Gates Foundation Grand Challenges
Grand Challenges
Open continuously
No deadline — apply whenever you are ready.
A family of calls rather than one scheme. Grand Challenges Explorations-style awards have historically been around USD 100,000 for phase 1 with follow-on funding up to about USD 1 million; larger targeted challenges award more. Each challenge publishes its own award size.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
private · supranational
Deadline: cutoff — New challenges are issued regularly; over 250 challenges have been published. Recent examples include Innovations in Decentralized Pan-Orthoebolavirus Diagnostics (July 2026), the 2026 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting Call-to-Action (June 2026), Innovations in Cost-Disruptive Tools for Diagnosis and Screening (May 2026) and Breakthrough Innovations to Reduce Severe Acute Malnutrition Treatment Costs (March 2026).
This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.
Quick — mostly identity and bank details.
Who can apply
- Sectors: health, agri
- Stage: idea, pre_seed, seed
- R&D activity required
Open to individuals, universities, non-profits and companies worldwide; several challenges specifically prioritise applicants based in low- and middle-income countries.
How to apply
- Browse the open challenges list on gcgh.grandchallenges.org
- Read the individual challenge page for award size, eligibility and deadline
- Submit the online application before the challenge deadline
Source. https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/challenges — checked 2026-08-14
"We challenge innovators around the world to work on urgent priorities in global health and development. We issue new challenges regularly and award the most promising proposals with grant funding."