STTR

Small businesses that would like to participate in the Army STTR program must submit a Phase I proposal, maximum $100,000 in effort against topics contained in an annual Solicitation normally open between February and April, The Solicitation is posted on the OSD SBIR website (see http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/solicitations/index.htm). The STTR program does not accept unsolicited proposals. The Army will not accept Phase I proposals which exceed $100,000 for the Phase I effort. The Army also does not accept classified proposals.

The entire proposal (Cover Pages, Technical Proposal, Cost Proposal and Company Commercialization Report) must be submitted using the online submission system at http://www.dodsbir.net/submission. Do not send a hardcopy of the proposal. Hand or electronic signature on the proposal is also NOT required. The small business is responsible for performing a virus check on each proposal before it is uploaded electronically. The detection of a virus on any submission may be cause for the rejection of the proposal. The submission site does not limit the overall file size for each electronic proposal submission. However, file uploads may take a great deal of time depending on the internet provider's connection speed and the size of the file. If you experience problems uploading a proposal, call the OSD SBIR Help Desk (toll free) at 866-724-7457. The Army WILL NOT accept any proposals that are not submitted through the on-line submission site. Please submit proposals early to avoid delays due to high user volume.

EVENT	WHO	SCHEDULE
Topic Prerelease http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/solicitations/index.htm	Army	Mid-January
Solicitation Opens (Begin Accepting Proposals) http://www.dodsbir.net/submission	Small Businesses	Mid-February
Solicitation Closes	Army	Mid-March
Phase I Selections	Army	Mid-June
Phase I Contract Award	Army Labs and Centers	July

Phase I proposers must submit a concise, informative, and complete research and development proposal. The maximum proposal length, including all attachments, is 20 single-sided pages numbered consecutively. This includes the Proposal Cover Sheets, the Technical Proposal, and the Cost Proposal, and any enclosures and attachments (including for example, letters of endorsement). All documentation uploaded should have no smaller than 10-size font on a standard 8" X 11" paper with one-inch margins.
Note that a database containing all DoD STTR and SBIR abstracts and award data is located at the DoD SBIR/STTR website (http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/). This link provides information that may be of help to you as you prepare your Phase I proposal. Because abstracts of selected proposals are posted on this public domain website, the abstract should not contain any classified or proprietary information. The Army does not accept classified proposals.

PROPOSAL FORMAT (20 pages maximum). Please see the current solicitation for detailed information and instructions.

Cover Pages. (http://www.dodsbir.net/submission). As instructed on the web site, prepare a Proposal Cover Sheet, including a brief description of the problem or opportunity, objectives, effort and anticipated results. Expected benefits and Government or private sector applications of the proposed research should also be summarized in the space provided.

Technical Proposal. Create a single file and put your firm name, topic number, and proposal number in the header of each page. You can not upload the technical proposal to the DoD Submission site until you have created a coversheet and been assigned a proposal number. Technical proposals must be in PDF format for evaluation purposes. Technical proposals submitted in Portable Document Format (PDF) are requested and will be posted as soon as a virus scan of the file is complete (generally in 15 minutes depending on file size). Other acceptable formats (PC/Windows) are: Text, Rich Text Format (RTF), MS Word, WordPerfect; however, these will be scanned and converted to PDF before being posted. File conversion usually takes an hour; however, longer times should be expected during peak traffic periods before the solicitation close date. We are not responsible for any format differences between the original file and the converted file. It is recommended that you convert your file to PDF (using Adobe Acrobat or one of the other many commercial and shareware PDF conversion tools/writers) before uploading. Several internet sites, including www.adobe.com, offer on-line conversion services. PDF conversion shareware is available at www.tucows.com and other websites.

PDF file must be created in version 4.0 or greater.
Do not encrypt or add security layers to the file.
The file must be self-contained. All figures and tables should be in the same file.
Do not add other attachments or embed other files (other than fonts).

Verify Upload. You are responsible for verifying your technical proposal uploaded successfully. You can view or download your technical proposal in PDF format by clicking on the check proposal upload button from the cover sheet table list. Remember to review carefully; what you see when you click on the check proposal upload button is what the evaluator will see.

Cost Proposal. ($100,000 maximum) A firm-fixed-price or cost-plus-fixed-fee Phase I Cost Proposal must be submitted in detail online (excluded from the 20 page count).
Company Commercialization Report. The Commercialization report must be included with each proposal submitted to the Army. Refer to section 3 of the Solicitation for detailed instructions on the Company Commercialization Report. If commercialization information has not been updated in the past year, or you need to review a copy of the report, visit the DoD SBIR Proposal Submission site at http://www.dodsbir.net/submission. Please note that improper handling of the Commercialization Report may result in the proposal being substantially delayed and that information provided may have a direct impact on the evaluation of the proposal. The Company Commercialization Report does not count toward the 20-page Phase I proposal limitation.

PROPOSAL CHECKLIST. Those responding to the STTR program should note the proposal preparation tips listed below:

Read and follow all instructions contained in the Solicitation.
Use the free technical information services from the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) and other information assistance organizations (Section 7 of the Solicitation).
Register your firm on the secure password-protected DoD Electronic Submission Web Site (http://www.dodsbir.net/submission) and, as instructed on the Web Site, prepare your proposal. A complete proposal consists of the proposal Cover Sheets, Technical Proposal, Cost Proposal, and Company Commercialization Report.
The proposal cost is maximum $100,000 and the cost on the Cover Sheets matches the cost on the Cost Proposal.
The Project Abstract and other content provided on the cover sheets must contain NO proprietary information. Mark proprietary information within the technical proposal as instructed in Section 5 of the Solicitation.
The content in the technical proposal, including the option (if applicable), includes the items in Section 3 of the Solicitation.
The header on each page of your technical proposal should contain your company name, topic number, and proposal number. (The header may be included in the one-inch margins).
The Company Commercialization Report is submitted online in accordance with Section 3 of the Solicitation. This report is required even if the firm has not received prior SBIR funding.
Limit your proposal to 20 pages (Cost Proposal and Company Commercialization Report are excluded from the page count).
Use a type size no smaller than a 10-point font.
The Technical Proposal shall not be in 2-column format.

INQUIRIES.Inquiries of a general nature should be addressed in writing to:

U.S. Army Research Office
ATTN: Army STTR PMO
P.O. Box 12211
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709-2211