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Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (Phase I) is sponsored by U.S. Department of Education (ED) Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The ED/IES SBIR program provides funding for the rapid prototype development and evaluation of new education technology prototypes. This program aims to support innovative R&D with potential for commercialization and public benefit in education.
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Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) | IES Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program & Applicant Information Fiscal Year 2026 ED/IES SBIR Program Solicitation Information ED/IES SBIR: Frequently Asked Questions Preventing Fraud, Waste, and Abuse The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is administered out of its research office, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
ED/IES SBIR provides up to $1. 25M in funding in 2 phases: Phase I for $250,000 for 9 months for rapid prototype development and evaluation of new education technology prototypes and Phase II for $1,000,000 for 2 years for the full-scale development and evaluation of new education technology products. Program solicitations for Phases I and II are released annually.
Proposals are due approximately 60 later with award notifications announced 90 days or less from the submission date. Projects begin shortly after the award date. Since its inception as a program in 2002, ED/IES SBIR has made 258 Phase I awards and 99 Phase II awards, including one Direct to Phase II award.
Product Innovation. ED/IES SBIR-supported awardees have brought emerging and innovative forms of learning and instructional technologies to classrooms, such as games, assessments, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), 3D-printing, simulations, virtual worlds, artificial intelligence (AI) adaptive tutors, data dashboards, and assistive technologies.
Many of our products have won national industry awards for technological innovation in education. Research. ED/IES SBIR emphasizes rigorous and relevant research for all projects – through cycles of iterative studies with end-users (e.g., students, teachers) to inform refinements to prototypes and pilot studies.
Many ED/IES SBIR awardees publish research results in refereed journals and briefs summarizing key findings. Many awardees partner with researchers to continue evaluating their product's effectiveness after commercial launch. Read how one firm received an IES Research Grant for a multi-year efficacy evaluation after the conclusion of its ED/IES SBIR project.
Commercialization. ED/IES SBIR focuses on private sector commercialization after development is complete so that products can be disseminated to schools and be sustained over time. Each year, more than a million students and teaches from thousands of schools across the country use technologies developed through ED/IES SBIR.
Read these Success Stories. Bringing Research and Practice. Many ED/IES SBIR awards focus on developing products to advance previous IES-supported or university-based basic research into modern, scalable products ready for commercialization in schools.
Here’s how one firm developed a technology-based platform in support of an IES-supported evidence-based intervention. Annual Innovation Showcase. The ED Games Expo is an annual public event in Washington, D.
C. , attendees of all ages can demo more than 100 educational learning games and technologies and speak directly with the developers. The technologies at the Expo were developed through the ED/IES SBIR program and across more than 20 other government programs.
Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Federal Agency Sponsors About SBIR and Federal Agency Sponsors The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was established under the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 (P. L. 97-219).
Federal agencies with extramural research and development budgets over $100 million are required to administer SBIR programs using an annual set-aside of 2. 5% for small companies to conduct innovative R&D that has potential for commercialization and public benefit. At present, 11 federal agencies provide more than $2 billion annually to for-profit small business firms and their partners.
The federal agencies participating in this program include: the Departments of Education, Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Transportation; the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation. The U.S. Department of Education operates its SBIR program through the Institute of Education Sciences.
The current SBIR Policy Directive is posted on this page. For more information on the SBIR program, please go to www. sbir.
gov . Technical Assistance Disclaimer ED/IES SBIR program personnel are permitted to address questions about the programs and provide technical assistance related to project ideas prior to the release of the annual solicitation.
Following the FAR regulations, please note that during the period of time when the annual solicitation is open, program personnel and other government officials are not permitted to provide technical assistance or respond to questions from individuals who are preparing proposals in response to the program solicitation.
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According to the current listing, eligibility includes: For-profit small business firms. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows up to $250,000 (Phase I). Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
Applications for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (Phase I) are due June 29, 2026. Build your timeline backwards from this date to cover registrations, approvals, and final submission checks.
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (Phase I) is funded by U.S. Department of Education (ED) Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is sponsored by U.S. Department of Education (ED) Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The ED/IES SBIR program provides funding for small businesses to develop and evaluate new education technology prototypes (Phase I) and for full-scale development and evaluation of education technology products (Phase II). The program emphasizes rigorous research and commercialization potential.
AI-Augmented Learning to Expand Education Opportunities and Improve Outcomes (National AI Research Institutes - Theme 6) is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF) / U.S. Department of Education (ED) Institute of Education Sciences (IES). This theme within the National AI Research Institutes program focuses on research and development of AI-driven innovations to improve human learning and education. Proposals related to AI transparency in educational tools and systems could be relevant.
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (Department of Education - Institute of Education Sciences) is sponsored by U.S. Department of Education (ED) Institute of Education Sciences (IES). This program provides funding for rapid prototype development and evaluation of new education technology prototypes, including artificial intelligence (AI) adaptive tutors, data dashboards, and assistive technologies. It emphasizes rigorous and relevant research for all projects through iterative studies with end-users and pilot studies.
Educational Technology, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities Program (Stepping-up Technology Implementation competition) is sponsored by U.S. Department of Education. This program aims to improve results for students with disabilities by promoting the development, demonstration, and use of technology; supporting educational activities of value in the classroom for students with disabilities; providing captioning and video description; and ens…
The Robotics Grant Program is a grant from the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) that funds school-based robotics programs for elementary, middle, and high school students. Awarded through a competitive application process, the program provides up to $3,500 to eligible local education agencies (LEAs) in Alabama. Applicants must be public school systems submitting on behalf of schools with K–12 students. The grant supports the purchase of robotics equipment and program development aligned with AMSTI guidelines. Applications are submitted online through the AMSTI Robotics Grant portal. The Fiscal Year 2026 application deadline was September 30, 2025. Questions should be directed to robotics@amsti.org. The program is managed by the Alabama State Department of Education under State Superintendent Eric G. Mackey.
The Institute of Education Sciences released its FY26 SBIR solicitations on April 30 with a single hard deadline of June 29. The triple-track structure — Phase IA for novel concepts, Phase IB for new components, and Direct-to-Phase-II for evidence-based scale-up — codifies a sharper theory of how federal dollars should move education technology from research bench to classroom.
Read articleED/IES released its FY2026 SBIR solicitations on April 30, 2026, with Phase IA and Phase IB closing June 29 at 11AM EDT for \$250,000 nine-month feasibility awards, and Direct-to-Phase-II closing the same day at 2PM EDT for \$1,000,000 two-year commercialization awards. The program funds edtech for special education, general education, and education research tools — a structurally underserved category that most SBIR-active founders never consider. Direct-to-Phase-II requires evidence-based innovations originally developed by universities or non-profit research organizations, which makes it one of the cleanest IP-licensing-to-commercialization paths in the federal portfolio. Here is the eligibility analysis, the phase structure, the question deadline that already closed, and how to position for the June 29 windows.
Read articleNSF's CAREER program — a minimum $400,000 over five years for pre-tenure faculty — has a single annual deadline on July 22, 2026. It rewards the integration of research and education, not research alone, and that is exactly where most proposals fail. Here is the eligibility math, the integration trap, and how to position in a tightening federal funding climate.
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