The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science published the Fiscal Year 2017 Phase I, Release 2 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on November 28, 2016, for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. Under DE-FOA-0001619, whose complete listing of technical topics was released on October 31, DOE seeks applicants for grants directed toward FY17 Phase I, Release 2 projects. Topics for this funding opportunity can be found at http://science.energy.gov/sbir/funding-opportunities and include LED and OLED lighting (see topic 10b).

A 90-minute webinar to review the SBIR/STTR programs, application, and award process as it relates to this announcement is scheduled for tomorrow — Friday, December 2 — at 2:00 p.m. EST. The webinar will focus on administrative and grant issues, including a number of changes that have been be put into effect. You must register for the webinar in order to attend or to receive a link to the recorded webinar if you cannot attend in person.

Qualified small businesses with strong research capabilities in science or engineering in any of the research areas sought in the announcement are encouraged to apply for the SBIR/STTR funding opportunity. Applicants must submit a letter of intent by December 19, 2016, in order to be eligible to submit a full application by February 7, 2017. More information and application requirements can be found at http://science.energy.gov/sbir/funding-opportunities.