By Lynn L. Bergeson

On November 9, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs office issued topics for its Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 SBIR/STTR Phase I Release 2 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). Participating in the FOA are the following program offices:

• Office of Cyber Security, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER);

• Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (NNSA);

• Office of Electricity (OE);

• Office of Environmental Management (EM);

• Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE);

• Office of Fossil Energy (FE);

• Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES);

• Office of High Energy Physics (HEP); and

• Office of Nuclear Energy (NE).

DOE will host a webinar on December 18, 2020, to discuss the FOA and application process and changes to the DOE SBIR and STTR programs.

Additional important dates include:

• FOA Issued: December 14, 2020;

• Letter of Intent (LOI) Due Date: January 4 , 2021;

• Non-responsive LOI Feedback Provided: January 25, 2021;

• Application Due Date: February 22, 2021;

• Award Notification Date: May 17, 2021 (subject to change); and

• Start of Grant Budget Period: June 28, 2021 (subject to change).