NTESS and one or more participants outside the federal government collaborate and share the results of a jointly conducted research and development project. Participants can be domestic or foreign and generally come from industry, nonprofit organizations or academia.
Becoming a Collaborator
The System for Award Management (SAM) is a government portal that enables secure registration as a potential CRADA Partner with Sandia National Laboratories. Register at www.sam.gov.
Registration in SAM requires completion of all information including checking all appropriate boxes for NAICS codes and Small Business Socio-Economic Categories Small Business Definitions. The Small Business Administration has a very informative website, www.sba.gov. Click here to go directly to the small business definitions.
The PDS is a document that captures basic company information of prospective partners (e.g., signatory, technical points of contact, location of business etc.). VERY IMPORTANT: Processing of a finalized CRADA package cannot occur unless the PDS is complete in its entirety. Access the PDS here.
Drafting a potential Statement of Work will be greatly facilitated if the following is considered prior to initiating discussions:
- work start dates
- period of performance length
- the scope of work
- if the proposed work will utilize more than one capability or core competency of your institution
Funding
All funding transferred to Sandia through a CRADA is subject to the 3% FAC which is mandated by the DOE. Exemptions to the FAC are provided to small businesses, non-profit organizations, universities, and state governments.
As a full cost recovery laboratory, Sandia is required to have funding in advance of work performed. Funding can be provided in totality in a one-time lump sum payment or through a pay plan.
If a pay plan is utilized, the DOE requires Sandia to have a 60 day reserve and the first 30 days of funding provided in advance of work (both the 60 day reserve and initial 30 days of work are calculated at a flat-line rate).
If your institution requires a purchase order number on invoices or some other unique requirement in order to make payment, please identify the special requests up front so as to facilitate the smooth receipt of funding upon CRADA execution.
All CRADAs require a measurement of the CRADA Partner’s in-kind contribution which is a non-cash value. In-kind contribution is a numerical total of a CRADA Partner’s salary, equipment value, travel, or other miscellaneous expenditures that occur throughout the natural course of the work under the CRADA. In-kind totals are on the aggregate, can be estimated and often match the value of the funds-in if any; in-kind contributions do NOT measure an actual transfer of funds. Please see in-kind guidance for more information.
Terms and Conditions
NTESS provides the prospective CRADA participant with terms and conditions that are pre-approved by NTESS legal, DOE legal, and the DOE Contracting Officer. ANY deviation from the preapproved terms and conditions WILL delay work start dates as each proposed modification must be approved by both NTESS legal and DOE legal. While the Agreement is between National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC and the CRADA Participant, all CRADAs entered into by NTESS must be approved by the DOE Contracting Officer at the DOE Field Office.
It is important to note that the legislative intent of the authorization legislation for CRADAs (Stevenson-Wydler Act) is for technology transfer from the laboratory to industry for the benefit of the United States economy. As such, the rights and conditions in the CRADA are meant to facilitate commercialization and to augment the CRADA Participant’s ability to impact its industry.
Small Businesses
NTESS is dedicated to strengthening national and regional economies by providing collaborative opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses. We seek out innovative small companies that can provide unique insight into a varying and complex range of research and development projects. Through the Stevenson-Wydler Act, Sandia provides special consideration to small businesses when entering into a CRADA but such consideration is limited by funding requirements and technical considerations.
Any small business that works with NTESS must meet the definition of a small business and must be registered as a small business at www.sam.gov. For more information about small businesses and CRADA opportunities at NTESS please email us at CRADA@sandia.gov.
Small businesses may find the new Quick CRADA to be an appropriate mechanism to start collaborative work quickly. Participants who choose the Quick CRADA benefit from no negotiations and expedited processing.
Express Your Interest
If you are interested in working collaboratively with NTESS but have not yet identified or been in contact with a member of NTESS’s technical staff, we can help facilitate a prospective match. Please provide a non-proprietary description of your technology and or capability area of interest to CRADA@sandia.gov. The CRADA Team can look internally at NTESS’s program areas and query members of the technical staff in a targeted fashion to see if there is potential for collaborative work.