Texas Skills for Small Business

The purpose of the FDA (R13) Scientific Conference Grant Program is to facilitate the provision of federal financial assistance in support of high-quality conferences and scientific meetings designed to research and investigate a topic clearly aligned with the FDA mission. The FDA recognizes the value of supporting high quality conferences and scientific meetings relevant to its mission and to the public health. A conference or scientific meeting is defined as a symposium, seminar, workshop, or any formal meeting, whether conducted face-to-face or virtually to exchange information and explore a defined subject, issue, or area of concern impacting the public's health within the scope of the FDA's mission. Permission to submit a conference grant application does not assure funding or funding at the level requested. FDA will not issue a conference grant award unless it can be issued before the conference start date.

The Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering program is part of the Engineering Biology and Health cluster, which also includes: 1) the Biophotonics program; 2) the Biosensing program; 3) the Cellular and Biochemical Engineering program; and 4) the Engineering of Biomedical Systems program. The Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering program supports fundamental engineering research that will improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities through the development of new theories, methodologies, technologies, or devices. Disabilities could be developmental, cognitive, hearing, mobility, visual, selfcare, independent living, or other. Proposed projects must advance knowledge regarding a specific human disability or pathological motion or understanding of injury mechanisms. Research may be supported that is directed toward the characterization, restoration, rehabilitation, and/or substitution of human functional ability or cognition, or to the interaction between persons with disabilities and their environment. Areas of particular interest are neuroengineering, rehabilitation robotics, brain-inspired assistive or rehabilitative systems, theoretical or computational methods, and novel models of functional recovery including the development and application of artificial physiological systems. Emphasis is placed on significant advancement of fundamental engineering knowledge that facilitates transformative outcomes. The DARE Program encourages high-risk/high-reward proposals that surpass incremental technological improvements. The DARE Program also encourages participatory design and the inclusion of trainees with disabilities as part of the proposed research or broader impacts. Innovative proposals outside of the above specific interest areas may be considered. NSF does not support clinical trials; however, feasibility studies involving human volunteers may be supported if appropriate to the project objectives. The development and application of artificial physiological systems that do not model functional recovery and instead improve fundamental understanding of physiological and pathophysiological processes would be appropriate for EBMS. Furthermore, the DARE program does not support proposals having as their central theme commercialization of a product. Small businesses seeking early stage R&D funding for product development are encouraged to contact the NSF SBIR/STTR program in the America's Seed Fund within the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP).

The award was created in honor of Mother’s Day and Founder’s First CEO Kim Folsom‘s mother, Catherine “Kitty” Abrams Tadlock Webster, who passed away in March of 2020. The Kitty Fund makes small micro investments in Moms who are running employer-based small businesses with two or more employees.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is intended to support novel environmental health research in which an unpredictable event or policy change provides a limited window of opportunity to collect human biological samples or environmental exposure data. The primary motivation of the NOFO is to understand the consequences of natural and human-made disasters, emerging environmental public health threats, and policy changes in the U.S. and abroad. A distinguishing feature of an appropriate study is the need for rapid review and funding, substantially shorter than the typical NIH grant review/award cycle, for the research question to be addressed and swiftly implemented. The shortened timeframe will be achieved by more frequent application due dates and expediting peer review, council concurrence and award issuance. The entire cycle, from submission to award, is expected to be within 4-6 months.

For Kentucky small businesses seeking international export assistance, the STEP grant provides reimbursement for allowable international export development activities including: participation in training workshops, international trade expertise and assistance, online e-commerce platform fees, marketing media, trade show exhibitions, and more.