New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology

Offers grants, vouchers, and business support that connect New Jersey industry with universities and entrepreneurs for commercialization readiness.

New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology, or NJ CSIT, is a New Jersey state body created under P.L.2018 c. 91 to strengthen the state's innovation economy, connect industry and academia, and move research into high-growth businesses. It operates from Trenton and works under a memorandum of understanding with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, which administers its grants; that agreement was most recently amended in February 2026.

NJ CSIT backs New Jersey small businesses through direct grants, R&D vouchers, seed grants, and SBIR/STTR support. The current program set includes the SBIR/STTR Direct Financial Assistance Program, the Catalyst and Clean Tech R&D Voucher programs, and the Catalyst and Clean Tech Seed Grant programs, with awards ranging from $25,000 to $75,000 and a paused SBIR/STTR route that has supported Phase I, Fast Track, and Phase II federal awardees. Its sectors span biotech, food technology, artificial intelligence infrastructure, hardware, transportation, energy, climate, materials, and the built environment, and eligibility generally requires an operating New Jersey company with tax clearance, a local full-time worker, and most work performed in the state.

The commission's public-facing role is practical rather than ceremonial: it uses rolling or round-based grant programs to bridge research teams into commercialization, and it directs applicants through NJEDA-run portals instead of handling every step itself. Its published impact since 2020 points to 548 jobs created, $99.4 million in revenue, and more than $5.3 billion in follow-on funding across initial cohorts, which is why NJ CSIT is often the state's first stop for companies that need a small, targeted award to clear a technical milestone or carry a project between federal funding phases.