Department of Homeland Security SBIR/STTR

A mandatory one-page Briefing Chart must be submitted as a PDF upload and is limited to 1 page. Offerors must use the Briefing Chart template provided in Attachment 3. The Briefing Chart MUST NOT contain proprietary or classified data.

The Phase I Technical Proposal (PDF upload) is limited to 20 pages. Proposals that do not contain all mandatory sections and/or exceed the page limitations are deemed NON-RESPONSIVE and will not be evaluated. It is the responsibility of the SBC to ensure that once the proposal is submitted and uploaded into the system, it complies with the page limits. The Technical Proposal must be a single file, including tables, figures, graphics and table of contents (if included). NOTE: For the most recent FY25.1 cycle, the Phase I Technical Proposal page limit was reduced to 15 pages.

Prepare the Technical Proposal in 12-point Times New Roman. The use of 10-point font is permissible for imbedded tables, figures and graphics.

The Technical Proposal must use 1-inch margins on 8.5" x 11" paper. Company name, topic number, and proposal number must be included in the header of each page; the header may be included in the 1-inch margin.

The Technical Proposal must be prepared in single-column format on 8.5" x 11" paper.

The DHS SBIR solicitation specifies single-column format, 12-point Times New Roman font, and 1-inch margins, but does NOT state a specific line-spacing requirement (e.g., single or double spacing) for the Technical Proposal. No explicit line-spacing rule was found in the solicitation text reviewed.

The Cover Sheet (completed electronically via the portal) includes a Technical Abstract limited to 250 words, a Project Aims section limited to 500 words (Government use only), and a Summary of Results section limited to 500 words (Government use only). The Technical Abstract must not include proprietary or classified information because it will be publicly posted on the DHS SBIR and SBA websites if the proposal is selected for award.

Do not lock, password protect, or encrypt the Technical Proposal file to be uploaded. Perform a virus check before uploading the Technical Proposal file; if a virus is detected it may cause rejection of the proposal.

The Phase I Technical Proposal must include the following sections in the order provided: (I) Identification and Significance of the Problem or Opportunity; (II) Phase I Technical Objectives; (III) Phase I Work Plan; (IV) Related R/R&D; (V) Key Individuals and Bibliography of Directly Related Work; (VI) Relationship with Future R/R&D; (VII) Commercialization Strategy; (VIII) Facilities/Equipment; (IX) Subcontractors/Consultants; (X) Potential Post Applications; (XI) Prior, Current, or Pending Support of Similar Proposals or Awards. Proposals that do not contain all mandatory sections are deemed NON-RESPONSIVE.

Only proposals submitted in response to topics contained in the Solicitation will be accepted and considered for awards. Unsolicited proposals will not be accepted. While the Phase II proposal process is covered in the Solicitation, the DHS SBIR Solicitation requests and accepts Phase I proposals only (all Phase I awardees are eligible to submit a Phase II proposal when notified by a Contracting Officer).

To receive SBIR funds, each awardee of a Phase I or Phase II award must qualify as a Small Business Concern (SBC) at the time of award and at any other time set forth in SBA's regulations at 13 CFR 121.701 through 121.705. Per DHS's FY25.1 eligibility guidance, an SBC must be a for-profit small business at the time of award, with fewer than 500 employees, primarily U.S. owned (defined as 51% of its ownership by U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens), and all R&D must be performed by the applicant and its subcontractors in the United States.

For both Phase I and Phase II, the primary employment of the Principal Investigator must be with the SBC at the time of award and during contract performance. Primary employment means that more than one-half of the PI's time is spent in the employ of the SBC. This precludes full-time employment with another organization.

Small Business Concerns that are majority-owned by multiple venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms are NOT eligible to submit proposals in response to the DHS SBIR Solicitation, nor are they eligible to receive a DHS SBIR award.

