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NAICS Playbook · Research & Development

Federal proposal tools for NAICS 541715

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences

Bid software for R&D — Physical/Engineering/Life Sciences contractors

VETR Proposal is federal proposal tools for a code where most small-business entry is SBIR, STTR and subcontracts rather than open competition. Those instruments have their own submission mechanics and unforgiving formats, and a strong proposal is routinely lost on a compliance failure. VETR extracts every submission instruction as a tracked requirement and runs a readiness check across coverage and package completeness before you file.

NAICS 541715 covers basic and applied research across physical, engineering, and life sciences. Heaviest spend at NIH, NSF, DoE national labs, DARPA, ONR, AFRL, NASA — small businesses participate via SBIR/STTR + subcontracts.

$46.4B in federal contracts obligated in FY2025· USASpending.gov

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Federal contracting in NAICS 541715 at a glance

SBA size standard

1,500 employees (1,000 for some sub-NAICS)

Per SBA's table of small business size standards (13 CFR 121.201), as published for 2023. Some codes carry footnoted exceptions. SBA revises these — confirm the current standard at sba.gov before you certify your size on an offer.

Top buying agencies

DoD (DARPA, ONR, AFRL)
HHS (NIH)
NSF
DoE
NASA

Common contract types

  • SBIR Phase I/II/III
  • STTR
  • Cooperative Agreements
  • BAA-driven contracts

Common vehicles

  • SBIR.gov solicitations
  • Agency BAAs
  • Lab IDIQs
The VETR Framework

How VETR applies to NAICS 541715 pursuits

Four pillars, calibrated to how R&D — Physical/Engineering/Life Sciences contracting officers actually evaluate proposals.

V

Value

Applied to NAICS 541715

R&D evaluators score scientific merit and commercialization plausibility. VETR's win-themes library covers Phase III commercialization framings that SBIR Phase II proposals score on.

E

Experience

Applied to NAICS 541715

Past performance for R&D weighs publications, patents, and PI credentials. VETR's past-performance records support those fields alongside conventional contract data.

T

Teaming

Applied to NAICS 541715

STTR mandates a research-institution partner (university or FFRDC). VETR's teaming CRM supports academic partner records with PI + IRB info.

R

Responsiveness

Applied to NAICS 541715

SBIR Phase II proposals have hard page limits and rigid section structure. VETR's compliance matrix maps every shall-statement to the right section.

Agencies that buy heavily in NAICS 541715

Agency-specific playbooks for the top buyers in this code

Win your next NAICS 541715 contract

VETR turns your strengths into evidence the contracting officer will score. Free for 14 days, no credit card.

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