Creative, unorthodox thinking is essential to overcoming the most persistent challenges in global health. The first vaccines were developed over 200 years ago because revolutionary thinkers dared to try an entirely new approach to preventing disease.

The power of innovation is at work in countless other fields, from space travel to the Internet: now is the time to harness that power to save lives and improve the health of millions of people in the developing world.

Grand Challenges Explorations will foster early-stage innovation in global health research and expand the pipeline of ideas that merit further exploration.  The program will employ a new, fast-track approach to grant making, with short two-page applications and no preliminary data required.

First application acceptance period: March 31 - May 30, 2008.

Pre-registration deadline: May 15, 2008. 

Initial grants will be awarded multiple times per year at approximately $100,000 each.  An additional $1 million in funding will be available for projects that show promise. The first grants are expected to be announced by fall 2008.

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