Frequently Asked Questions: CHIPS Metrology SBIR Funding Opportunity

June 14, 2024:  Full Applications must be received at Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, June 14, 2024. Applications received after this deadline will not be reviewed or considered.

NIST expects to complete its review, selection of successful applicants, and award processing by August 2024. NIST expects the earliest start date for awards under this NOFO to be September 2024.
 

Organizations must register with both SAM.gov and Grants.gov.

Applications must be submitted using Grants.gov. Paper applications will not be accepted.

Applications are limited to one proposal per small business concern (SBC). An applicant may apply as either the prime recipient or be included as a subrecipient on another SBC's application, not both.

An applicant may not submit multiple applications – applications are limited to one proposal per small business concern.

An applicant may not submit multiple applications. All applicants to the open topics should propose innovation that relates to a specific outlined path forward element. Please refer to the path forward elements for the open topics, which can be found starting on page 80 of the NOFO, to assist with your determination.

No. The technical proposal, which includes both the cover sheet and technical content, is limited to 15 pages, with the exception of applicants covered by the provision of prior SBIR Phase II awards, as described in section 3.04.02 (15) on page 44 of the NOFO. Additional pages beyond the 15 page limit will not be considered in the evaluation process.

No. Applicants do not need a NIST collaborator at the time of submitting a proposal. NIST will fund these awards as cooperative agreements, with the nature of NIST’s “substantial involvement”generally being collaboration with
the awardees in carrying out the project’s approved scope of work during the period of performance. 

No. Small Business Concerns do not need an invitation to apply to the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

 Yes. The Notice of Funding Opportunity outlines the requirements for submitting a proposal and provides link to the appropriate forms, such as  Section 3: Application Preparation Instructions and Requirements and Section 6: Submission of Applications. 

Late applications will not be accepted. 

Information on how to search for NIST patented technologies is available in Section 7.0 on page 70 of the NOFO. For any SBIR award that requires a license to use a NIST-owned invention covered by a patent or patent application, the SBIR awardee must contact NIST's Technology Partnerships Office for a license to use the NIST-owned invention, see Section 1.01 on page 7 of the NOFO. 

Applicants will provide one technical proposal for both their Phase 1 and Phase II objectives (please see Section 3.04.02 Technical Content for more instructions), and a budget that reflects anticipated expenses for the full term of the project, considering all potential cost increases including cost of living adjustments.

Applicants must submit a separate Current and Pending Support Form for each proposal and active project, as well as in-kind contributions.

Multiple forms will be required if the key personnel is involved in multiple projects – for example, if the person has five current projects and two pending projects, they’ll complete seven Current and Pending Support Forms.

Once completed, the forms may be uploaded individually into the application in grants.gov or combined into one document using the Pdf Portfolio function and uploaded as that single document.

For closed topics, applicants must submit either a Fast-Track Application (both Phase I and Phase II) or a Phase II application (should they have successfully completed a Phase I SBIR.)

There are not specific guidelines for large business participation. In the NOFO, please note the minimum amounts of the research and/or analytical effort that must be performed by the awardee in Phase I and Phase II. Additionally, note the sections concerning subawardees and subcontractors. Applicants must also include Letters of Commitment from any participating consultants, subrecipients, or subcontractors.

Section 5.04.02(b) of the NOFO describes the data rights for the SBIR program, to include the protection period in which the data rights are applied (see 5.04.02(a)(12). Any sensitive data generated pursuant to an award under this program would be required to be identified and marked in accordance with 5.04.02(c). In addition, Section 5.04.01 includes information about the requirements for including/marking proprietary information in application proposals.

There are no recommendations on how to include optional letters of support beyond the NOFO requirements that the Technical Content must not exceed 15 pages including optional letters of support.
 

No. Eligible applicants of this funding opportunity are not subject to review under Executive Order 12372.

The Current and Pending Support Form captures one active project or current project and one pending project per form. Therefore, multiple Current and Pending Support Forms will be required if you are currently working on or are anticipating to work on multiple projects.

The forms can be uploaded individually into the application in grants.gov or combined into a single pdf using the PDF Portfolio function in Adobe and then uploaded into the application in grants.gov.

Technical Content must not exceed 15 pages including optional letters of support. The only exception to the 15-page limit is for applicants covered by the provision for Prior SBIR Phase II Awards, see Section 3.04 of the NOFO.  

Applicants will provide one budget with the two periods that reflects anticipated expenses for the full term of the project, considering all potential cost increases including cost of living adjustments: (1.b) one 6 month and up to one 24 months.

NIST expects the earliest start date for awards under this NOFO to be September 2024.

