[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 7, Volume 15] [Revised as of January 1, 2005] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 7CFR3403.6] [Page 332] TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE CHAPTER XXXIV--COOPERATIVE STATE RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND EXTENSION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PART 3403_SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAM--Table of Contents Subpart C_Preparation and Submission of Proposals Sec. 3403.6 General content of proposals. (a) The proposed research must be responsive to one of the USDA program interests stated in the research topic descriptions of the program solicitation. (b) Proposals must cover only scientific/technological research activities. A small business concern must not propose product development, technical assistance, demonstration projects, classified research, or patent applications. Many of the research projects supported by the SBIR program lead to the development of new products based upon the research results obtained during the project. However, projects that seek funding solely for product development where no research is involved, i.e. the funds are needed to permit the development of a project based on previously completed research, will not be accepted. Literature surveys should be conducted prior to preparing proposals for submission and must not be proposed as a part of the SBIR phase I or phase II effort. Proposals principally for the development of proven concepts toward commercialization or for market research should not be submitted since such efforts are considered the responsibility of the private sector and therefore are not supported by USDA. (c) A proposal must be limited to only one topic. The same proposal may not be submitted under more than one topic. However, an organization may submit separate proposals on the same topic. Where similar research is discussed under more than one topic, the proposer should choose that topic whose description appears most relevant to the proposer's research concept. Duplicate proposals will be returned to the applicant without review. (d) The limitation on the length of phase I and phase II proposals, text instructions, and the formatting instructions will be identified in the annual solicitation.