CHAPTER 3.0 Proposal Preparation Instructions and Requirements

3.1.1 Responsiveness to NASA Need. An SBIR Phase I proposal must present a scientific or technical innovation that addresses a NASA program need as described in a specific subtopic. If the proposed innovation is judged to be not responsive to the subtopic selected by the offeror, the proposal will be classed as non-responsive and rejected without evaluation, in accordance with the SBA Policy Directive and the terms of this Solicitation. SBIR projects should address R/R&D activities requiring significant scientific or technical innovation, either experimental or theoretical. They may or may not involve construction and evaluation of a laboratory prototype and/or analyses.

3.1.2 Phase I Proposal Objective. A Phase I proposal must describe the research effort needed to investigate the feasibility of the proposed scientific or technical innovation . The objective of the Phase I effort must be to determine whether the innovation has sufficient technical merit for proceeding into Phase II R/R&D.

3.1.3 SBIR Project Requirements. The deliverable item at the end of an SBIR Phase I contract shall be a professional-quality report that justifies, validates, and defends the experimental and theoretical work accomplished. Furthermore, this report must demonstrate the basis for judgments about technical merit and feasibility of the innovation presented in the Phase I proposal, and it should connect the Phase I results to Phase II follow-on R/R&D and commercial applications. Delivery of a product or service with the Phase I report may be desirable, but it is not a requirement.

Deliverable items for Phase II contracts shall include products or services in addition to professional-quality reports of further developments or applications of the Phase I results. These deliverables may include prototypes, models, software, or complete products or services; however, the reported results of Phase II must address and provide the basis for validating the innovation and the potential for implementation of commercial applications.

3.1.4 Unacceptable Objectives. Proposed efforts directed toward systems studies; market research; commercial development of existing products or proven concepts; straightforward engineering design for packaging or adaptation to specific applications; studies, laboratory evaluations; and modifications of existing products without innovative changes are examples of projects that are not acceptable for SBIR.

3.1.5 Multiple Proposal Submissions. An offeror may submit any number of different proposals to any number of subtopics, but every proposal must be based on a unique innovation, must be limited in scope to just one subtopic, and may be submitted only under that subtopic.

3.1.6 Identical Proposals. Identical proposals and substantially similar proposals based on the same innovation submitted by an offeror to several subtopics are not permitted and will result in all such proposals being rejected without evaluation.

3.2.1 Page Limitation. A Phase I SBIR proposal shall not exceed a total of 25 standard 8 1/2 X 11 inch (21.6 x 27.9 cm) pages, including cover page, budget, and all enclosures or attachments. Margins should be 1.0 inch (2.5 cm). All material submitted, except required listing of Phase II awards (See Section 3.7), will be included in the page count. Samples, videotapes, slides, or other ancillary items will not be accepted. Offerors are requested not to use the entire 25-page allowance unless necessary. Proposals exceeding the 25 page limitation will be rejected without consideration. The program would prefer proposals prepared on both sides of paper, if possible.

3.2.2 Type Size. No type size smaller than 10 point is to be used for text or tables, except as legends on reduced drawings. Proposals prepared with smaller font sizes will be rejected without consideration.

3.2.3 Brevity and Organization. The proposal should be logically organized, direct, and concise.

The required format for a Phase I NASA SBIR proposal is described in the following paragraphs. All required items of information are to be covered fully in the prescribed "Part" order, but the space allocated to each will depend on the project chosen and the offeror's approach. Promotional and non-project-related material should not be included.

Each proposal submitted to the SBIR program must contain the following parts in the order presented:

1. Proposal Cover Sheet (Form 9A), signed in ink, as page 1.
2. Project Summary (Form 9B), as page 2.
3. Technical Proposal (12 parts), including all graphics, and starting at page 3 with a table of contents.
4. Summary Budget (Form 9C), signed in ink.

All of these parts must be presented within the 25-page limitation. A proposal not addressing all parts will be considered non-responsive to this Solicitation and will be rejected without consideration. Detailed descriptions of all parts of the proposal follow.

3.4.1 Page 1: Proposal Cover Sheet (Form 9A). A copy of the Proposal Cover Sheet is provided in Section 9.0. Each offeror shall provide complete information for each item and submit the form as required in Section 6.0. The proposal title shall be concise and descriptive of the proposed product. The title should not use acronyms or words like "Development of" or "Study of." The NASA research topic title must not be used as the proposal title.