CHIPS for America is funding the Metrology SBIR NOFO awardees the maximum amount. 
For each grant the following funding is available:

• For Phase I, funding up to $283,500, with an additional $6,500 for Technical and Business Assistance will be available. 
• For Phase II, funding up to $1,910,000 with up to $50,000 for Technical and Business Assistance will be available. 
   

Awards will be given for both Open Topic and Closed Topic proposals. 

For Open Topic Proposals, we expect two funding awards for each Grand Challenge for an expected total of up to 14 awards. 

A total of up to 10 funding awards is expected for Closed Topic Proposals.  

There are a total of 7 open topics, each topic is expected to fund up to two awards. 
The open topic areas:

• Topic areas focused on addressing the CHIPS Metrology Grand Challenges, sourced by industry.
• Small businesses share how their work aligns with a Grand Challenge and how they will conduct R&D to address the Path Forward Element for that Grand Challenge.
• Looking for innovation from companies.
   

A closed topic is a narrow solicitation that targets a particular problem or need. The closed topic section in this SBIR NOFO requires applicants to address a predefined problem or need that the CHIPS Metrology has identified. 

Applicants must submit the Small Business Administration (SBA) Company Registry Form found on SBIR.gov.

This funding opportunity included in the SBIR award is to help small businesses commercialize their technology, by either funding vendors directly, or providing funds to the small business awardees to contract their own vendors or consultants.

No. There is not set provider at NIST with whom applicants will receive assistance. Applicants may propose TABA funds and describe what they plan to do with it, and for which provider they’d receive it from by including a requested letter of commitment. More details are in section 5.12 of the NOFO. 

Individual award amounts for Phase II awards may be up to $1,910,000 with up to $50,000 for Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) as part of the total Phase II award.

For Phase II, the 50% limitation described in Sections 1.03.01, 4.02(6), and 5.08 of the NOFO is inclusive of all  costs that are identified as consultant fees, facility leases, usage fees, and other subcontract/subaward or purchase agreements. This is because the remaining 50% of funding should be applied towards research and/or analytical effort performed by the awardee. 

Please note the total cost for all consultant fees, facility leases, usage fees, and other subcontract/subaward or purchase agreements should not exceed their corresponding limits for Phase I and Phase II,  as described in the NOFO Sections 1.03.01, 4.02(6), and 5.08. 

Applicants must qualify as a Small Business Concern for Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) purposes, as defined in Section 1.05 of this NOFO, at the time of award. 

In addition, the primary employment of the principal investigator must be with the small business at the time of the award and during the conduct of the proposed research. 

Primary employment means that more than one-half of the principal investigator's time is spent working with the small business. Primary employment with a small business precludes full-time employment with another organization.

For a business to qualify for an SBIR award, they must qualify as a Small Business Concern for Research/Research and Development (R/R&D):

• A for-profit business, located in the United States, and structured as an individual proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, joint venture, association, trust, or cooperative
• Under 500 employees, including affiliates
• More than 50% of equity owned and controlled by:
  • One or more individuals who are United States citizens or permanent residents
  • Other for-profit small business concerns also owned and controlled by either U.S. citizens or permanent residents
  • Combination of the two above
• Awardees also must pass a research security/due diligence review (described in Section 2.04 of the NOFO). 
• A “foreign entity of concern” (defined in 15 U.S.C. § 4651 and implemented by the final rule entitled Preventing the Improper Use of CHIPS Act Funding, 88 FR 65600 (Sept. 25, 2023), codified at 15 C.F.R. 231.104) is ineligible to for an award and to participate in an award as an unfunded collaborator.

No. NIST has elected to not use the authority that would allow venture capital operating companies (VCOCs), hedge funds or private equity firms to participate in the SBIR Program. Therefore, applications in which work is performed by VCOCs will not be considered for award. 

The statement of work of an SBIR award made under this NOFO cannot overlap with the statement of work of an existing NIST Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the awardee. NIST will consider the issue of any potential overlap on a case-by-case basis. 

No. For the closed topics, applications for just the Phase II award will be considered from entities that have received and successfully completed a related SBIR Phase I from NIST or another federal agency. Therefore, if you’ve already been awarded a Phase II from NIST or another federal agency, you are not eligible for this Phase II award.

Yes, the Notice of Funding Opportunity does allow for collaborators, subrecipients and/or subcontractors. The lead applicant must perform at least two-thirds (66 2/3%) of the research in Phase I and at least half (50%) of the research in Phase II.  Please see additional requirements about consultants, contracts, and subawards on page 41, section 3.04.02 Technical Content requirements (9) of the NOFO.  

All applicants to the open topics should propose innovation that relates to an outlined path forward element. The Path Forward elements for Grand Challenge 3 can be found on pages 81-82 of the NOFO.

