Clarification of NOT-OD-10-034: Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Competitive Revision Applications for Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Transfer Technology Research Grants (R43/R44 and R41/R42) through the NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet)

Notice Number: NOT-OD-10-054

Key Dates
Release Date: January 26, 2010

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov)

This Notice clarifies and provides additional information concerning the opportunity for currently funded SBIR and STTR awardees to apply for competitive revisions through the NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (NOT-OD-10-034). In accordance with the submission of SBIR and STTR applications, applicants should be aware of the following guidelines and requirements.

  • Modular budgets are not permitted. Applicants must complete and submit budget requests using the SF424 Research and Related (R&R) Budget component.
  • Eligibility: In addition to the requirement that the small business “parent” award on which the revision application is based must be active at the time the revision application is submitted, applicants must also continue to meet the SBIR and STTR eligibility criteria as described in Section III of the parent SBIR and STTR funding opportunity announcements (PA-10-050 and PA-10-051).

  • Award amounts may exceed those established for the funding opportunity announcement for which the current award was based, however, the subcontracting amounts for the entire Phase II project must still remain within the SBIR guidelines and STTR limits. 

    • For SBIR:  Phase I, normally, a minimum of two-thirds or 67% of the research or analytical effort must be carried out by the small business concern. The total amount of all consultant and contractual arrangements to third parties for portions of the scientific and technical effort generally may not exceed 33% of the total amount requested (direct, F&A/indirect, and fee). In Phase II, normally, a minimum of one-half or 50% of the research or analytical effort must be carried out by the small business concern. The total amount of consultant and contractual arrangements to third parties for portions of the scientific and technical effort generally may not exceed 50% of the total Phase II amount requested (direct, F&A/indirect, and fee).

    • For STTR:  Phase I and Phase II, at least 40% of the work must be performed by the small business concern and at least 30% of the work must be performed by the single, “partnering” research institution. The basis for determining the percentage of work to be performed by each of the cooperative parties will be the total of direct and F&A/indirect costs attributable to each party, unless otherwise described and justified in “Consortium/Contractual Arrangements” of the PHS398 Research Plan component of the SF424 (R&R) application forms.

  • Although the amount requested is limited to $150,000 direct costs per year for a maximum of one year and must not exceed the average annual budget of the “parent” award over one year, note that the F&A costs used on the current award and a fee/profit may be applied to the SBIR and STTR revision applications as is the common practice for SBIR and STTR awards. The basis for determining the percentage of work to be performed by each of the cooperative parties will be the total of direct and F&A/indirect costs attributable to each party, unless otherwise described and justified in “Consortium/Contractual Arrangements” of the PHS398 Research Plan component of the SF424 (R&R) application forms. 

  • Parent Announcements: If the original FOA has expired, applicants must use the recently released parent SBIR and STTR funding opportunity announcements PA-10-050 for SBIR and PA-10-051 for STTR.

  • Foreign participation on SBIR and STTR projects are permitted only in rare and unique circumstances such as a supply or material or the study design (e.g., patient population) is not available in the United States. NIH may allow that particular portion of the research or R&D work to be performed or obtained in a foreign country. For further guidance, see the SBIR/STTR application instruction guide (Adobe Version B). The requirement that foreign components should not exceed 10% of the total requested direct costs or $25,000 per year does not apply to SBIR and STTR applications.

Inquiries

This Notice is subject to restrictions on oral conversations during the period of time commencing with the submission of a formal application[1] by an individual or entity and ending with the award of the competitive funds. Federal officials may not participate in oral communications initiated by any person or entity concerning a pending application for a Recovery Act competitive grant or other competitive form of Federal financial assistance, whether or not the initiating party is a federally registered lobbyist[1]. This restriction applies unless:

(i) the communication is purely logistical;
(ii) the communication is made at a widely attended gathering;
(iii) the communication is to or from a Federal agency official and another Federal Government employee;
(iv) the communication is to or from a Federal agency official and an elected chief executive of a state, local or tribal government, or to or from a Federal agency official and the Presiding Officer or Majority Leader in each chamber of a state legislature; or
(v) the communication is initiated by the Federal agency official.
For additional information see http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_fy2009/m09-24.pdf

We encourage your inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants. Inquiries may fall into three areas: scientific/research (program), peer review, and financial or grants management issues:

Questions concerning this Notice should be referred to GrantsInfo@mail.nih.gov.

Formal application includes the preliminary application and letter of intent phases of the program.