Deadline: 28 February 2019
Proposals are open for the 5th round of the “Grand Challenges Explorations India (GCE-India)” to identify, nurture and empower revolutionary ideas that address global health challenges.
GCE-India is an initiative to encourage and nurture innovation in areas that impact global health. This is the fifth call for proposals with the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (DBT), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as funding partners, IKP Knowledge Park, as an implementation partner, and the Program Management Unit at BIRAC as the management partner.
The initiative is looking for life changing ideas from talented and motivated professionals, and aim to encourage entrepreneurship in India. The ultimate goal is the quest for new medical technology devices, drug delivery systems, diagnostics, and technology enabled service models that can potentially be made available to people from all socio-economic strata.
Scope of GCE-India
GCE-India is seeking ideas to create medical devices, diagnostics, devices and technology enabled delivery systems that will address the health challenges listed below:
- Wearables and Technology for Improving Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health
- Explore New Ways to predict and prevent Neonatal sepsis
- Novel nutrition strategies for promoting health of mother and infants
- Novel strategies for developing methods for detecting, characterizing and preventing outbreaks of infectious diseases
- Innovation for the development of novel diagnostic system or technology to collect data on antibiotic dispersion
- Applications of AI (Artificial Intelligence) driven diagnostic approaches for detecting disease risk
- Technology to assess, monitor, and regulate mental health and substance abuse care in primary care settings
- Novel ways for ensuring effective health supply chain
- Exploring empowering solutions and novel technologies for health and well being management in geriatric population
- Innovation for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in rural and urban settings
- Explore ways of smart interventions for sustainable agriculture and nutrition security
Funding Information
- If selected, applicants will be eligible for an award of INR 50 Lakh for 18 months, and a prize of INR 10 Lakh for successful completion of milestones.
- Successful projects will also have the opportunity to apply for follow-on funds from BIRAC through the BIPP, SBIRI and/or the GCE Phase II program of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, BIRAC and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Eligibility Criteria
Indian Nationals can apply. Indian companies applying for the award should have Registration under Companies Act 1956, and must have 51% equity or shareholding by Indian Nationals only including NRIs. More than 49 % investments by OCI/PIO or any foreign entities will lead to ineligibility. NGOs/ Foundations/ Not-for-Profit Organizations/ Community bodies involved in social innovation or S&T activities must have active participation in India. They need to submit an illustration of their active programs in the country as well as their accomplishment when requested. The statutory recognition through Society Act or SIRO will add credentials when provided.
Selection Criteria
GCE-India seeks proposals that clearly demonstrate the attributes below:
- Novelty in innovation
- Potential Societal Impact
- Access and Affordability to end users
- Sustainability
- Alignment with goals of DBT, BIRAC, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and IKP
- 18 Month Plan and Execution Capability
How to Apply
Applicants can apply online via given website.
Eligible Country: India
For further information, please visit http://www.gce-india.org/