This FAQ is designed to provide quick answers to common questions about this solicitation. It covers important information to help applicants navigate the process. If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, please email proposals@smartusatwins.org.
General Questions
The Budget form spreadsheet is also located within the OpenWater proposal submission form. Once you begin the proposal submission process, click on the SMART USA Budget link found in the Preliminary Budget Upload section.
The template is also located within the OpenWater proposal submission form.
The Research Overview template is required with all proposal submissions, as indicated on the last page of the OpenWater proposal submission form.
One Research Overview template is required for each organization listed as part of the project.
SMART USA provides strict guidelines in the OpenWater template for the research project page. Each section of the form has specific limits that must be adhered to when adding your research into our collaborative research management platform. To ensure that each organization on the proposal gets to display their work appropriately, please include one research overview page per organization in your submission.
You can download the Quad Chart PowerPoint template here.
This single slide is designed to provide a high-level overview of the project’s budget, funding, duration, objectives, and key deliverables for quick review by the SMART USA Project Portfolio Board. Specific formatting requirements are provided in the template.
In the OpenWater proposal submission form, you will find a field where you can upload the requested slide in PDF format.
The lead organization is responsible for:
- Contracting with sub-awardees
- Monitoring sub-awardees work
- Evaluating sub-awardees completed work, their invoices and paying their invoices
- Billing SMART USA for sub-awardee costs (typically as a single line item on their invoice)
Employees of member organizations who are based outside the United States may follow the progress of the projects. However, with prior approvals from SMART USA, they can also actively lead and engage with research. For more information, please consult Article XII of the membership agreement.
Any individual who is legally authorized to work in the United States including U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and individuals holding valid work visas is eligible to participate on a proposal team as a collaborator or liaison. Those affiliated with a SMART USA member organization may also serve as the lead Principal Investigator (PI) when submitting a proposal. Eligibility is subject to the terms outlined in the membership agreement. Please refer to Section 13.2 and Article XII of the membership agreement for full details.
Yes, an organization may submit multiple proposals. However, no individual may serve as Principal Investigator (PI) on more than two proposals.
Solicitation 3 is for proprietary projects.
Finance Questions
No. SMART USA will not receive or pay sub-awardees of the lead organization directly. The lead organization handles all sub-awardee invoicing and payments.
No. Only the lead organization should submit invoices to SMART USA. Sub-awardees must submit their invoices to their respective lead organization.
The organization that is spending the funds issues the invoice.
No. Only the lead organization is responsible for approving and paying sub-awardee invoices. If there is an issue with the performance of the sub-awardee, SMART USA Institute and the lead organization will work together to resolve it. Institute members provide their funding on projects at the proposal stage. Those funds are then considered committed, and no additional approvals are required by the Institute member.
SMART USA Institute collects the dues or the overallocation of dues and adds them to the members project budget with the 0.5x multiplier.
Yes! You must meet the minimum required in-kind cost share of $1 of in-kind for every $1 of institute cash but can contribute more in-kind cost share above this ratio if you wish.
Institute cash refers to funds received by the Institute from members as payment for their dues.
Yes, an organization may overcommit its anticipated allocation when submitting proposals. However, if projects are selected that require funding beyond the anticipated allocation, the organization will be required to provide additional dues that result in an annual project budget that matches the budget proposal. Note that federal funds are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis to match the committed cash dues as we continue to enroll members.
Each project as a whole must satisfy the required cost share ratios. However, each member is also responsible for meeting their own membership requirements. Membership requirements can be fulfilled through participation in multiple projects.
Yes! The project award budgets show how cash and in-kind from membership dues will be spent. There are no additional cost share contributions above membership dues necessary for project awards.
Membership Questions
Yes, you can submit a proposal as a lead PI while you wait for SMART membership review. Compliance to the review process, SMART approval, and a fully executed membership will be required for next steps.
Lead organizations submitting a project proposal on behalf of a project team must be a SMART USA member at the time of project proposal submission to SMART USA.
All other project team members receiving funds, such as sub-awardees, must join SMART USA before any research project funding agreement is signed. Please include a letter of commitment or support from each nonmember sub awardee at the time of proposal submission.
Yes, sub awardees can join as a member and their annual dues plus the 0.5x multiplier can be included in the project budget. Their portion of funds will only be committed by SMART USA when they become member and pay their annual dues as per the agreement. Please include a letter of commitment or support from each nonmember sub awardee.
Yes, you can upgrade your annual dues as part of the proposal. The annual dues plus the 0.5x multiplier can be included in the project budget. The portion of funds will only be committed when you pay the additional amount of annual dues as per the agreement amendment. Please note once membership dues are increased to a higher amount, they will remain at the higher level for the remainder of the term.
Commercialization Questions
The intent of the Commercial Viability and Domestic Production (CVDP) framework is to ensure that federally funded research and development efforts yield tangible economic and national security benefits for the United States. This includes fostering domestic innovation, enabling scalable production, and safeguarding critical technologies.
Outcomes may take various forms—such as commercial products, operational capabilities deployed within member manufacturing facilities, or workforce training programs that enhance the use of advanced tools like digital twins for efficient manufacturing operations. Each initiative should demonstrate a clear customer value proposition (could be internal customers), address unmet needs in the current state-of-the-art, and offer benefits that are broadly applicable across multiple organizations. It should also avoid duplicating existing capabilities (e.g. competitive offerings) and have a viable path to scale
We are concerned with getting the project outcome to a product ready state which means it is able to be adopted or used at scale. A customer can come in many forms. It does not necessarily have to be for outside partners, nor must it have a price tag on it, as is the case with open source technology and standards. It is the utilization or adoption of that product that is considered commercialization.
Additional FAQs will be added as needed. For questions regarding this call for funding, please email proposals@smartusatwins.org.