No. NIST has elected to not use the authority that would allow venture capital operating companies (VCOCs), hedge funds or private equity firms to participate in the SBIR Program. Therefore, applications in which work is performed by VCOCs will not be considered for award, see Section 1.03.01 on page 11 of the NOFO.

 15 U.S.C. 638 (dd)(1) authorizes participation of small business concerns that are majority-owned by venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms in the SBIR program. NIST has elected to not use the authority (see Section 1.03.01 of the NOFO). A list of Federal agencies that are accepting applications by majority-owned venture capital firms is available on the SBA webpage at https://www.sbir.gov/vc-ownership-authority.  

Yes, in addition to the principal investigator, co-investigators, and associate investigators are allowable. 

The R/R&D work must be performed in the United States. Requests for an exemption must be submitted in writing at the time of application submission. Only rare and unique circumstances will be considered for an exemption. The NIST Grants Officer must approve each exemption and its terms in writing, per Section 1.03.01 in the NOFO.

If an application submitted in response to this NOFO is substantially the same as another application that has been funded, is now being funded, or is pending with NIST or another Federal Agency, the applicant must provide the information outlined in Section 3.04.02(14) in their Technical Proposal, as well as including that information in the Current and Pending Support Form described in Sections 2.01 and 8.01.14.  

The subrecipient doesn’t need to be majority owned by U.S. interests, but the R/R&D must be performed in the U.S., see Applicant Qualifications section 1.03.01 in the NOFO. A tutorial on overall SBIR eligibility that also addresses the use of foreign subrecipients is available at https://www.sbir.gov/tutorials/program-basics/tutorial-2  – please note that nothing in the SBIR tutorial is intended to conflict with or supersede the NOFO in any way. Any perceived conflict between the tutorial and the NOFO must be resolved in favor of the NOFO. 

A foreign national who is present in the United States with an employment-based nonimmigrant visa or has obtained an Employment Authorization Document from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may serve as the PI on the project as long as the employment and research requirements described in Section 1.03.01 of the NOFO are met. As a “covered individual,” the PI must complete a Current and Pending Support Form (see Sections 2.01 and 8.01.14).

As is stated in Section 1.01 of the NOFO, the NIST SBIR CHIPS for America - CHIPS Metrology program allows for collaboration between CHIPS R&D staff, NIST scientists, and award recipients whenever possible. All applications should include a description of any work proposed to be performed by an entity other than the applicant, and the cost of such work should ordinarily be included in the budget. If an applicant proposes collaboration with NIST, the statement of work should include a statement of this intention, a description of the collaboration, and prominently identify the NIST employee(s) involved, if known. Any collaboration by a NIST employee must be approved by appropriate NIST management and is at the sole discretion of NIST. Prior to beginning the merit review process, NIST will verify the approval of the proposed collaboration. Any unapproved collaboration will be stricken from the application prior 
to the merit review. Any collaboration with an identified NIST employee that is approved by appropriate NIST management will not make an application more or less favorable in the competitive process. NIST’s costs should not be included in the application.
 

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a highly competitive program that encourages domestic small businesses to engage in federal research & development (R&D) with the potential for commercialization. 

Eleven federal government agencies operate a competitive awards-based SBIR program, which  enables small businesses to explore their technological potential and provide the incentive to profit from its commercialization. It also fosters participation in innovation by socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration serves as the coordinating agency for the SBIR program.
 

The SBIR Program has three phases: 

• Phase I – awardees must establish the technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of their proposed efforts. 
• Phase II – awardees are subjected to a technical review and evaluation process of Phase I efforts to determine if eligible for Phase II funding. If awarded, awardees continue the work conducted during Phase I.
• Phase III – Small businesses will pursue commercialization objects from Phase I and II activities. Phase III is not funded by this SBIR NOFO. 

Phase I lasts six months, with one month allocated after to prepare and submit a final report for Phase II funding consideration.

Phase II is up to 24 months.

• The NIST Technology Partnerships Office has a page dedicated to SBIR questions. You can find those questions here. 
• For programmatic application questions, email askchips [at] chips.gov (askchips[at]chips[dot]gov)  with "2024-NIST-CHIPS-Metrology SBIR Questions" in subject. 
• For electronic application submission assistance, please contact grants.gov at support [at] grants.gov (support[at]grants[dot]gov) 
• For grant rules and regulations, please contact dean.iwasaki [at] nist.gov (dean[dot]iwasaki[at]nist[dot]gov) 
  
   

The Fast-Track program consists of a submission and review process in which both Phase I and Phase II applications are submitted together as one application to reduce or eliminate the funding gap between phases. 

For the closed topics, applications for only the Phase II award will be considered from entities that have received and successfully completed a related SBIR Phase I from NIST or another federal agency.