National Institute of Standards and Technology | New Mexico State University

Mission

NIST is one of the twelve federal departments that participates in the SBIR program.

Under the program, NIST funds research that falls within their mission and allows collaboration between NIST scientists and the SBIR awardees whenever possible, and funds projects that respond to current NIST technical program area research needs, including areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Advanced Manufacturing. In addition to reviewing their research areas, NIST also recommends that small businesses review the NIST Research Library and the NIST technology listings on the Federal Laboratory Consortium website.

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Mechanics of the Program

Under the SBIR program, NIST will fund Phase I projects to determine the technical feasibility of the research, preliminary commercialization merit of the proposed effort, and the quality of the awardee’s performance. Phase I funding is limited to $100,000 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 $400,000 for 24 months of work, and is intended as the R&D or prototype development phase.

Requirements

In addition to the standard SBA requirements, small businesses must also register with grants.gov to submit a proposal package. You can find out more about this process via our YouTube video on registration requirements.

Additional Funding

NIST holds Congressional authority to establish a Commercialization Readiness Program (CRP). NIST may provide follow-on funding (up to an additional $100,000) to selected awardees after completion of Phase II. The funding would be used to further develop Phase II technologies, to support advancement toward Phase III, and to increase the likelihood of commercialization.

Additionally, awardees are always encouraged to seek other funding mechanisms to transition their work into a Phase III.

Resources

For a full listing of agency resources and NM FAST resources, relevant to an SBIR submission to NIST, please visit this link:

NIST Resources ▸

The NM FAST program is funded in part

by the U.S. Small Business Administration

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Mission

Mechanics of the Program

Requirements

Additional Funding

Resources

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