SBIR/STTR NEWS & INFORMATION
January 2007
1) DoD 2007.1 SBIR Solicitation Deadline Reminder
2) DOC NOAA FY07 SBIR Solicitation Deadline Reminder
3) NIH SBIR/STTR Requests for Applications
4) SBIR Proposal Writing Tip: Relevant Experience
5) Open & Upcoming Solicitations
The deadline for receipt of proposals in response to the Department of Defense (DoD) 2007.1 SBIR solicitation is 6:00 a.m. EST, January 10, 2007. As indicated on their website, “all SBIR Proposal Cover Sheets and Company Commercialization Reports must be prepared and submitted electronically through the DoD SBIR/STTR Electronic Submission Web Site http://www.dodsbir.net/submission/ , as described in Sections 3.0 and 6.0 of the program solicitation. For components requiring complete electronic submission, technical proposals must be uploaded through the Submission Website.”
The solicitation states that “Complete submission means that the entire proposal (including the following four (4) parts: coversheets, technical proposal, cost proposal, and Company Commercialization Report) has been properly completed and fully transmitted to the DoD Submission website. The solicitation deadline is firm. As the close date draws near, heavy traffic on the web server may cause delays. Plan ahead and leave ample time to prepare and submit your proposal. Offerors bear the risk of website inaccessibility due to heavy usage in the final hours before the solicitation closing time.”
The Solicitation was issued for public release on November 6, 2006, and is available at the DoD SBIR/STTR website at http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/, or the DoD SBIR/STTR Resource Center at http://www.dodsbir.net/ . If you have general questions regarding the solicitation or the DoD SBIR/STTR program, contact the Help Desk at http://www.dodsbir.net/helpdesk/ or 866-SBIRHLP (866-724-7457).
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2) DOC NOAA FY07 SBIR Solicitation Deadline Reminder
The deadline for receipt of proposals in response to the Department of Commerce (DOC) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 2007.1 SBIR solicitation is 4:00 p.m. EST, January 17, 2007. Note that this is the correct time. NOAA pointed out this clarification in an amendment on January 3, 2007, stating that “Section 10.0 NOAA/SBIR Checklist inadvertently states the time of receipt as Noon. Therefore, Section 10.0 is changed to read as follows: Six copies of the proposal must be received by 4:00 p.m. (EST) January 17, 2007.”
The Solicitation opened on October 6, 2006, and is available at the DOC NOAA SBIR website at http://www.oarhq.noaa.gov/ORTA/ . If you have general questions regarding the DOC NOAA SBIR program, contact Joseph Bishop at (301) 713-3565, or joseph.bishop@noaa.gov .
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3) NIH SBIR/STTR Requests for Applications
This page lists NIH SBIR/STTR-Relevant Program Announcements (PAs), RFAs, and Notices that are taken from the NIH Guide Electronic Repository of Special Announcements for Small Business Research Opportunities (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html).The title, announcement number, participating Institute(s), web address, and receipt date(s) of the RFAs appear below for your convenience:
Innovative Technologies for Molecular Analysis of Cancer (SBIR and STTR)
(RFA-CA-07-039 and RFA-CA-07-040, posted 1/5/07) National Cancer Institute http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CA-07-039.html and http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CA-07-040.html
Application Receipt Date(s): February 28, 2007; May 30, 2007; September 28, 2007
Application of Emerging Technology For Cancer Research (SBIR and STTR)
(RFA-CA-07-041 and RFA-CA-07-042, posted 1/5/07) National Cancer Institute http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CA-07-041.html and
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CA-07-042.html
Application Receipt Date(s): February 28, 2007; May 30, 2007; September 28, 2007
Innovations In Cancer Sample Preparation (SBIR and STTR)
(RFA-CA-07-043 and RFA-CA-07-044, posted 1/5/07) National Cancer Institute http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CA-07-043.html and
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CA-07-044.html
Application Receipt Date(s): February 28, 2007; May 30, 2007; September 28, 2007
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4) SBIR Proposal Writing Tip: Relevant Experience
Copyright© 2007 by Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc.
