Federal Grants

As I said before, you do NOT apply for most federal grants. They are extremely narrow in their focus and are extremely competitive. They are still worth mentioning and looking into, because it is possible to attain a federal grant. But it is quite difficult and can take years!

You can attain a federal grant if for example you are an inventor and have an invention that fits the needs of the U.S. Government, there may be some funding for you.

Before you do anything, make sure that you have a legal patent or have a patent pending on the invention. Just be aware of the many “rip-offs” in this area and really do your research on any company that offers to help you get a patent.

Another area of interest to the Federal Government is the ability to take research and development products and make them available to the public at large. This is known as technology transfer. Most major universities have a program or a department that deals with this area.

Go to: http://www.grants.gov/search/searchHome.do to get more details on grants that are available for these two areas.

The last time I searched that site there were many (a few hundred) possible grants available. It makes for some very technical reading, but if you are in the fields in which they are interested, it should not be a problem for you.

If you are interested in technology transfer, the premier institution in the nation is the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center, located in Wheeling, West Virginia.

They get a huge amount of Federal funds to help you get an invention to market. Go to http://www.nttc.edu/ to find out more.

Information on both research/development and technology transfer is also available at The Small Business Administration website, http://www.sba.gov/sbir/

There are a lot of opportunities here, and a lot of money to be granted. But once again, it is very competitive and you must know exactly what you will be using the grant for and how you will accomplish your goals.