On September 19, 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration awarded nearly $5 million to 17 small businesses across nine states under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The SBIR Phase I awards will fund research projects to explore the technical merit or feasibility of an innovative idea or technology for developing a viable product or service for introduction in the commercial microelectronics marketplace. This is the first award for the CHIPS Research and Development Office. The Biden-Harris Administration is dedicated to getting small businesses the resources they need to thrive and promoting competition to level the playing field.
These are all Phase I SBIR awards, which are meant to establish the merit, feasibility and commercial potential of the proposed research and development projects. All 17 small businesses will be under consideration for a SBIR Phase II award in Spring 2025. Each Phase II award can be funded up to $1,910,000.
Learn more about the awardees here.
Read the full press release here.
On April 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to seek applications from eligible small businesses to explore the technical merit or feasibility of an innovative idea or technology for developing a viable product or service for introduction in the commercial microelectronics marketplace.
The CHIPS for America program anticipates up to approximately $54 million in funding across multiple topics on research projects for critically needed measurement services, tools, and instrumentation; innovative manufacturing metrologies; novel assurance and provenance technologies and advanced metrology research and development (R&D) testbeds to help secure U.S. leadership in the global semiconductor industry.
This funding opportunity is provided through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, the federal government’s largest platform to promote U.S. technology innovation research and private-sector commercialization. NIST is one of eleven federal government agencies that operate an SBIR program.
There are two fillable forms mentioned in the NOFO. You can find the Application Cover Sheet (Appendix A) here and the Required Disclosures of Foreign Affiliations or Relationships to Foreign Countries (Appendix C) here.