About Grand Challenges

Grand Challenges was created to highlight the most important problems in global health and development and invite innovators to propose ideas about how to solve them. In 2003, the Gates Foundation launched Grand Challenges in Global Health, which focused on 14 major scientific challenges and awarded 44 grants totaling over $450 million for research projects. Between 2007 and 2020, the Gates Foundation ran Grand Challenges Explorations, to engage more innovators more quickly through $100,000 initial grants addressing a wide range of challenges. Since 2021, the Gates Foundation has issued challenges in many formats under the banner of Grand Challenges to advance high-priority global health objectives while supporting and expanding a locally led research and development ecosystem.

In the past two decades, Grand Challenges has evolved from one initiative led by the Gates Foundation into a family of initiatives led by governments, foundations, and nonprofits on four continents. (See here for the list of all partners and initiatives.)

The Grand Challenges partners continue to issue challenges, sometimes individually to meet needs in their geography and sometimes together to address shared priorities. Overall, Grand Challenges partners have funded more than 4,300 projects in more than 120 countries.

Every year, the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting brings together advocates, funders, policymakers, and scientists to foster collaboration, build momentum, and accelerate impact.