The SBIR and STTR partner readiness checklist: a free template

The SBIR and STTR partner readiness checklist is a working document for a small business and its university or research-institution partner. It lists what both sides need to have settled before an SBIR or STTR proposal goes in, from eligibility, registrations, and the program rules to the subaward and the IP terms, so the proposal isn't held up by a registration that isn't finished, a split that doesn't add up, a PI who doesn't qualify, or an IP agreement nobody has started. Each of its 31 items says whether it applies to SBIR, STTR, or both, and has a box to tick, a box for not applicable, an owner, and a due date. A suggested timeline works back from the agency deadline, and the last section records the decisions both sides have made.

Who it's for

It's written for the founder or the small company's PI who's putting the proposal together, and it's just as useful for the faculty member who's been asked to join and for the sponsored programs office that has to sign. Work through it together in the first conversation about the proposal, and again a week before the institution's internal deadline. Start at least 12 weeks before the agency deadline if you can. Registrations alone can take six weeks or more, and NSF's Project Pitch typically takes one to two months to answer.

What's in it

1. Program, eligibility, and registrations. Have the current solicitation in hand, decide on SBIR or STTR, confirm the company is eligible, start its registrations early, and complete any first step the agency requires before a full proposal. STTR runs at six agencies (USDA, Defense, Energy, HHS, NASA, and NSF), and SBIR at those six and five more. From FY2027, which began on 1 October 2026, every agency must limit how many proposals a small business can submit, and HHS, which includes NIH, already accepts at most nine new and resubmission Phase I, Fast-Track, and Direct to Phase II applications per company per fiscal year.

2. The partner. For STTR, the partner has to be a research institution in the policy directive's sense: a nonprofit institution with a place of business in the United States, such as a university or nonprofit hospital, or a federally funded research and development center. The checklist also asks whether the work will be done in the United States, whether the lab's record fits your specific aims, whether a student or postdoc has time for the work, and whether the sponsored programs office knows the proposal is coming and what its internal deadline is.

3. Work split and budget. On an SBIR, the small business performs at least two-thirds of the work in Phase I and at least half in Phase II, and a different split needs the funding agreement officer's written approval. On an STTR, it performs at least 40% and the research institution at least 30%, and because that split is set by statute, there are no deviations. Agencies measure it by total award dollars or by labor hours, and the solicitation tells you which. The institution's budget carries its indirect costs, and on a grant, where the agency's terms usually apply the Uniform Guidance, the subaward uses its federally negotiated rate (2 CFR 200.332(b)(4)). The institution can choose to charge less, and some have published reduced rates for Phase I. As of April 2026, agencies may make Phase I awards of up to $323,090 and Phase II awards of up to $2,153,927 without SBA approval (SBIR.gov), and some agencies set lower caps.

4. People and disclosures. On an SBIR, more than half of the PI's employment has to be with the small business. On an STTR, the SBA rule lets the PI be employed primarily at either organization, but agencies add their own conditions. NIH requires an STTR PI to commit at least 10% of their time and to have a formal appointment with, or commitment to, the small business. NSF requires the PI to be primarily employed (at least 51%) by the small business and requires an STTR co-PI from the partner research institution. The checklist also covers effort at the institution, each senior or key person's biographical sketch and current and pending support, the foreign-risk questions the 2026 law widened, and conflict-of-interest disclosures, which from NIH Phase II on also go through the federal conflict-of-interest review.

5. Agreements and IP. For STTR, the allocation of rights agreement settles who owns the inventions, who files patents, and who may continue the research. The policy directive requires it before the award and says to submit it with the proposal and certify that it's satisfactory, so do exactly what your solicitation asks. For SBIR, the same questions are settled in the subaward. The checklist also covers background IP, invention assignments for everyone on the project, publication terms (a review period, a patent deferral, and no broader veto), and the institution's signed commitment.

6. Submission and after the award. Get the complete package to the sponsored programs office by its internal deadline. After the award, issue the subaward promptly, set the kickoff, and agree who decides what, how often you meet, and where a disagreement goes. Our free Governance Charter puts that in one document.

Record the decisions. Twenty fields capture the split and how it's measured, the budget and the indirect cost rate used, the PI and co-PI and their effort, the IP instrument and publication terms, the dates for the conflict-of-interest disclosure, the institution's notice and deadline, the commitment, and submission, and a confirmation line for each side.

How to use it with the Helikon platform

On the Helikon platform, you can find the partner first. Paste your specific aims into the Partner search tab, which matches researchers by what their publications, patents, and bios say and is unlimited on the free plan. A researcher's Funding tab lists the awards they've published on, including small-business awards their papers acknowledged. Then set up the proposal as a project with the SBIR/STTR agreement type, invite the institution's PI, and keep the completed checklist and the draft agreements in the project's files where both sides can see them. The tutorial Find an SBIR or STTR partner from your specific aims page walks through each step.

Download the template

Enter your name and email and the download starts here: the checklist as a Word document and a PDF. We'll send one email to confirm your address. The Word file is editable, so you can add rows for your agency's own requirements. Its boxes tick and its fields fill in on screen in Word, and the PDF prints for a paper copy.

The checklist is free to use and adapt within any organization, and to share with your partner institution. Please keep the attribution line: SBIR and STTR Partner Readiness Checklist, Helikon Labs, helikonlabs.com. It may not be resold.

The rules in it were checked against the sources below on 13 October 2026. Program rules change, so confirm each one in your agency's current solicitation. Helikon Labs isn't a law firm, so take the agreements to your counsel and the institution's research office.