In this instructional video, Stacy Chin walks small‑business owners through the NSF SBIR Project Pitch process after submission. She explains that a response typically takes about one month and that each company may have only one active pitch at a time, so no new pitches can be submitted while one is under review. Once a decision arrives, three outcomes are possible: (1) approval with an invitation to submit a full Phase I proposal, (2) a request for clarification, or (3) rejection. For each outcome she details the expected email format, the actions the applicant should take, and the timelines involved. In the approval case, she notes the invitation email includes pitch number, topic area, invite and expiration dates, and that the applicant has one year to submit the Phase I application, but approval does not guarantee award. For clarification requests, she lists typical NSF questions (e.g., concerns about incremental work, missing technical detail, lack of clear innovation) and advises drafting a concise ~500‑word rebuttal that expands on the original pitch without repeating it. In the rejection case, she enumerates common reasons (incremental or engineering‑only work, testing existing products, non‑technical activities, manufacturing, patent funding) and recommends two next steps: contacting the program director for feedback and possibly resubmitting a revised pitch that better aligns with NSF’s R&D mission. Throughout, she emphasizes professionalism, patience, and using feedback to improve future submissions.
Chapters
So after submitting your NSF Project Pitch application, it can take about 1 month to get an official response from an NSF staff member, likely from an NSF program director. And though it takes a while to learn about the outcomes of your application, do not get tempted to submit another one. This is a huge no-no. Each small business is allowed to submit 1 Project Pitch application at a time. So if you currently have a pending project application under review, you must wait for a response before you can submit another one. And this rule is in place to ensure that every application has been given the appropriate amount of attention and to maintain a level playing deal for all the applicants. And in the case that you did get your project pitch approved and receive an invitation to submit a full Phase I application, you then must wait for the final resolution of your Phase I application before submitting a new or revised project pitch application. So once you get a response about your project pitch outcomes from the NSF program director, 3 things can happen. One, your project pitch gets approved. Two, you get a request to provide some follow-up information to clarify something in your response. Or three, your project pitch gets denied or rejected. We'll go over each of these 3 cases. So you'll know exactly what to do within each of these scenarios. So let's start off with the best case scenario where your project pitch got approved. So in the best case scenario, you get a response from the NSF program director sharing that your project pitch application was approved, and a snippet of that email should look something like this. Here, this email should mention the project pitch number, the topic area, the invite date, and the expiration date. Importantly, they're also going to have the email and contact information of the NSF program director, which you're welcome to reach out with any questions. As a kind courtesy, some of my clients like to reply to this email, introduce themselves, and thanking them for the invitation to submit a full Phase I application. This is completely up to you. Now, there are two main important things to note. The day you receive the invitation, you have one year to prepare and submit a full Phase I application as a follow-up to your accepted project pitch. If you miss this deadline, you might have to reapply for your project pitch application again, and this is totally fine, but keep in mind that the NSF funding goals and objectives might change as time goes by. Just because you got your project pitch approved the first time around doesn't guarantee it will get accepted the second time around again. Another thing to keep in mind is that because you got your project pitch approved doesn't mean you have a leg up to get your SBIR Phase I application award. In fact, this is where the hard work begins. Now, in the next section of this module, let's chat about what happens if you get a response from the program director requesting for some follow-up information to clarify some things in your project pitch. Once you submit your project pitch application, it's a chance that an NSF staff member or program director might follow up with you in an email asking you to submit a response to clarify something within your project pitch application. A snippet of this email should look something like this. Now, if you get this response, do not panic. This happens all the time, and it does not mean your project pitch will get accepted or rejected. Rather, think of this as another opportunity to explain why you have something innovative and that your idea should deserve SBIR funding. So I'm sure you're wondering, what kind of questions do what they have for me? I want to be prepared. And that's a great question to have. So the NSF staff member or program director can ask you anything so that they can be assured that your NSF project pitch is aligned to the NSF scope and funding mission. So some examples could be, the scope seems to be focused on incremental improvements, optimization, or straightforward engineering, or testing or evaluation of a product or services. Please elaborate more so we can understand how this is aligned to the NSF's R&D-based mission. Another example could be, the application is missing details with regard to the proposed developments. They can also say, "This application appears to have incremental advancements of an already developed technology, which is generally not a good fit for the program." They can also say, "The proposed project has high-level impact statements identified. However, our solicitations requires a new technical innovation that enables new product features." And finally, another example could be, "The pitch describes in general terms what needs to be done but does not adequately clarify what the innovation is." What is technically challenging and why, and how the solution differentiates itself from preferable over existing solutions. So these are all very common follow-up prompts to consider, and very likely you're allowed to submit an additional 500-word response to address any of these concerns or questions that NSF staff members may have on your project pitch application. And this will be mentioned in an email. So here, take the time again to craft a really thorough, well-thought-out response to make sure to properly rebuttal any of the key points that was brought up in the email. And once you draft the response, there should be a link in the email where you submit your follow-up rebuttal. Here, it's also really important to know that the NSF staff member will have access to your original NSF project pitch application. So when drafting your response, it is important to not repeat anything that was already written in your project pitch. However, use this opportunity to further elaborate or dive deeper into more details of what is required based on what their requests were. So now, in the next section, let's chat about what happens if your project pitch unfortunately gets rejected. In this though, a snippet of the email should look something like this: Now, as mentioned in an earlier module, getting project pitch applications approved is becoming more and more difficult as time goes on. So in case your project pitch gets rejected, it doesn't mean your idea is bad, but rather this may not be aligned to the scope and missions of the NSF funding statement. And some reasons your project pitch may get rejected could be: you're proposing to conduct evolutionary developments or incremental modifications of established products or services, you're proposing to pursue straightforward engineering efforts, with little technical risks. Another reason for rejection could be that your application was proposing to evaluate or test existing products or to pursue basic scientific research unconnected to any specific market opportunity or potential new product or service. Or you could be asking to pursue non-technical efforts such as business development, market research, customer discovery, or sales and marketing. Also, they might reject your application if you're asking to do manufacturing, indirect R&D, or asking for funding to file patents. So if this is the case, then the NSF SBIR program may not be the right funding source for you and your startup. And this is a really good thing to know early on before you jump on the bandwagon to dedicate your sweat, blood, and tears to prepare a really big full Phase I SBIR application, which is a very time-consuming and resource-intensive process. So in case you find yourself with a rejected SBIR project pitch application, there's a couple of things you can do. First, you can reach out to the program director and kindly ask if they have time to jump on a call to discuss the outcomes of your project pitch application. Here, the goal is to understand the reasons behind the your project pitch and why it got rejected and to seek advice on possible improvements. Second, you can also try again and resubmit a new proposal by aligning or pivoting your original scope and focus in a different direction. And this could involve fine-tuning your original idea or even exploring other potential options. And depending on your idea and counsel from the NSF staff member, you may be better positioned to resubmit a completely revised project pitch application to increase your chances of approval for the second time around.