Most of the SBIR/STTR agencies require that you include in your Phase 1 proposal a section in which you describe relevant knowledge or experience. For example, the Dept of Defense’s FY07.1 solicitation requires section 4, “Related Work.” We find that many Phase 1 proposers misunderstand what the agency wants you to put into this section, so we will make it the topic of this proposal writing tip.
First, this section should describe briefly the experience of the proposing team that is relevant to the proposed project. The team includes anyone, either the employees or consultants or subcontractors. Highlighted should be the work performed by the Principal Investigator (PI), because you want to take this opportunity to help sell the reviewer on the appropriateness and qualifications of the PI for the proposed project.
Second, this section of your Phase 1 proposal is supposed to demonstrate to the reviewer that you know the state-of-the-art, or the significant contributions that others have made to this area. The reviewer does not want to support someone who is unaware of what others have done, because he/she wants you to learn from others experience and build on it (not to mention to avoid any pitfalls others have discovered).
As you write this section of your Phase 1 proposal, please take the following into consideration:
1. In describing your team’s relevant experience, make sure that there is an appropriate balance. If the entire section describes what your subcontractor has done and says nothing about your firm, then that suggests you are not qualified to lead this project (or perhaps make the reviewer worry that your small business is only a front for a subcontractor that itself does not qualify as an SBIR/STTR applicant). The ideal is to show that the bulk of the experience is within your small business, with the subcontractors and consultants supplementing your experience with other relevant work.
2. Within your firm’s relevant experience description, you want to call out specifically what your PI has done. The reviewer wants to know why the proposed PI is the right person for the project, and here is one (but not the only) opportunity to showcase the PI’s qualifications. Even if the PI acquired some of that experience with a previous employer or while they were still in grad school, it is appropriate to describe it as part of the PI/proposing firm’s experience.
3. Resist the temptation to over-describe the state-of-the-art. There’s probably some really fascinating and land-mark work that you want to include, and it is appropriate to do so, but avoid long-winded descriptions. The reviewer wants to read enough to know that you are up to speed and up to date on what others have done. They likely already know the state-of-the-art, and don’t need to read an elaborate explanation of it in your proposal.
4. Don’t be too narrow in your description of the state-of-the-art. Don’t just cover what others have done in the area of your proposed innovation, and don’t just cover what others have done to try to solve the problem you are working on -- you need to cover both. But isn’t this contradictory to #3 above? No, #3 says don’t go into great depth; here, we’re making sure that you offer adequate breadth.
Even when you do a good job writing the “related work” section of your proposal, you often risk falling into one final pothole: The reviewer may consider all that you have described in this section, and come to the conclusion that you have already done the Phase I project you are proposing to their agency. It may be very obvious to you what is different between the prior work and what you now propose to do, but it may not be so obvious to your reviewer. Therefore, please invest a paragraph explaining to the reviewer how the prior work you’ve done, and the state-of-the-art work others have done, is relevant to what you are proposing but is different from it. You must make clear that there are significant innovations proposed in the new work.
Gail and Jim Greenwood may be reached at the following address:
Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc.
1150 Junonia
Sanibel, FL 33957
(239) 395-9446 (voice & fax)
g-jgreenwood@att.net (email)
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5) Open & Upcoming Solicitations
SBIR - SOLICITATIONS CURRENTLY OPEN
ED 2007 Fast Track Phase I and II SBIR
Due January 8, 2007
http://www.fbo.gov/spg/ED/OCFO/CPO/ED%2D07%2DR%2D0003/Attachments.html
DoD 2007.1 SBIR Solicitation
Due January 10, 2007
http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir
DOC NOAA FY2007 SBIR
Due January 17, 2007
http://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/AGAMD/NOAA%2D2007%2D1/SynopsisP.html
STTR - UPCOMING
DoD 2007 STTR Solicitation
Expected on the Web January 22, 2007
http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir
DOT 2007 SBIR Solicitation
Expected February 15, 2007
http://www.volpe.dot.gov/sbir/