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| How many Point-of-Care Diagnostics grants will be funded and how much will the grants be? |
Assuming proposals of sufficient merit, this competition is expected to fund between 10-14 grants for an aggregate total cost of $30 million USD over three years. |
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| Is this Point-of-Care Diagnostics grant opportunity part of Grand Challenges Explorations? |
No. This Diagnostics grant program is part of the overall Grand Challenges in Global Health (GCGH) initiative. These grants are focused on developing innovative solutions to one of the major global health challenges outlined in the original goals of Grand Challenges, which is to develop technologies that allow assessment of multiple conditions and pathogens at the point-of-care. This grant opportunity is not on-going; Due to the inclement weather, we have extended our application deadline for the Grand Challenges for Global Health Diagnostics RFP to Friday, February 19, 2010, after which time applications will no longer be accepted. While Grand Challenges Explorations is part of GCGH, Explorations grants solicited and awarded multiple times per year, with each funding round addressing a few specific topics or themes. Explorations also target smaller projects that are at an earlier stage of discovery. For more information on this grant program, please click here. |
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| Can researchers working in the private sector apply for Point-of-Care diagnostics grants? |
Yes, we welcome letters of inquiry from individuals working in the private sector. |
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| How will intellectual property issues be managed? |
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation requires that, even at the LOI stage, all applicants seriously consider their willingness to submit a full proposal in compliance with the foundation’s proposal guidelines, a portion of which asks for certain information and intentions regarding intellectual property and global access concerns. Specifically, the foundation requires that you agree to use good faith efforts to conduct and manage the research, technologies, information and innovations involved in the Project in a manner that enables (a) the knowledge gained during the Project to be promptly and broadly disseminated, and (b) the intended product(s) to be made available and accessible at reasonable cost to the developing countries of the world. The Foundation refers to this as “Global Access.”
Applicants and their collaborators will be required to participate in the creation of a Global Access Strategy in an effort to codify their commitment to achieving the stated scientific and charitable goals of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote the utilization, commercialization, and availability of inventions for public benefit in developing countries. The Global Access Strategy will include provisions for the management, sharing and use of intellectual property, know-how and technologies to facilitate collaboration among the STAG, CBs and SIs with the goal of developing and delivering viable POC diagnostic platforms consistent with the TPP.
For detailed information, please refer to the Rules and Guidelines, section 6.9.
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| What amount of indirect cost is available? Do you accept my U.S. organization’s federally negotiated indirect cost rate? |
The foundation allows indirect cost within certain guidelines at the following rates: • 0% for governmental agencies, other private foundations, and "for-profit" organizations • up to maximum of 10% for U.S. universities • up to maximum of 15% for all other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations and non-U.S. universities Details of the foundation indirect cost policy guidelines can be found here. |
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| When is the LOI submission deadline? |
Due to the inclement weather, we have extended our application deadline for the Grand Challenges for Global Health Diagnostics RFP. Letters of Inquiry will now be accepted until Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 11:30 pm Pacific Time. |
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| When will invitations be issued to submit full proposals? |
Invitations to submit full proposals will be issued in April 2010. |
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| Is it possible to have multiple applicants on a proposal? |
Teaming and collaboration are welcome within a single application. However, applicants need to elect one primary contact per team. If awarded, the grant will be made to the Primary Investigator. |
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| Do you allow multiple submissions from the same institution? |
Yes, multiple submissions from an institution are allowed. |
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| Am I eligible to apply if I work in the private sector? |
Yes, we are accepting letters of inquiry from individuals at both private and public organizations. |
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| I am not presently employed by any organization. May I still apply? |
In order to apply, you must be affiliated with an organization. |
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| What are the criteria for selection? |
1. Significance/Topic Responsiveness. Is the proposal likely to result in or significantly advance a component technology that will add substantively to our ability to integrate a state-of-the-art point-of-care diagnostics platform?
2. Approach / Execution Plan. Are the conceptual framework, design, methods, and analyses innovative, adequately developed, well integrated, and appropriate to the aims of the proposal? Does the proposal acknowledge potential problem areas and consider alternative tactics? Is there a high likelihood of successful project completion? Are the proposed time line and interim milestones appropriate, feasible and technically sound?
