In accordance with H.R. 5667, Sec. 108, enacted in Public Law 106-554, as amended by H.R. 1540, Sec. 5137, enacted in Public Law 112-81, the National Research Council is to review the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs at the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation. Building on the outcomes from the Phase I study, this second study is to examine both topics of general policy interest that emerged during the first-phase study and topics of specific interest to individual agencies.Drawing on the methodology developed in the previous study, an ad hoc committee will issue a revised survey, revisit case studies, and develop additional cases, thereby providing a second snapshot to measure the program's progress against its legislative goals. The committee will prepare one report on the SBIR program at each of the five (5) agencies listed above, providing a second review of the operation of the program, analyzing new topics, and identifying accomplishments, emerging challenges, and possible policy solutions. The committee will prepare an additional report focused on the National Science Foundation Phase IIB Program and a third report focused on the STTR Program at all five agencies. The agency reports will include agency-specific and program-wide findings on the SBIR and STTR programs to submit to the contracting agencies and the Congress. Although each agency report will be tailored to the needs of that agency, all reports will, where appropriate:1. Review institutional initiatives and structural elements contributing to programmatic success, including gap funding mechanisms such as applying Phase II-plus awards more broadly to address agency needs and operations and streamlining the application process. 2. Explore methods to encourage the participation of minorities and women in SBIR and STTR. 3. Identify best practice in university-industry partnering and synergies with the two programs. 4. Document the role of complementary state and federal programs. 5. Assess the efficacy of post-award commercialization programs. In addition, the committee will convene symposia to gather information on specific topics related to the SBIR/STTR programs overall or specific agency requests, with some of the workshops resulting in an individually-authored summary of the event. The project is sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The approximate start date for the project is 6/1/2007.Several reports will be issued in the course of the project as noted above. NOTE: (07-31-2013): The Project Scope was updated to include DOE and NIH among the sponsors and the project end date has been extended to December 2015.NOTE: (01-05-2017: End date has been extended to December 2016.