Changes to your organization and pivots

It’s a good idea to run any potential changes to the project by your NSF program director.

Changes in research scope

Any changes in the research scope must be approved by your program director in advance.

Revised budget

You will need NSF approval to make changes (by more than 5 percent of the total) to your budget. Please email your program director for permission and next steps.

Principal investigator

If there is a need for a change in the Principal Investigator (PI), please notify your program director immediately. A PI change must be submitted via FastLane and must be approved by NSF. Learn more about how to submit a PI change request through FastLane.

Company name changes

You must obtain NSF’s approval to change your organization’s name or transfer the NSF award to a successor/parent company. Please notify your program director of any potential changes to your organization’s name or structure as early as possible (ideally before the process begins), and they will be able to provide more information.

Pivots

The NSF SBIR/STTR program is heavily focused on commercialization and we recognize that early-stage companies need to make course corrections (pivots) as they discover more about their own technology and their target markets. Please contact your program director if you feel you need to pivot, and they will discuss with you the proposed changes. We are generally supportive of evidence-based pivots.