Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)

The Department of Energy announces the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Phase I (Release 2). The objectives of these programs include increasing private sector commercialization of technology developed through Department of Energy supported research and development (R&D), stimulating technological innovation in the private sector, and improving the return on investment from Federally-funded research for economic and social benefits to the nation. DOE will support high-quality research or R&D on advanced concepts concerning important mission-related scientific or engineering problems and opportunities that are likely to lead to significant public benefit from promising research.

Amount: $150,000 (must partner with a small business)

Date due: January 31, 2012

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Financial Education grants

The National Endowment for Financial Education, a nonprofit, national foundation wholly dedicated to improving the financial well-being of all Americans, has announced guidelines for its 2011 grant program.

The NEFE grants program seeks to fund innovative research and research-based development projects that can make a profound contribution to the field of financial literacy. Inquiries are encouraged from disciplines in fields as diverse as behavior, economics, neuroscience, sociology, psychology, marketing, finance, education, change theory, decision sciences, and others.

Of particular interest are pro-active research projects whose findings may cultivate critical thinking in the financial literacy community. Also of interest are development projects that put research recommendations into action. Project outcomes must be capable of achieving traction and measurable impact with audiences such as financial education intermediaries, researchers, practitioners, decision makers, and others who can achieve effective outreach to a target population with an unmet financial literacy need or to the general public.

Amount: Varies

Date due: June 7, 2011

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Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program stimulates technological innovation in the private sector by strengthening the role of small business concerns in meeting Federal research and development needs, increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results, and fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses.The SBIR program solicits proposals from the small business sector consistent with NSF's mission. The program is governed by Public Law 112-1. A main purpose of the legislation is to stimulate technological innovation and increase private sector commercialization. The NSF SBIR program is therefore in a unique position to meet both the goals of NSF and the purpose of the SBIR legislation by transforming scientific discovery into both social and economic benefit, and by emphasizing private sector commercialization. Accordingly, NSF has formulated broad solicitation topics for SBIR that conform to the high-technology investment sector's interests.The four broad topics are: Biological and Chemical Technologies (BC); Education Applications (EA); Electronics, Information and Communication Technologies (EI); Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, and Manufacturing (NM).

Amount: Varies

Date due: June 10, 2011

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The NSF-Census Research Network (NCRN)

The National Science Foundation and the U.S. Census Bureau invite teams of researchers to submit proposals for the conduct of long-term interdisciplinary research and educational activities on methodological questions of interest and significance to the broader research community and the Federal Statistical System, particularly the U.S. Census Bureau. The activities will be expected to advance both fundamental and applied knowledge, and contribute to the training of the next generation of researchers in research skills of relevance to the measurement of economic units, households, and persons.

With these awards, NSF and the U.S. Census Bureau will create a Network of Nodes (NoN) with complementary research foci. The research program will be defined to include the major measurement challenges of the social, behavioral, and economic sciences relevant to the U.S. Census Bureau. When appropriate, research may be conducted in collaboration with scientists at the U.S. Census Bureau or other federal statistical agencies. Nodes may conduct independent research activities and/or partner with existing Census Research Data Centers (RDCs).

Date due: February 16, 2011

Amount: Varies

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Institute for New Economic Thinking inaugural grants

The Institute for New Economic Thinking, launched in 2009 with a $50 million pledge from George Soros to promote changes in economic theory and practice through conferences, grants, and education initiatives, has announced that it is accepting proposals for its inaugural research grant program.

The program, one of the institute's major initiatives , will award grants to individuals and institutions pursuing ground-breaking, high-impact research in the field of economics.

The institute plans to award approximately fifty grants a year ranging between $30,000 and $250,000 each. The grants are primarily intended to fund individuals or organizations affiliated with academic institutions, think tanks, and critical research centers. The institute is especially interested in funding early stage research and research scholars of the next generation, and also recognizes that related disciplines such as history, political science, psychology, and adaptations from the physical sciences may offer much value for the institute's program.

The institute is currently accepting proposals for the inaugural grant program, with particular emphasis on the following areas of study: political economy(the state, economy, and their interaction); theories of finance, radical uncertainty, asset price swings, and the interaction between financial and real economic cystems; new approaches to empirical macroeconomics; network and systems theory; economic history; history of economic thought; human capital and growth; and development and economic inequality.

Date due: July 31, 2010 (Initial proposal)

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Enterprise Solutions to Poverty

The SEVEN Fund is a virtual nonprofit entity run by entrepreneurs whose strategy is to markedly increase the rate of innovation and diffusion of enterprise-based solutions to poverty. SEVEN believes that such solutions already exist but are not sufficiently studied, analyzed, and exhibited as examples.

The SEVEN Fund has published its annual open "Enterprise-based Solutions to Poverty" Request for Proposals. The competition will award up to two research grants of up to $100,000 each to support innovative original research in enterprise solutions to poverty.

The RFP has four goals: 1) to expand scientific inquiry to include disciplines fundamental to a deep understanding of entrepreneurship and economic development currently unsupported by conventional grant sources; 2) to forge and maintain useful collaborations between researchers and on-the-ground actors of enterprise-based solutions to poverty; 3) to provide the public with a deeper understanding of this area and its potential implications; and 4) to find, research, and analyze role-model entrepreneurs and companies whose lesson may inspire others.

Amount: $100,000

Date due: October 15, 2010

For more information, click here.

FINRA Investor Education

The FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) Investor Education Foundation, formerly known as the NASD Investor Education Foundation, supports innovative research and educational projects that give investors the tools and information they need to better understand the markets and the basic principles of saving and investing.

Date due: March 4, 2010

Before submitting a full grant proposal, applicants must submit a simple, three-page Project Concept Form. Eligible applicants whose projects closely align with the foundation's priorities will be invited to submit a full grant proposal. The foundation accepts Project Concept Forms at any time during the year. Project Concept Forms received by March 4, 2010 will be entered into the application process for a September 2010 funding decision.

For more information, click here.