1 Introduction
When creating a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the solicitation owner may choose whether applicants will need to submit a presubmission. One type of presubmission is called a Letter of Intent (LOI). The solicitation will provide guidance on required content and deadline for the LOI submission.
The purpose of this document is to provide step-by-step instructions for users to follow to submit an LOI to an SBIR solicitation.
2 Prerequisites
Before an LOI can be submitted, the following criterion must be met:
- The user must be registered to a Small Business in PAMS.
3 Submitting a Letter of Intent
Use the following steps to access a solicitation and submit an LOI.
3.1 Finding a Solicitation
Use the following steps to find an appropriate solicitation.
3.1.1 Before Login
Use the following steps to access a list of solicitations prior to logging in to PAMS.
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2. PAMS will load the Select a Solicitation List page, which contains links to FOAs and DOE National Laboratory Announcements (Figure 2). Click View a list of Funding Opportunity Announcements to view a complete list of active FOAs.
| You can view a complete list of DOE National Laboratory Announcements by clicking the View a list of DOE National Laboratory Announcements link, but you cannot submit an SBIR LOI to a National Laboratory Announcement. |
Figure 2. Select a Solicitation List
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Figure 4. Funding Opportunity Announcements – List – Submit Letter of Intent
3.1.2 After Login
Use the following steps to access a list of solicitations after logging in to PAMS.
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4. Once you’ve chosen a solicitation, click the Actions/Views dropdown and select Submit Letter of Intent (Figure 4).
3.2 Creating a Letter of Intent
An LOI has six sections: Solicitation Information, PI Information, SRO/BO/AO Information, Subcontractor/Consultant Information, Project Information, and Letter of Intent (Figure 5).
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Figure 5. Submit Letter of Intent (LOI)
3.2.1 Solicitation Information
1. The Solicitation Number field will prepopulate with the number of the solicitation you selected on the previous page (Figure 6).
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Figure 6. Submit Letter of Intent (LOI) – Solicitation Information – Institution
3.2.2 PI Information
1. The PI Information section will populate once you select a PI. Click Select PI to generate a list of users registered to your Small Business in PAMS (Figure 7).
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Figure 9. Submit Letter of Intent (LOI) – Change PI
3.2.3 SRO/BO/AO Information
1. The SRO/BO/AO Information section will populate once you select an SRO/BO/AO. Click Select SRO/BO/AO to generate a list of users registered to your Small Business in PAMS (Figure 10).
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Figure 12. Submit Letter of Intent (LOI) – Change SRO/BO/AO
3.2.4 Subcontractor/Consultant Information
1. This section is optional. If you intend to contract a subcontractor or consultant on the award, you can include that information in the Subcontractor/Consultant Details field (Figure 13).
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Figure 13. Submit Letter of Intent (LOI) – Subcontractor/Consultant Information
3.2.5 Project Information
1. Enter a title in the Letter of Intent Title field (Figure 14).
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Figure 15. Submit Letter of Intent (LOI) – Project Information – SBIR Phase
| If you select Phase II, Phase IIA, or Phase IIB, PAMS will require you enter a number in the Award Number field. |
3. Click the Topic dropdown and select a topic (Figure 16).
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Figure 18. Submit Letter of Intent (LOI) – Project Information – Select Subtopic
3.2.6 Letter of Intent
1. You must attach your LOI as a separate file in the Letter of Intent section. Click Attach file and then Browse to search for the document you wish to submit (Figure 19).
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Figure 19. Submit Letter of Intent (LOI) – Letter of Intent – Browse
| You may include a description of 500 characters or less for your LOI in the Description field. |
2. Once you have selected a document, click Upload to upload the file to PAMS (Figure 19).
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7. Begin at step 1 above to reattach an LOI.
3.3 Submitting a Letter of Intent
Use the following steps to submit your LOI to DOE.
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Figure 24. Submit Letter of Intent (LOI) – Letter of Intent – Submit to DOE, Save, Cancel
| You may save your LOI at any time during the presubmission process. To do so, click the Save button in the bottom right corner next to the Submit to DOE button. |
2. After clicking Submit to DOE you will receive a Success Message confirming that your LOI was submitted successfully (Figure 25).
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Figure 25. My Letters of Intent (LOI) – Success Message, List
3.4 Reopening a Letter of Intent
Use the following steps to reopen an LOI.
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5. PAMS will load the Edit Letter of Intent (LOI) page, populated with all of the information you entered on the Submit Letter of Intent (LOI) page (Figure 5). Make any necessary edits, and then click Submit to DOE in the bottom right corner to resubmit the LOI.
| You may reopen a submitted LOI at any time prior to the LOI deadline. However, reopening an LOI removes it from consideration. As such, if you do not resubmit an LOI prior to the deadline, it will not be considered in response to that solicitation. |
6. PAMS will reload the My Letters of Intent (LOI) page with a Success message confirming that the LOI was submitted successfully (Figure 25).
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