Request for Proposals from Bill Gates Foundation: Grand Challenges Explorations in Global Health Research

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have announced the call for proposals for the Round 4 of the Grand Challenges Explorations in Global Health Research. The Grand Challenges Explorations initiative provides funding support for “innovative ideas that could lead to new vaccines, diagnostics, drugs, and other technologies targeting diseases that claim millions of lives every year.” The initiative intends “to accelerate the discovery of new technologies to improve global health” and this is done through an open, international competition where NGOs, international organizations, governments, academic institutions and even private companies from any part of the world can participate by submitting their ideas on the given topics.  This year, the topics for which the ideas will be considered are:

• Create New Technologies for Contraception
• Create New Ways to Induce and Measure Mucosal Immunity
• Create Low-Cost Diagnostics for Priority Global Health Conditions
• Create New Ways to Protect Against Infectious Disease.

The competition is unique in a way that it only seeks a two-page application and speedily processes it by making the results known in approximately three months. The initial grant offered to grantees is around US $100,000, but there is also the potential of receiving follow-up funding of up to one million dollars from the Foundation.

Innovation of the ideas proposed is critical to participate in the Grand Challenges Explorations. Although no data or background information, the short application should clearly demonstrate the experimental evidence of the idea proposed. Applications have to be submitted online. The last date for submitting the applications is 2 November 2009. For more information, visit this link.