NextFlex COVID-19 Funding Opportunity

Over the past few weeks NextFlex has received multiple requests for ideas and proposals from government agencies for ways that the institute community can help the nation’s response to COVID-19, future pandemics, and impact of the impact of the current crisis on the industrial base and supply chains. To that end, we’ve developed a quick and straight-forward process to collect these ideas so that we may direct them in the appropriate way. Several agencies have offered funding support for ideas that aid in the areas of greatest need as defined by those agencies.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) initiated this current funding opportunity for rapid, high-impact projects that support the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. NextFlex members can submit proposals for funding through NextFlex. This will be a rolling submission process, but we encourage you to submit your ideas as soon as possible.

Most urgently, ideas are sought for projects that may include, but are not limited to, medical countermeasures; non-medical countermeasures; leveraging institute capabilities to strengthen state and community resilience; grants to companies and technical support to accelerate productions of critical materials, equipment, and supplies; creation of additional production facilities; technology roadmapping for pandemic response and recovery; reshoring the manufacture of critical conventional drugs and ensuring supply chain for critical materials related to pandemic response; or workforce development and training for a skilled advanced manufacturing workforce.

Click here to submit your project idea(s). NextFlex will review proposals on a weekly basis. Thank you for your help in finding ways to leverage our talent, our technology, and our community to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.