3.4.2 Page 2: Project Summary (Form 9B). A copy of the Project Summary Sheet is provided in Section 9.0. Each offeror shall provide complete information for each item and submit form 9B as required in Section 6.0. Without revealing proprietary information and limited to 200 words, the technical abstract section shall summarize the anticipated results and implications of the approach (both Phases I and II). Potential commercial applications of the technology should also be presented.

3.5.1 The Technical Proposal shall not contain any budget data and must consist of all twelve parts in the following order. (Note: Parts that are not applicable must be noted as "Not Applicable.")

Part 1: Table of Contents. Page 3 of the proposal shall begin with a brief table of contents indicating the page numbers of each of the sections of the proposal.

Part 2: Identification and Significance of the Innovation. The first paragraph of Part 2 shall contain (1) a clear and succinct statement of the specific innovation proposed and why it is an innovation, and (2) a brief explanation of how the innovation is relevant and important to meeting the need described in the subtopic. The initial paragraph shall contain no more than 200 words. NASA will reject proposals that lack this introductory paragraph. In subsequent paragraphs, Part 2 may also include appropriate background and elaboration to explain the proposed innovation.

Part 3: Phase I Technical Objectives. State the specific objectives of the Phase I R/R&D effort including the technical questions to be answered to determine the feasibility of the proposed innovation.

Part 4: Phase I Work Plan. A detailed description of the Phase I R/R&D plan. The plan should indicate what will be done, where the work will be done, and how the work will be carried out. Phase I R/R&D should address the objectives and questions cited in Part 3, above. The methods planned to achieve each objective or task should be discussed in detail. Schedules, task descriptions and assignments, resource allocations, estimated task hours for each key personnel, and planned accomplishments including project milestones shall be included. Offerors are advised to avoid including proprietary information if at all possible. See Section 5.4.1.

Part 5: Related R/R&D. Describe significant current and/or previous R/R&D that is directly related to the proposal including any conducted by the principal investigator or by the offeror. Describe how it relates to the proposed effort and any planned coordination with outside sources. The offeror must persuade reviewers of his or her awareness of key recent R/R&D conducted by others in the specific subject area. At the offeror's option, this section may include concise bibliographic references in support of the proposal if they are confined to activities directly related to the proposed work.

Part 6: Key Personnel and Bibliography of Directly Related Work. Identify key personnel involved in Phase I activities including their directly related education, experience, and bibliographic information. Where vitae are extensive, summaries that focus on the most relevant experience or publications are desired and may be necessary to meet proposal page and font requirements. Key personnel are the principal investigator and other individuals whose expertise and functions are essential to the success of the project.

This part shall also establish and confirm the eligibility of the principal investigator (see Section 1.4.3), and indicate the extent to which other proposals recently submitted or planned for submission in 1998 and existing projects commit the time of PI concurrently with this proposed activity. Any attempt to circumvent the restriction on PIs working more than half-time for an academic or a non-profit organization by substituting an ineligible PI will result in rejection of the proposal.

Part 7: Relationship with Phase II or other Future R/R&D. State the anticipated results of the proposed R/R&D effort if the project is successful (through Phase I and Phase II). Discuss the significance of the Phase I effort in providing a foundation for the Phase II R/R&D continuation.

Part 8: Company Information and Facilities. This section shall provide adequate information to allow the evaluators to assess the ability of the SBC to carry out the proposed Phase I and projected Phase II and Phase III activities. The offeror should describe the relevant facilities and equipment currently available, and those to be purchased, in order to adequately support the team's proposed activities. NASA will not fund the acquisition of equipment, instrumentation, or facilities under SBIR Phase I contracts as a direct cost (Section 5.14). The capability of the offeror to perform the proposed activities and bring a resulting product or service to market must be indicated. Qualifications of the offeror and its principals in marketing related products or services or in raising capital should be presented. If an offeror proposes the use of unique or one-of-a-kind Government facilities, a statement, describing the uniqueness of the facility and it's availability to the offeror at specified times, signed by the appropriate Government Official must be included with the proposal. Proposals lacking this signed statement will be rejected without evaluation.

Part 9: Subcontracts and Consultants. Up to one-third of the research and/or analytical work (contract cost less fee) in Phase I may be conducted under subcontract or other business arrangements with others. If the offeror intends such arrangements, they should be described in detail including functions, services, number of hours and labor rates, and extent of effort to be provided. The proposal must include a signed statement by each participating organization or individual that they will be available at the times required for the purposes and extent of effort described in the proposal. For Phase I, a minimum of two-thirds of the work (contract cost less profit) must be performed by the proposing small business concern unless otherwise approved in writing by the contracting officer.

