Topics and Subtopics
Applicants are strongly encouraged to begin reviewing the topic and subtopic pairs as soon as possible. DOE releases topics twice a year, once in July, and again in November. The first release in July involves six participating DOE Research Programs in the Office of Science while the release in November originates with generally more applied DOE Research Programs:
Typical Topic Release Schedule | |
July | November |
Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, & Emergency Response | |
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The topic and subtopic pairs are developed by the various offices to contribute to DOE’s mission to “Ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.” Therefore, it is important that applicants understand the topic/subtopic pair they are responding to and the underlying needs of the issuing office. If the topics document references any specific research studies or prior related work, applicants should make themselves familiar with these earlier works and determine if they can offer anything to further the studies or to complement them in any way. To write a successful SBIR/STTR proposal, applicants must respond to the needs as outlined in the Topic/subtopic pair. In addition to carefully reviewing the topics document, applicants are also advised to spend time reading about the Program Office of interest's mission and research.
The Topics Document
| The table of contents within the Topics document lists the topics and subtopics by Program area. Underneath the Program Area Overview for a particular office, applicants will see the Topics for that area listed by number, and then listed under topic and marked with small letters (a, b, c, etc.) are the subtopics. Some topics may only have one subtopic, while others may have many. The contact information for Topic Authors is listed at the end of each section and applicants are encouraged to contact the individuals listed should they have any questions specific to understanding the intent of the topic/subtopic. |
Important Resources and Websites:
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