Under the SBIR program, DOT will fund Phase I projects that seek to establish the technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of the proposal. Phase I funding is limited to $150,000 for 6 months of work, and if the project is successful, you can apply for Phase II funding. Phase II project funding is limited to $1,000,000 for 24 months of work, and is largely designed to develop and commercialize the Phase I technologies.
DOT also has a portal for recommending a topic area. If a small businesses is working on an idea that is germain to the DOT mission, and is not included in their current (or latest) round of topic areas, one can fill out an online form about the idea and why it aligns with DOT priorities. If the proposed research area is relevant to DOT and its mission, critical agency requirements, uniqueness of the research topic, and other programmatic priorities, then the topic might be selected for inclusion in the next solicitation.
Additionally, DOT allows for technical and administrative questions to be submitted for a short period between solicitation opening and closing. As the actual dates will be determined at the time of solicitation issue, offerors should pay close attention to this annually updated information. Questions are limited to technical information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic’s requirements, and any questions or inquiries seeking advice or guidance on a solution approach are unacceptable and will not receive a response.
DOT carries no additional requirements for SBIR eligibility beyond the SBA requirements. A small business must submit the proposal through the DOT SBIR submisssion portal https://hostedsites.volpe.dot.gov/SBIR/SubmitProposal.aspx. This portal requires no registrations though, as it is simply a package upload mechanism. When a proposal is successfully received an automated email is sent by the system. You can find out more about this process via our YouTube video on registration requirements.
