The Department of Energy (DOE) provides considerable information to help its applicants – one of which is referred to as the SBIR/STTR Phase I Application Checklist. In addition, there is always a Summary of Required Forms and Files in the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) itself. It is recommended that you start with the FOA in order to understand the structure of the Phase I proposal submission package. Once you download the appropriate FOA, search for “Checklist”. Your search will bring you to the page where the Summary of Required Forms and Files can be found. The following is an example used for discussion, but please always search for the one in the current FOA.

The first time an applicant looks at this list they often feel overwhelmed. However, – please keep in mind that when you submit an SBIR or STTR proposal to the Department of Energy, you are submitting a package and different parts of the package are merely uploaded into different sections of the grants.gov website.

You are probably beginning to ask yourself now – uploaded? Where does this information get uploaded? What are the fields that are being referenced? To find answers to these questions follow the link below to the Applicant and Awardee Resources and download the document entitled “Instructions for Completing a DOE SBIR/STTR Phase I Grant Application”. This document will guide you through the steps involved with using the Grant Application Package submission process through grants.gov The process for registering with grants.gov is also demonstrated in a demo for Tutorial 12.

http://science.energy.gov/sbir/applicant-and-awardee-resources/grant-application/

Before you leave this tutorial – be sure to also download the Application Checklist which you will also find in the middle of the referenced link. Put the checklist near your computer – so that you always have it available as a quick reference while you are working on your proposal submission package.

If you look at the column on the left hand side – you see that what you are really preparing and submitting as part of the Proposal Application Process are six easily understood components: (1) The SF-424 form, (2) The Budget, (3) The Project Summary/Abstract, (4) the Project Narrative, (5) Subcontractors and Consultants, and (6) Commercialization documents. This checklist provides a very useful summary of limits of which you should be mindful. For example, how many words can go in the project narrative, how many pages?

Another useful document and perhaps the most useful as you begin to approach the actual proposal submission deadline is the document entitled “Instructions for Completing a DOE SBIR/STTR Phase I Grant Application.” This document contains complete instructions on how to submit an application through Grants.gov and contains many screenshots that demonstrate the steps in the submission process. If you ever find inconsistencies in the field names mentioned in the various documents, always defer to the FOA and always call the help desk at DOE to let them know of the inconsistency.

An important set of phone numbers and e-mails addresses that you should always have handy are listed below.

Grants.gov Help Desk 800-518-4726, support@grants.gov for questions related to the grants.gov electronic submission process required for a DOE SBIR or STTR proposal

DOE SBIR/STTR Help Desk 301-903-5707, SBIR-STTR@science.doe.gov for questions about the content or format of your DOE SBIR/STTR proposal

DOE SBIR/STTR Program Office 301-903-5707, SBIR-STTR@science.doe.gov for questions about general parameters of the DOE SBIR/STTR programs