The US Department of Energy (DOE) on 21 May announced $34m in 219 grants to 183 small businesses in 41 states for research into innovations that advance its mission. The awards are funded through DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programmes, and are for Phase I research and development.
Phase I grants are 6-12 months in duration with a median award amount of $150,000. Successful Phase I grantees will be eligible to compete for Phase II awards in fiscal year 2019 that will allow them to develop novel prototypes or processes to validate their Phase I research findings. Phase II grants have a median award amount of $1,000,000 and a duration up to two years. They include awards the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation; the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability; a modular radiological survey imaging system; high radiation resistant, low cost superconducting strands for fusion magnet applications; the Office High Energy Physics; and Spacer grids for accident-tolerant fuel assemblies.
