The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the opening of Round 3 of Grand Challenges Explorations, “a five-year, $100 million initiative to encourage bold and unconventional research on new global health solutions.” The Grand Challenges Explorations initiative “focuses on research areas where creative, unorthodox thinking is most urgently needed.” The topic areas for which proposals will be accepted in this round are:

– creating Low-Cost Diagnostics for Priority Global Health Conditions

– creating New Tools to Accelerate the Eradication of Malaria

– creating New Vaccines for Diarrhea, HIV, Malaria, Pneumonia and Tuberculosis

– creating New Ways to Induce Mucosal Immunity

Explorations offers researchers the chance to win $100,000 grants to further their research. Proposals are being accepted online at Grand Challenges in Global Health through May 28, 2009. Grand Challenges Explorations http://www.gatesfoundation.org/press-releases/Pages/round-three-grand-challenges-explorations-090402.aspx