Commerce Department's Advanced Technology Program Seeks Proposals

The Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology today announced a new competition to support innovative industrial research projects under the Advanced Technology Program.

An estimated $20 million to $25 million in first-year funding will be available for ATP awards under this competition. All areas of technology are eligible in this competition.

In a departure from previous ATP competitions, interested companies may submit "abbreviated proposals" to NIST for consideration before submitting a fully detailed proposal. NIST will evaluate the abbreviated proposal to determine if it appears sufficiently promising to warrant the expense of preparing a full proposal and will send a "yes/no" recommendation to the applicant.

Individual U.S. businesses may apply for up to $2 million in ATP funding for projects over at most three years. Industry-led joint R&D; ventures may apply for ATP support for up to five years, provided that the ATP share is less than half of the project cost. The deadline for submitting abbreviated proposals is 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday, April 20, 1994.

The deadline for full proposals is 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday, June 22, 1994. Full details necessary to prepare abbreviated and full proposals are found in the formal announcements published today in the Federal Register and in the February 1994 edition of the ATP Proposal Preparation Kit.

NIST will host a public meeting at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, April 6, 1994, at the agency's headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., to provide general information on the competition and selection process to potential applicants who may be unfamiliar with the ATP. Applicants are not required to attend this meeting.

Further information and application packages may be obtained by calling the Advanced Technology Program at (800) ATP-FUND (800-287-3863), sending facsimile transmittals to (301) 926-9524, electronic mail to atp [at] micf.nist.gov (atp[at]micf[dot]nist[dot]gov), or writing to the Advanced Technology Program, A430 Administration Building, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899- 0001.

The Advanced Technology Program works with U.S. industry to advance the nation's competitiveness and economy by helping to fund the development of high-risk but powerful new technologies that underlie a broad spectrum of potential new applications, commercial products and services.

Through cooperative agreements with individual companies or groups of companies, large and small, the ATP invests in industrial projects to develop technologies with high-payoff potential for the nation. The ATP accelerates technologies that, because they are risky, are unlikely to be developed in time to compete in rapidly changing world markets without such a partnership of industry and government. By sharing the cost of such projects, the ATP catalyzes industry to pursue promising technologies.

In addition to this general competition, the ATP also plans to announce several program competitions this year, which will focus on specific, well-defined technological and business goals. These program competitions will be restricted to technologies relevant to the particular program.

As a non-regulatory agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, NIST promotes U.S. economic growth by working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards.