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Project Suitability Assessment
& Project Pitch
Full proposal
Proposal review
& decision

Applying for NSF grants starts with project suitability and the Project Pitch

Our program supports innovation across a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines. We welcome diverse technologies ranging from biotechnology to wireless communications, quantum information science, semiconductors, and many others. Funding is limited to areas that involve substantial research and development and align with our program’s goals. Startups and entrepreneurs submitting a Project Pitch will receive feedback on whether their proposed technological innovation fits within NSF SBIR/STTR program criteria.

Before you begin your Project Pitch, take the Project Suitability Assessment to determine if your project aligns with NSF SBIR/STTR program objectives. Also, review the instructions and watch our videos for tips for submitting a great Project Pitch.

Here’s what we look for when determining which startups to fund:

Impact
Your innovation could make a difference to people worldwide or revolutionize an industry.
Technological Innovation
You need research and development funding to create new products, services, and other scalable solutions based on fundamental science or engineering. NSF does not fund straightforward engineering or incremental product development tasks.
Market Pull
You have evidence that your product or service could meet an important, unmet need for your customers.
Scale
If you successfully bring your product or service to market, it could form the foundation for a scalable business and make a large impact in your target market.

View these videos for tips on preparing a Project Pitch:

See if your project aligns with NSF objectives

Before you submit a project pitch, take this assessment to determine if your project meets NSF SBIR/STTR program objectives.

1. Breakthrough Technical Innovation

Your innovation should reflect a fundamentally different approach – one enabled by a novel methodology not currently addressed by existing solutions.

Does your company propose to research and develop a technological innovation that requires scientific and technical feasibility resulting from your or your team’s scientific or engineering insights that will create a new product or service distinct from existing products and services in the market.

Breakthrough Technology: Your innovation should be rooted in science, engineering, or deep technology while offering something significantly different from what exists today.

Yes. Examples: A new material with unprecedented strength-to-weight ratio; an AI-powered diagnostic tool for early disease detection grounded in proprietary datasets which are unable to be replicated by a technically competent competitor.

No. Not suitable: Feature upgrades to existing technology, build, exploratory design, test and optimization, incremental product improvements, application of existing in-house technologies to different vertical spaces.

2. Risky, Unproven Research & Development (R&D)

Will the proposed technology require substantial high-risk R&D to achieve practical implementation?

Strong Technical Objectives and R&D Plan: Commercially aligned quantitative technical objectives and research plan. You must clearly define the technical challenges and show how they relate to specific value propositions for customer and describe how you envision things might work when performing the research.

NSF wants to see the details of specific research methodology, experiments, prototypes, or tests you must run to demonstrate the potential feasibility of your product or service.
Feasibility must be unproven at the start of the project.

Yes. Examples: Developing a new battery chemistry that has not yet demonstrated commercial viability; creating a novel AI architecture that requires extensive testing to prove performance improvements; designing a new manufacturing process with unproven technical feasibility.

No. Not suitable: Routine engineering efforts, product customization, software implementation, standard testing and optimization activities, or scaling a technology that has already demonstrated feasibility.

3. Big Impact on Nation and Economy

Your innovation should address a problem of significant societal, economic, environmental, or national importance. The proposed technology should have the potential to create measurable benefits that improve lives, strengthen industries, increase resilience, or contribute to economic growth.

Does the proposed technology address a problem of significant societal or national importance?

High Potential Impact: NSF funds projects that have the potential to transform industries, improve quality of life, or address major national and global challenges.

Yes. Examples: Technologies that improve healthcare outcomes, increase energy efficiency, strengthen critical infrastructure, advance domestic manufacturing, improve food security, or create new economic opportunities.

No. Not suitable: Solutions that address narrow or limited-use problems without meaningful societal, economic, or commercial impact.

4. Technological Defensibility

Your innovation should be based on unique scientific or engineering insights that create a sustainable competitive advantage. The proposed technology should be difficult for technically competent competitors to replicate and provide meaningful differentiation from existing solutions.

Is the proposed technology difficult to replicate, even by experts in the relevant technical disciplines, thereby providing the basis for a sustainable competitive advantage over current technologies and methods?

Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Your project should demonstrate a unique technical insight, proprietary capability, or technological breakthrough that competitors cannot easily reproduce.

Yes. Examples: The potential for achieving proprietary algorithms, patented technologies, unique manufacturing methods, exclusive datasets, novel materials, or scientific discoveries that provide long-term differentiation.

No. Not suitable: Solutions that can be easily reverse engineered, replicated, or developed by competitors using publicly available approaches and existing technologies.

5. Commercial Potential

Your innovation should address a significant market need and demonstrate the potential to support a scalable commercial enterprise. The proposed technology should solve a meaningful customer problem while creating value that can drive market adoption and business growth.

Is there a significant market opportunity that will allow the creation of a scalable commercial enterprise?

Commercial Potential: The proposed innovation should demonstrate a clear market opportunity based on technical differentiation and the ability to address an unmet need.

Yes. Examples: Technologies that create new markets, significantly improve existing solutions, reduce costs, increase performance, or unlock opportunities for widespread adoption across industries.

No. Not suitable: Products with limited market demand, unclear customer value, minimal differentiation, or insufficient opportunity to support a sustainable business.

6. A Highly Qualified, Dedicated Team

Your team should possess the technical expertise, leadership, and commitment necessary to successfully execute the proposed research and development activities. The team should also demonstrate a strong motivation to pursue commercialization and build a successful company around the innovation.

Is the proposing team technically qualified to undertake the required R&D and motivated to aggressively pursue a commercial path?

Strong Technical and Commercial Team: Your team should have the expertise to execute the R&D and the motivation to build a successful company.

Yes. Examples: Teams with relevant scientific, engineering, technical, or industry expertise; founders with deep domain knowledge; advisors or strategic partners that strengthen technical and commercialization capabilities.

No. Not suitable: Teams lacking the technical expertise required to execute the proposed work, limited commitment to commercialization, or significant capability gaps without a clear plan to address them.

Based on your response, your project may be suitable for NSF funding. Before submitting your Project Pitch, review the information and instructions for preparing your pitch on the Project Pitch Instruction tab.

Submit your project pitch to apply for an NSF grant

We’re sorry your project does not appear to be suitable for NSF funding. However, we recommend you check out our Resources page for information on other opportunities and resources for your project.

If you answer “Yes” to all the questions, review the instructions on the Project Pitch Instructions tab and submit your Project Pitch online. If you answer “No” to any one of these questions, we’re sorry your project is not a good fit for NSF funding. However, we recommend you check out our Resources page for information on other opportunities and resources for your project.

*Please note that each company or individual may only submit one Project Pitch within each submission window and may only have one Project Pitch under review at a time. In addition, each company or individual may only submit two Project Pitches per year (12-month period), and three total Project Pitches for the same project regardless of topic or timeline.

Previously declined proposals require a new Project Pitch be submitted and invited. A company must wait for a response before submitting another. Any small business that has received an invitation to submit a full proposal must wait for a resolution of the full proposal before submitting a new or revised Project Pitch. If invited to submit a proposal, the proposals must represent a significant revision to the previously submitted SBIR/STTR Phase I proposal and must include a Resubmission Change Description describing these revisions, in the Other Supplementary Documents section.

Prepare your Project Pitch

The Project Pitch is intended to describe a brief overview of the technological innovation and the intellectual/technical merit, broader impact, and commercial potential. The key elements for the project pitch and instructions are described below.

1. The Technology Innovation. (Up to 3500 characters)
Explain the core high-risk technical innovation to be researched and developed during a Phase I project. NSF must understand what research and development is required and how this technical innovation differs from and is significantly better than existing solutions. It may also be that the proposed innovation creates a new market. In this case, why will it be adopted? Describing features or benefits of the proposed technology is not sufficient.

2. The Technical Objectives and Challenges. (Up to 3500 characters)
Clearly explain the specific research and development required to prove that the foundational technology works and address the associated challenges explicitly with a high level description of how each will be managed. This section must convey how the proposed work is technically innovative and demonstrate that you have an understanding of the core research and development tasks necessary to prove out the technical innovation.

3. The Market Opportunity. (Up to 1750 characters)
Explain the value of the technological innovation including the potential uses and those who will benefit (who is the customer) and demonstrate a high-level understanding of the competitive landscape and why this innovation has the potential to compete.

4. The Company and Team. (Up to 1750 characters)
Explain the team’s suitability to successfully execute the project based on the proposed innovation and approach to R&D. Provide information on plans to address gaps in the team.

What happens after you submit your Project Pitch

Typically, it takes about 1-2 months to get an official response from NSF staff.

If the Project Pitch indicates the innovation is suitable for the program, NSF will extend an official invitation for the company to submit a full proposal. If an invitation is not extended, a brief explanation will be shared with the company.