On July 4, 2025, Congress passed the sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), a massive federal budget and tax package championed by the Trump administration. While headlines focused on tax cuts and healthcare reforms, the ripple effects for federal grants are...
The NIH just dropped a bombshell: AI-written grant proposals are officially out. Starting with the September 25, 2025 deadline, any NIH application that’s “substantially developed by AI” will be considered ineligible. If they catch it after an award’s made? You could...
You’ve found a great research partner at a university. You’re both excited about the science or tech, and now it’s time to roll that collaboration into your federal grant proposal. Perfect match, right? Not so fast. If your partner is coming on as a subawardee, you’re...
Setting Realistic Expectations for First-Time Applicants If you're gearing up to submit your very first SBIR proposal, let me start by saying: that's a huge milestone. It takes guts, vision, and no small amount of patience to even get to this point. But here's the...
If you're part of Nebraska's small business or startup community, you've probably heard the news: the Legislature's 2025–2027 budget process has left the Business Innovation Act (BIA) largely untouched—for now. While no official cuts have been confirmed, recent...
If you're running a startup or small business in deep tech, you already know how critical NSF's SBIR/STTR programs are. They offer that rarest of opportunities: serious funding to push bold ideas forward without giving up a slice of your company. But in April 2025,...
If you’ve been around the SBIR/STTR world for any length of time, you know how rare it is to see serious momentum behind structural reform. We’ve all heard the critiques, limited accessibility, poor commercialization outcomes, and the lingering issue of SBIR mills...
Why Technology Is Changing the Game If you're managing grants, whether you work at a nonprofit, a university, or you’re a startup founder diving into the SBIR/STTR world, you know the work is never just about writing proposals. It’s about juggling timelines, tracking...
The High Stakes of Federal Grants Federal grants provide crucial funding for organizations tackling everything from groundbreaking research to community development projects. But securing these funds is no easy feat—competition is fierce, and even small missteps can...
The rise of artificial intelligence is reshaping industries across the globe, and grant writing is no exception. As federal funding becomes increasingly competitive, particularly in programs like the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), grant writers and...
I recently had the opportunity to attend the National Grants Management Association’s (NGMA) Annual Grants Training (AGT) Conference, and it was an incredibly enriching experience. This conference is one of the premier events for grants management professionals,...