GSIPM

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced that it is accepting proposals for Round 7 of its Grand Challenges Explorations initiative, a $100 million grant program designed to foster innovation in global health research.

The initiative provides grants of $100,000 to scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs so that they can pursue unconventional ideas with the potential to transform health in developing countries. Subjects for research in this round are:

• The Poliovirus Endgame–Create Ways to Accelerate, Sustain and Monitor Eradication
• Create the Next Generation of Sanitation Technologies
• Create Low-Cost Cell Phone-Based Solutions for Improved Uptake and Coverage of Childhood Vaccinations
• Design New Approaches to Cure HIV Infection
• Explore Nutrition for Healthy Growth of Infants and Children
• Apply Synthetic Biology to Global Health Challenges

To help uncover new ideas, the Grand Challenges Initiative seeks to involve researches around the world, including those who have not typically worked in global health.

The initiative uses a streamlined, online grantmaking process.  Applications are two pages, and preliminary data about the proposed research are not required. The foundation and an independent group of reviewers will select the most innovative proposals, and grants will be awarded within approximately four months from the proposal submission deadline.

Submission Deadline: May 19, 2011

For more information, or to apply, follow this link: www.grandchallenges.org