3. Best Value. Proposals will be evaluated for the cost of the proposed effort relative to the complexity of the proposed work and the degree of risk and advancement proposed. Proposals that have execution plans which represent particularly thoughtful and efficient use of resources will be preferred over proposals representing comparable efforts that do not represent the same value for the investment.
4. Organizational and Investigator Capability. Is the research and development team appropriately trained, experienced and well suited to carry out this work? Is the work proposed appropriate to the experience level of the principal investigator and other researchers (if any)? Is there strong evidence of substantive organizational capability and commitment? Does the environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Do the proposed experiments take advantage of unique features of the scientific environments including partnerships with industry or employ useful collaborative arrangements? Is there adequate evidence of institutional support?
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| Is there a specific format for the application? |
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| Am I able to edit my profile and letter of inquiry once submitted? |
No, we encourage applicants to not upload until they have edited and completed their application. Once you submit, you can’t edit your document. |
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| Will you provide guidance on an application before I submit it? |
We are requiring the submissions of short LOIs in advance of the submission of a proposal. Proposals will be invited based upon the LOIs and guidance will be provided as appropriate as part of the invitation to submit a full proposal. |
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| What feedback can I expect if my LOI or proposal is not selected? |
We will not be able to provide feedback specific to the technical content of each proposal, however we will communicate with applicants once a decision has been reached. |
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| How do I submit my letter of inquiry? |
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| Do I have to submit my proposal using the online tool? |
Yes, all applications must be submitted through Unison, the foundation application portal. |
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| The application tool is not loading for me. What can I do to fix this? |
If other websites load normally, we might be performing maintenance on our site. Wait at least one hour and try the site again. If the issue persists, please email the specifics of your problem to grandchallenges@gatesfoundation.org. Please note that you will not be able to access the application tool using Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 or 4. Check your browser settings to enable Java Script and cookies. |
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| I have created an account for the Grand Challenges Exploration (GCE portal) or Clinical Studies Tracker. Do I need to create another account? |
No. You can sign in with the same email address and password that you have used on those sites. |
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| I forgot my password and cannot answer my security question. Where do I go for help? |
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| I forgot my password and answered the security question correctly. Where do I find my temporary password? |
When you first create an account, a temporary password is sent to the email address you have provided. If the email does not appear in your inbox please check your 'Junk Mail' folder or with your system administrator. Sometimes emails are blocked by an enterprise level spam filter. When you first log in using your temporary password, you will be prompted to change your password. If you still haven’t received a password, email grandchallenges@gatesfoundation.org. |
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| I’m having trouble uploading my application file. What should I do? |
You can upload many different file types including *.doc, *.docx, *.pdf. If you are having issues, please be aware that the site does not accept the following file extensions:
.ade, .adp, .app, .bas, .bat, .chm, .class, .cmd, .com, .cpl, .crt, .dll, .exe, .fxp, .hlp, .hta, .ins, .isp, .jse, .lnk, .mda, .mdb, .mde, .mdt, .mdw, .mdz, .msc, .msi, .msp, .mst, .ops, .pcd, .pif, .prf, .prg, .reg, .scf, .scr, .sct, .shb, .shs, .url, .vb, .vbe, .vbs, .wsc, .wsf, and .wsh.
Otherwise, try recreating your document using Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, or Word Pad and uploading again.
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| Will my data be lost if I navigate away from this site? |
The application tool will back up data entered into fields in real time as long as you are connected to the Internet. You will be logged out after twenty minutes of inactivity. Any changes or work not saved will be lost. |
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| I have tried to log in multiple times and I am now locked out of the system. What next? |
If you have entered the wrong password 10 times, you can either wait 20 minutes before trying to sign in again or click the I forgot my password link. |
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| I submitted my proposal but did not receive a confirmation. How would I know if my proposal went through? |
You will be prompted if you have not completed all required fields. The page will refresh and an onscreen confirmation is received. Our system automatically sends an email when you submit your proposal. Please check your junk mail folder if you have not received it in your inbox. |
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| Where do I go for Website related issues? |
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