The SBIR and STTR programs are U. S. Government programs, intended to help certain small businesses conduct R&D. At DOE, funding takes the form of grants. Projects must have the potential for commercialization and meet specific DOE mission-specific R&D needs.
The SBIR/STTR Programs Office works collaboratively with 13 program offices throughout the DOE. Each DOE program office considers its high priority research needs and program mission, as well as the Department’s goals for the program in developing research topics. The specific research topics selected for the SBIR and STTR programs are developed by DOE technical program managers. DOE offers more than sixty technical topics and 250 subtopics, spanning research areas that support the DOE mission in Energy Production, Energy Use, Fundamental Energy Sciences, Environmental Management, and Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation.