For more than a decade starting in 2004, Dr. Gaster was the lead researcher and principal drafter of a definitive series of assessments covering the nation’s premier programs for supporting innovative small businesses, the Small Business Innovation Research program and the Small Business Technology Transfer program.
These programs collectively provide more than $2 billion annually in nondilutive funding for innovative projects. The research conducted by Dr. Gaster involved reviews of the secondary literature, more than 100 interviews with small business leaders, detailed statistical analysis of program funding patterns (incluing analysis of diversity objectives and outcomes), and development of new survey methodologies for analyzing project outcomes.
More than a dozen major reports were completed, and were used by Congress to improve program design in the course of two program reauthorizations. Reports include:
SBIR at NASA (2016)
STTR: An Assessment of the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (2016)
SBIR at the Department of Defense (2014)
SBIR at the National Science Foundation (2015
SBIR/STTR at the Department of Energy (2016)
SBIR/STTR at the National Institutes of Health (2015)
An Assessment of the SBIR Program (2008)
An Assessment of the SBIR Program at the Department of Energy (2008)
An Assessment of the SBIR Program at the Department of Defense (2009)
Venture Funding and the NIH SBIR Program (2009)
An Assessment of the SBIR Program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (2009)
An Assessment of the SBIR Program at the National Science Foundation (2008)
An Assessment of the SBIR Program at the National Institutes of Health (2009)
Revisiting the Department of Defense SBIR Fast Track Initiative (2009)
An Assessment of the Small Business Innovation Research Program: Project Methodology (2004)