A minimum of two-thirds (2/3) of the research and/or analytical work in Phase I, as measured by total contract value, should be carried out by the proposing SBC. (For Phase II, a minimum of one-half should be carried out by the proposing SBC.) All R&D must be performed by the SBC and its subcontractors in the United States; if the SBC needs services from a non-U.S. source it must fully explain why a non-U.S. source must be used and why no qualified U.S. source exists.

In the 'Key Individuals and Bibliography of Directly Related Work' section, Offerors must identify any non-U.S. citizen(s) expected to be involved on the proposed project (including direct employees, subcontractors and consultants), their country of origin, type of visa or work permit under which they are performing, and an explanation of their anticipated level of involvement on the project. Do not include Privacy Act information.

Before an SBIR contract can be awarded, proposing firms must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). As of the current (FY25.1) cycle, a Unique Entity ID (UEI) and a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code are both created as part of the SAM registration process; SAM registration takes roughly 3-4 weeks. If you are not registered with SAM you cannot submit a proposal. (The FY20.1 solicitation stated SAM registration is highly recommended but not required at proposal submission, and referenced a DUNS number plus CAGE; DUNS has since been replaced by the SAM-issued UEI.)

At the time of proposal submission, each SBC must certify via the Cover Sheet that it meets the size, ownership and other requirements of the SBIR Program. DHS implements two certifications: (1) SBIR Funding Agreement Certification - Time of Award (Attachment 1), provided by the Contracting Officer for completion prior to issuing the Phase I/Phase II award if selected; and (2) SBIR Funding Agreement Certification - Life Cycle Certification (Attachment 2), included in resultant Phase I and Phase II contracts as a deliverable.

In order to prepare and submit SBIR proposals to DHS, Offerors must be registered in the DHS SBIR electronic online proposal submission system at https://sbir2.st.dhs.gov. Company registration is also required in the SBA Company Registry Database at http://sbir.gov/registration. Prior to submitting the complete proposal, each Offeror must (1) affirm registration in the SBA Company Registry, and (2) input the company's SBC Control ID number in the Company Data section of the DHS SBIR Cover Sheet. PROPOSALS WHICH FAIL TO COMPLY WITH THE ABOVE REQUIREMENT ARE NON-RESPONSIVE AND WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR AWARD.

The Cost Proposal is completed electronically via the DHS SBIR portal. Required elements: Direct Labor (name, labor category, labor hours, labor rate of each employee working on the project); Overhead Cost (current overhead rate, using a cognizant federal agency-approved rate if available); and Other Direct Cost (direct material, special testing, equipment, travel, subcontracts, etc.). For Phase I planning purposes, Offerors should budget for two mandatory trips to Washington, DC (a post-award kick-off meeting and a one-day meeting to present results in the final report).

Proposals submitted under the Solicitation will be considered valid for 180 days.

In the FY20.1 full solicitation, the Phase I cost ceiling is $150,000 over a 6-month period of performance, and the Phase I total is NOT inclusive of Discretionary Technical and Business Assistance. A firm-fixed-price (FFP) contract is awarded for all Phase I awards. All Offerors must submit a cost proposal via the DHS SBIR portal and proposed costs must not exceed the maximum thresholds. CAUTION: The claimed FY25.1 ceiling of $175,000 over 5 months could NOT be verified against the cited FY25.1 Pre-Solicitation source, which states no dollar figure or period of performance (it only notes that the Proposal Structure may be modified in the 25.1 Solicitation); the current cycle's ceiling must be read from the live solicitation.

DHS issues one SBIR solicitation per fiscal year, typically released in the November/December timeframe with a single Phase I submission window. For the FY20.1 cycle, proposals were due no later than 12:00 noon ET on January 22, 2020 (submission window December 19, 2019 - January 22, 2020). For the most recent FY25.1 cycle, Phase I proposals could be submitted December 17, 2024 through January 21, 2025 (deadline now passed). All proposals are submitted electronically via the DHS SBIR portal at https://sbir2.st.dhs.gov; paper/late submissions are not accepted. The exact deadline for any current open cycle must be read from the live solicitation.