If you are an investigator seeking to apply for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has recently raised its hard cap (total cost) limits for Phase I and II awards:
- Phase I—$275,766
- Phase II—$1,838,436
Keep in mind that in some cases, applications that exceed these hard caps may be reviewed and scored, but NIAID will not make awards unless the project also addresses one of our SBA-approved waiver topics. If your scored budget exceeds the hard caps without addressing a waiver topic, work with your assigned program officer and grants management specialist to modify your Specific Aims to stay within the hard cap limits.
If you plan to submit an application that addresses a waiver topic, your budget must stay within the SBA-approved waiver limits of $300,000 total costs per year for up to two years for Phase I and $1,000,000 total costs per year for up to three years for Phase II.
Though the award amounts can exceed the hard caps, the budget proposed should be reasonable and appropriate for the scope of your research and completion of the project. The waiver topics addressed by applications are confirmed at the time of award. If you are confident that your project fits a waiver topic, you can propose a budget that exceeds the hard caps, but also stays within the waiver limits. Again, in all cases, your budget request must be appropriate to the actual needs of the research project.
If you would like additional information or want to speak with an NIAID program officer to evaluate your proposed project for mission and waiver topic fit, reach out to the NIAID Small Business Program Team for assistance.
You may also want to read our Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Grants SOP.