15 C.F.R. § 296.2

Current through October 31, 2024

Section 296.2 - Definitions

Award means Federal financial assistance made under a grant or cooperative agreement.

Business or company means a for-profit organization, including sole proprietors, partnerships, limited liability companies (LLCs), and corporations.

Contract means a procurement contract under an award or subaward, and a procurement subcontract under a recipient's or subrecipient's contract.

Contractor means the legal entity to which a contract is made and which is accountable to the recipient, subrecipient, or contractor making the contract for the use of the funds provided.

Cooperative agreement refers to a Federal assistance instrument used whenever the principal purpose of the relationship between the Federal government and the recipient is to transfer something of value, such as money, property, or services to the recipient to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by Federal statute instead of acquiring (by purchase, lease, or barter) property or services for the direct benefit or use of the Federal government; and substantial involvement is anticipated between the Federal government and the recipient during performance of the contemplated activity.

Critical national need means an area that justifies government attention because the magnitude of the problem is large and the societal challenges that need to be overcome are not being addressed, but could be addressed through high-risk, high-reward research.

Direct costs means costs that can be identified readily with activities carried out in support of a particular final objective. A cost may not be allocated to an award as a direct cost if any other cost incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances has been assigned to an award as an indirect cost. Because of the diverse characteristics and accounting practices of different organizations, it is not possible to specify the types of costs which may be classified as direct costs in all situations. However, typical direct costs could include salaries of personnel working on the TIP project, travel, equipment, materials and supplies, subcontracts, and other costs not categorized in the preceding examples. NIST shall determine the allowability of direct costs in accordance with applicable Federal cost principles.

Director means the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Eligible company means a small-sized or medium-sized business or company that satisfies the ownership and other requirements stated in this part.

Grant means a Federal assistance instrument used whenever the principal purpose of the relationship between the Federal government and the recipient is to transfer something of value, such as money, property, or services to the recipient to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by Federal statute instead of acquiring (by purchase, lease, or barter) property or services for the direct benefit or use of the Federal government; and no substantial involvement is anticipated between the Federal government and the recipient during performance of the contemplated activity.

High-risk, high-reward research means research that:

(1) Has the potential for yielding transformational results with far-ranging or wide-ranging implications;

(2) Addresses areas of critical national need that support, promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States and is within NIST's areas of technical competence; and

(3) Is too novel or spans too diverse a range of disciplines to fare well in the traditional peer-review process.

Indirect costs means those costs incurred for common or joint objectives that cannot be readily identified with activities carried out in support of a particular final objective. A cost may not be allocated to an award as an indirect cost if any other cost incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances has been assigned to an award as a direct cost. Because of diverse characteristics and accounting practices it is not possible to specify the types of costs which may be classified as indirect costs in all situations. However, typical examples of indirect costs include general administration expenses, such as the salaries and expenses of executive officers, personnel administration, maintenance, library expenses, and accounting. NIST shall determine the allowability of indirect costs in accordance with applicable Federal cost principles.

Institution of higher education means an educational institution in any State that-

(1) Admits as regular students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate;

(2) Is legally authorized within such State to provide a program of education beyond secondary education;

(3) Provides an educational program for which the institution awards a bachelor's degree or provides not less than a 2-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree;

(4) Is a public or other nonprofit institution; and

(5) Is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association, or if not so accredited, is an institution that has been granted preaccreditation status by such an agency or association that has been recognized by the Secretary of Education for the granting of preaccreditation status, and the Secretary of Education has determined that there is satisfactory assurance that the institution will meet the accreditation standards of such an agency or association within a reasonable time (20 U.S.C. 1001 ). For the purpose of this paragraph (l) only, the term State includes, in addition to the several States of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Freely Associated States. The term Freely Associated States means the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.

Intellectual property means an invention patentable under title 35, United States Code, or any patent on such an invention, or any work for which copyright protection is available under title 17, United States Code.

Joint venture means a business arrangement that:

(1) Includes either:

(i) At least two separately owned companies that are both substantially involved in the project and both of which are contributing to the cost-sharing required under the TIP statute, with the lead company of the joint venture being an eligible company; or

(ii) At least one eligible company and one institution of higher education or other organization, such as a national laboratory, governmental laboratory (not including NIST), or nonprofit research institute, that are both substantially involved in the project and both of which are contributing to the cost-sharing required under the TIP statute, with the lead entity of the joint venture being either the eligible company or the institution of higher education; and

(2) May include additional for-profit companies, institutions of higher education, and other organizations, such as national laboratories and nonprofit research institutes, that may or may not contribute non-Federal funds to the project.

Large-sized business means any business, including any parent company plus related subsidiaries, having annual revenues in excess of the amount published by the Program in the relevant FEDERAL REGISTER notice of availability of funds in accordance with § 296.20 . In establishing this amount, the Program may consider the dollar value of the total revenues of the 1000th company in Fortune magazine's Fortune 1000 listing.

Matching funds or cost sharing means that portion of project costs not borne by the Federal government. Sources of revenue to satisfy the required cost share include cash and third party in-kind contributions. Cash may be contributed by any non-Federal source, including but not limited to recipients, state and local governments, companies, and nonprofits (except contractors working on a TIP project). Third party in-kind contributions include but are not limited to equipment, research tools, software, supplies, and/or services. The value of in-kind contributions shall be determined in accordance with § 14.23 of this title and will be prorated according to the share of total use dedicated to the TIP project. NIST shall determine the allowability of matching share costs in accordance with applicable Federal cost principles.

Medium-sized business means any business that does not qualify as a small-sized business or a large-sized business under the definitions in this section.

Member means any entity that is identified as a joint venture member in the award and is a signatory on the joint venture agreement required by § 296.8 .

Nonprofit research institute means a nonprofit research and development entity or association organized under the laws of any state for the purpose of carrying out research and development.

Participant means any entity that is identified as a recipient, subrecipient, or contractor on an award to a joint venture under the Program.

Person will be deemed to include corporations and associations existing under or authorized by the laws of the United States, the laws of any of the Territories, the laws of any State, or the laws of any foreign country.

Program or TIP means the Technology Innovation Program.

Recipient means an organization receiving an award directly from NIST under the Program.

Small-sized business means a business that is independently owned and operated, is organized for profit, has fewer than 500 employees, and meets the other requirements found in 13 CFR part 121.

Societal challenge means a problem or issue confronted by society that when not addressed could negatively affect the overall function and quality of life of the Nation, and as such justifies government attention.

State, except for the limited purpose described in paragraph (l) of this section, means any of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States, or any agency or instrumentality of a State exclusive of local governments. The term does not include any public and Indian housing agency under the United States Housing Act of 1937.

Subaward means an award of financial assistance made under an award by a recipient to an eligible subrecipient or by a subrecipient to a lower tier subrecipient. The term includes financial assistance when provided by any legal agreement, even if the legal agreement is called a contract, but does not include procurement of goods and services.

Subrecipient means the legal entity to which a subaward is made and which is accountable to the recipient for the use of the funds provided.

Transformational results means potential project outcomes that enable disruptive changes over and above current methods and strategies. Transformational results have the potential to radically improve our understanding of systems and technologies, challenging the status quo of research approaches and applications.

United States owned company means a for-profit organization, including sole proprietors, partnerships, limited liability companies (LLCs), and corporations, that has a majority ownership by individuals who are citizens of the United States.

15 C.F.R. §296.2