Part 10: Commercial Applications Potential. The commercial potential of the proposed SBIR project is a significant proposal evaluation factor (see Section 4.1.2). Therefore, offerors will discuss in this section the broad commercial applications they contemplate for their project results and their plans to bring the technology to commercial application. Offerors should discuss the following: (a) the specific commercial products or services contemplated and the corresponding target market niche; (b) expected unique competitive advantage of the commercial products or services; (c) nature of the corresponding contemplated commercial venture; (d) importance of the contemplated commercial venture to the offeror's current competitive position and to its strategic planning; and (e) the offeror’s capability and plans to bring the necessary physical, personnel, and financial resources to bear, in a timely way, to result in a viable commercial venture in the reasonable near term subsequent to Phase II (if awarded). Offerors should also describe how they would seek non-SBIR funding needed for Phase II and Phase III activities (see Section 4.2.2, Part 11).

Part 11: Similar Proposals and Awards. A firm may elect to submit proposals for essentially equivalent work under other Federal program solicitations or may have received or expect to receive other Federal awards for essentially equivalent work. In these cases, the offeror will inform NASA of related proposals and awards and must first certify on the Proposal Cover whether the offeror (a) has received Federal government awards for related work, or (b) has submitted currently active proposals for similar work under other Federal government program solicitations or intends to submit proposals for such work to other agencies during 1998. For all such cases, the following information is required:

1. The name and address of the agencies to which proposals have been or will be submitted, or from which awards have been received;
2. Dates of such proposal submissions or awards;
3. Title, number, and date of solicitations under which proposals have been or will be submitted or awards received;
4. The specific applicable research topic for each such proposal submitted or award received;
5. Titles of research projects;
6. Name and title of the principal investigator/project manager for each proposal that has been or will be submitted or award received.

Part 12: Previous NASA SBIR Awards. Offerors must state the total number of NASA SBIR Phase I and II awards received, and list those received during the last five years, showing contract numbers, the year of award, Phase I or II, the NASA Installations making the award, and project titles. If no NASA awards have been received, the offeror shall so state.

3.6.1 Summary Budget. Following the instructions provided with the form, offerors shall complete Form 9C, SBIR Summary Budget, and include it (and any explanation sheets, if needed) as the last page(s) of the proposal. Enough information shall be submitted to explain the offeror’s plans for use of the requested funds to enable NASA to determine whether the proposed budget is fair and reasonable.

3.6.2 Property. NASA will not fund facility acquisition under Phase I (See Section 5.14). Proposed costs for materials may be included. "Materials" means property that may be incorporated or attached to a deliverable end item or that may be consumed or expended in performing the contract. It includes assemblies, components, parts, raw materials, and small tools that may be consumed in normal use. Any purchase of equipment or products under an SBIR contract using NASA funds should be American-made to the extent possible.

3.6.3 Travel. Travel during Phase I is not normally essential to prove technical merit and feasibility of the proposed innovation. However, where the offeror deems travel to be essential for these purposes, it is necessary to limit it to one person, one trip to the sponsoring NASA installation. Proposed travel must be described as to purpose and benefits in proving feasibility, and is subject to negotiation and approval by the contracting officer. Trips to conferences are not allowed under the Phase I contract.

3.6.4 Profit. A profit or fee may be included in the proposed budget as noted in Section 5.9.

3.6.5 Cost Sharing. See Section 5.8.

The Small Business Administration requires offerors who have received more than 15 Phase II awards from all agencies since October 1, 1992, to report those awards and their progress toward commercialization. The listing of awards shall be included in a separate "Addendum: Phase II History" that will not be counted against the Phase I 25-page proposal limit. Information for each Phase II contract shall include:

(1) Name of awarding agency
(2) Date of award and date of completion
(3) Funding agreement number and amount
(4) Topic or subtopic name
(5) Project title
(6) Sources, dates and amounts of Federal and/or private sector Phase III follow-on funding agreements
(7) Post-Phase II commercialization activities, including development, marketing, sales, and projections

The Addendum should be concise.

The Check List included in this Solicitation is provided to assist the offeror in completing a responsive proposal. It should not be submitted with the proposal.