NIST Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

NIST BAA — Cooperative Agreements

Offers external-research support through NIST-linked opportunities in measurement science and standards.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce established in 1901, issues Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) and Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) through Grants.gov to fund external research aligned with its mission of advancing measurement science, standards, and technology for U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness. Awards take the form of cooperative agreements, which involve active technical collaboration with NIST researchers rather than passive grant delivery. NIST's five laboratories — the Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL), Engineering Laboratory (EL), Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), Material Measurement Laboratory (MML), and Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) — each drive distinct topic areas spanning quantum information science, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, materials characterization, and advanced communications.

Eligible applicants include U.S. universities, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit companies. Individual applicants are not eligible. Intellectual property rights for nonprofits and universities follow the Bayh-Dole Act; IP terms for companies vary by solicitation. There are no standing award size limits across the BAA program — each individual solicitation specifies its own budget, period of performance, and technical scope. Opportunities are discoverable on Grants.gov by searching for NIST or CFDA number 11.609.

Because each solicitation is posted as a discrete opportunity, applicants should monitor Grants.gov continuously and review NIST's Technology Partnerships Office (TPO) announcements for new openings. NIST's SBIR program, administered by the TPO, allocated more than $1.8 million in 2025 and over $3 million in 2026 for small business topics tied to NIST measurement science priorities. Winning proposals demonstrate direct alignment with a specific NIST laboratory's research agenda and offer a credible collaborative role for NIST researchers — the cooperative agreement structure means NIST staff actively participate in the project.