The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) supports innovation in the United States through competitively awarded funding to companies pursuing early-stage high-risk Research and Development (R&D). Each year, companies propose R&D projects to the ATP, and the project proposals are evaluated for technical and economic merit through a competitive review process.

In the competition for the year 2000, ATP evaluated 417 R&D project proposals involving 555 applicant organizations. Of these, 58 projects, representing 85 organizations, were selected for funding awards. The number of company applicants exceeds the number of project proposals submitted to ATP because some ATP projects are joint ventures.

ATP accelerates the development of innovative technologies for broad national benefit through partnerships with the private sector. To help assess the effectiveness and impact of the program, ATP's Economic Assessment Office (EAO) sponsored a survey of all company applicants to ATP in the year 2000 funding competition. The Survey of Applicants 2000 is an important evaluation tool for assessing overall characteristics of applicants to ATP, as well as comparing program effects on awardees and nonawardees. The survey findings provide valuable evidence on the impact of ATP.

The new survey builds on a previous survey of applicants to ATP.† The survey research company Westat was hired to support survey development and data collection for the new survey. All for-profit company applicants to ATP in the year 2000 were included in the survey sample; other organizations, such as universities and non-profit organizations, were not included. Survey responses were obtained from a total of 346 companies, including 74 companies that were awarded funding as well as 272 companies not selected for an award.

The following series of factsheets present findings from the Survey of Applicants 2000.

1. Why Do Companies Apply for ATP Funding?
   
2. Funding Sources for Innovative R&D
   
3. ATP Funds High Risk and Long Term R&D Projects
   
4. ATP Fosters New R&D Directions and Partnerships
5. ATP Helps Companies Work with Universities
   
6. ATP Promotes Public Benefits and Knowledge Diffusion
   
7. ATP Awards Attract Additional Funding
   
8. What Happens to Nonfunded Projects?
   
9. Time and Cost for ATP Proposal Preparation
   
10. Applicant Perceptions of the ATP Proposal Process
    
11. Descriptive Statistics for ATP Applicants: Company Size and R&D Effort
    
12. Survey of ATP Applicants 2000: Methodology and Respondent Characteristics

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† See Feldman, M.P. & Kelley, M.R. (2001). Winning an award from the Advanced Technology Program: Pursuing R&D strategies in the public interest and benefiting from a halo effect. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology. NISTIR-6577.

Return to Table of Contents or go to Factsheet 1.

Date created: June 24, 2003
Last updated: August 2, 2005

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