Frequently Asked Questions: Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

A submission under this BAA consists of a mandatory White Paper and, if invited, a mandatory Pre-negotiation Process. Only those applicants invited to submit a Pre-negotiation Package (after the submission of a White Paper) may submit a Pre-negotiation Package.

White Papers will only be accepted through Grants.gov. Please note that an active SAM.gov registration is required to submit application materials through Grants.gov. 

Applicant organizations may submit more than one White Paper, provided that each White Paper represents a technically distinct project. CRDO will not accept duplicate or overlapping White Papers from a single organization.

Applicant organizations that will be submitting multiple white papers must make separate submissions for each white paper. Applicants must follow all requirements in this document, including naming conventions, for each submission. Applicants should not deviate from these instructions when submitting multiple distinct White Papers.

White Papers are required. Only those applicants invited to submit a Pre-negotiation Package (after the submission of a White Paper) may submit a Pre-negotiation Package.  Pre-negotiation Packages submitted in the absence of a specific invitation will not be reviewed or evaluated in any way.

Submissions will be accepted until September 30, 2029, unless the BAA is amended to add an earlier closing date. All submissions will be considered on a rolling basis as they are received.

Before the end of October 2025, CRDO will host an informational webinar to provide general information regarding this BAA, offer general guidance on preparing White Papers and if invited, Pre-negotiation Packages, and answer questions submitted in advance. Proprietary technical discussions about specific project ideas will not be permitted during the webinar. However, questions about this funding opportunity, eligibility requirements, evaluation and award criteria, selection process, and the general characteristics of a meritorious application will be addressed during the webinar and by e-mail for inquiries sent to research [at] chips.gov (research[at]chips[dot]gov) with “2025-NIST-CHIPS-CRDO-01 Questions” in the subject line. 

There is no cost to attend the webinar, but participants must register in advance. Participation in the webinar is not required and will not be considered in the review and selection process. Additional information can be found at http://www.nist.gov/chips/crdo-broad-agency-announcement-baa as it becomes available.

After the review of a White Paper, CRDO may provide technical feedback and request resubmission of White Papers.

This funding opportunity will result in the award of other transaction agreements, in accordance with 15 U.S.C. § 4659(a)(1).

The number of awards is contingent upon the availability of funds and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious proposals. Project budgets should be at least $10 million and need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. All funding considerations are based on the availability of funds.

Cost sharing, as defined in 2 CFR § 200.1, is not required for all awards made under this BAA. However, CRDO may choose to fund only a portion of a project’s total costs, contingent on the recipient demonstrating it has access to sufficient funding to complete the project.

As a condition of receiving an award, applicants may be required to issue to the Department equity, warrants, licenses to intellectual property, royalties or revenue sharing, or other such instruments to ensure a return on investment to the Government.

Eligible applicants are for-profit organizations; non-profit organizations; accredited institutions of higher education; Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), and Federal entities (e.g., Federal departments and agencies – see Section III.3). Eligible applicants must be a domestic entity. Individuals and unincorporated sole proprietors are not eligible to receive funding under this BAA. Eligible subawardees include all eligible applicants as well as foreign partners not otherwise prohibited (e.g., foreign adversaries), subject to compliance with specific requirements (see Section VI). CRDO strongly recommends that Federal entities and FFRDCs seeking to respond to this BAA as an applicant first contact the CRDO POC to discuss eligibility; in areas of mutual interest, alternative funding mechanisms may be pursued independent of this BAA.

For the purposes of this BAA, a domestic entity is an entity (a) organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States and (b) having a principal place of business in the United States. The principal place of business generally means the place where an entity’s officers direct, control, and coordinate the entity’s activities. A foreign adversary cannot be considered a domestic entity.

On Wednesday, October 8, 2025, at 2 PM ET, the CHIPS R&D Office (CRDO) will host a pre-recorded, virtual webinar regarding the recently released Broad Agency Announcement. Registration and additional information can be found online here.

This informational webinar will provide general information regarding the CRDO Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) published on September 24, 2025. It will offer general guidance on preparing White Papers and if invited, Pre-negotiation Packages, and answer questions submitted in advance. Proprietary technical discussions about specific project ideas will not be permitted during the webinar. There is no cost to attend the webinar, but participants must register in advance. Participation in the webinar is not required and will not be considered in the review and selection process.

Questions about this funding opportunity, eligibility requirements, evaluation and award criteria, selection process, and the general characteristics of a meritorious application will be addressed during the webinar. Inquiries should be sent by email to research [at] chips.gov (research[at]chips[dot]gov) with “2025-NIST-CHIPS-CRDO-01 Questions” in the subject line no later than October 2, 2025, in order to be addressed during the webinar, as time allows. Questions sent by email to research [at] chips.gov (research[at]chips[dot]gov) with “2025-NIST-CHIPS-CRDO-01 Questions” in the subject line after this date will be answered by email and added to the BAA Frequently Asked Questions page.

To request a meeting with CHIPS R&D staff, please submit a request via https://askchips.chips.gov/.

Questions about this BAA should be sent to research [at] chips.gov (research[at]chips[dot]gov) with “2025-NIST-CHIPS-CRDO-01 Questions” in the subject line.

For technical assistance with Grants.gov, email support [at] grants.gov (support[at]grants[dot]gov) or call 800-518-4726.