Agency Topic Areas

Federal Extramural R&D Grants: The federal grant process is very competitive. To compete, you must have a truly innovative idea and it must meet needs or solve problems deemed to be vital to our national interests. Fortunately, each agency issues topics that they deem vital. The topics are found on their websites. Only six federal agencies control 95 percent of these funds. The agencies and websites are listed below: 

1. Department of Defense (DOD Office of Small Business Programs) 
2. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS Funding Opportunites) 
3. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Funding Opportunities) 
4. Department of Energy (DOE Home Page) 
5. National Science Foundation (NSF Home Page) 
6. Department of Agriculture (USDA Funding Opportunities)

A Simpler Way to find topics

You can view all the topics an agency issues on their website; however, each site is very different and can be difficult to navigate. A simpler process, although potentially less comprehensive, is to view all solicitations for federal grants from all the agencies on the government website, Grants.gov. The site includes the ability to search for solicitation topics using a keyword search. Once you find a topic, the site will direct you through the application process. You can also access the agency sites from Tips and Resources.  (Be sure to read the section Is a Federal Grant Right for You?)

Something to be aware of

A significant portion of the R&D grant funding is limited to nonprofits, governmental entities, or universities and is not available to for-profit businesses. Much of the federal R&D grants that are available to businesses are open to companies of any size, which means small businesses may be completing against large businesses or even prime contractors for the grant dollars.

Fortunately for small businesses (SBIR/STTR)

There is a federal grant/contract program just for small businesses called Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR). (See About SBIR/STTR for more information.)

SBIR/STTR Programs

SBIR: Eleven federal departments and agencies are required to reserve 2.5 percent of their extramural R&D funds for award to small businesses through the SBIR program. Over $2 billion was awarded in 2007.

STTR: Five federal departments and agencies are required by STTR to reserve 0.3 percent of their R&D funds for award to small business and nonprofit research institution partnerships.
Links to the most current SBIR/STTR program topic indexes for each of the agencies are located below. Please note that the open solicitation period for some of the agencies may have passed and expired for this year. However, to get an idea of the agencies’ areas of R&D interest, it is recommended that participants view the most current agency topic index, even if expired, because the indexes typically do not change drastically from year to year.

A Simpler Way to find SBIR/STTR Grants

 You can view all the topics an agency issues on their website; however, each site is very different and can be difficult to navigate. A simpler process, although potentially less comprehensive, is to view SBIR/STTR solicitations for federal grants on the website, Zyn.com. The site includes the ability to search for solicitation topics using a keyword search. Once you find a topic, the links will direct you through the application process. (Be sure to read the section Is a Federal Grant Right for You?)