SEATTLE --   The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today that it is accepting applications for Round 10 of its Grand Challenges Explorations initiative, a USD$100 million grant initiative encouraging innovation in global health and development research. Anyone with a transformative idea is invited to submit an easy, online, two page application. Proposals are being accepted at www.grandchallenges.org/explorations through November 7, 2012. Applicants from Africa, Asia, and the developing world are encouraged to apply.

Grand Challenges Explorations is pleased to have the opportunity to again partner with Cannes Lions on a topic that will identify new ways to communicate the impact of investments that support global development. It includes four specific submission categories for grant seekers. We hope these will solicit unique proposals from innovators around the world that the foundation can support as part of its overall mission to alleviate global poverty.

Topics for Grand Challenges Explorations Round 10:

• Aid is Working, Tell the World (Part 2) (in partnership with Cannes Lions)
• Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers(new!)
• New Approaches in Model Systems, Diagnostics, and Drugs for Specific Neglected Tropical Diseases(new!)
• New Approaches for the Interrogation of Anti-Malarial Compounds

"Bold thinking from the world’s innovators can address health and development challenges and make a big difference in the lives of those most in need," said Chris Wilson, Director of Global Health Discovery & Translational Sciences at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "We seek pioneering proposals that have the potential to improve the lives of millions."

The Gates Foundation and an independent group of reviewers will select the most innovative proposals, and grants will be awarded within approximately five months from the proposal submission deadline. Initial grants will be USD$100,000 each. Projects demonstrating potential will have the opportunity to receive additional funding up to USD$1 million.

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About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health with vaccines and other lifesaving tools and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to significantly improve education so that all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.To learn more, visit www.gatesfoundation.org. You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and our blog www.impatientoptimists.org.