Solicitations

You must respond to a funding solicitation from a particular agency, because the SBIR/STTR programs do not accept "unsolicited" proposals (a proposal that does not address a topic specified in a currently open agency SBIR/STTR solicitation). Solicitations are known by many names including Request for Proposals (RFP), Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), or simply Solicitation. No matter what it's called, this document provides the rules and guidance on how to prepare a response, also called an application or a proposal. Solicitation documents include Proposal Preparation Instructions, Application and Submission guidance, and Evaluation criteria. They typically include the specific topic areas of interest as well.

To browse through current topic areas of interest, which topics are coming up, and what topics were of interest in the past across all participating agencies, search Topic Areas. Keep in mind that some agencies have solicitations that accept proposals in broad research areas related to the agency’s mission and are not limited to a specific list of pre-determined topics.