout the period the proposed research is conducted. The NOFO defines "primary employment" as the PI spending more than half of their working time with the small business, and it explicitly notes that this arrangement rules out full-time employment with another organization during the award period. Practically speaking, applicants need to plan staffing so the PI role is clearly anchored in the small business and documented in a way that matches the program definition.

In terms of timing and basic administrative details, the opportunity was created on April 1, 2024, and the original application closing date is May 30, 2024. The agency is NIST, and the listed eligible applicant type in the source data is "Others," but the narrative eligibility language makes clear that the intended applicants are qualifying small businesses that previously received the specified NIST SBIR Phase I awards. Some typical funding details that are often included in federal notices (such as award ceiling and expected number of awards) are not provided in the source data excerpt, so applicants would need to consult the full NOFO for budget limits, period of performance, technical topic alignment, required deliverables, cost share expectations (if any), and evaluation criteria.

Overall, this Phase II SBIR opportunity is best understood as NISTs mechanism for taking a vetted Phase I concept and funding the next stage of development so the company can strengthen the technology, reduce technical risk, and position the outcome as something that can be commercialized. It places particular emphasis on the applicants continuing to qualify as an SBIR-eligible small business and on ensuring the principal investigator is genuinely embedded in the company and leading the work as their primary professional commitment.

• The National Institute of Standards and Technology in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Phase II" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.620.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-04-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-05-30. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for 2024 NIST SBIR 02

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