The Office of Foundations Relations is pleased to share three open calls for funding from the Gates Foundation.
- UCSC Contact: Sarah Carle | sacarle@ucsc.edu
- Funder: The Gates Foundation Global Grand Challenges
1- Opportunity: Innovations in Cost-Disruptive Tools for Diagnosis and Screening
This Grand Challenge seeks cost-disruptive tools for diagnosis and screening, defined as devices that amortize capital to near-zero incremental cost and consumable $1-class tests that materially reset the cost curve in LMICs while meeting real-world deployment constraints. Accordingly, this initiative aims to translate these cost-disruptive concepts into scalable solutions across high-priority disease areas. See full call announcement here.
2- Opportunity: Novel Interventions Targeting Placental and Gut Inflammation to Improve Fetal Growth
Fetal Growth Restriction (FGR), also known as intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), is a major contributor to stillbirth, neonatal mortality, and lifelong morbidity. This Grand Challenge includes three funding tracks designed to accelerate mechanistic discovery, candidate advancement, and early validation of interventions targeting maternal gut-placenta inflammatory axes and oxidative stress to improve fetal growth outcomes. See full call announcement here.
3- Opportunity: Addressing Physiological Barriers to Micronutrient Absorption from Fortified Foods
This Grand Challenge solicits applications that advance innovative approaches to better understand, measure, and mitigate infection, inflammation- and microbiome-mediated constraints that limit the impact of fortification interventions. The goal is to overcome key biological barriers and unlock the full potential of fortification programs to accelerate equitable gains in nutrition and health. See full call announcement here.
Timeline:
Apr 28, 2026, 11:30 am PDT Applications due
Special Requirements:
Please notify the Office of Foundation Relations if you are interested in applying to this opportunity (fr@ucsc.edu). Please submit a proposal intake form prior to UCSC’s internal Institutional Deadlines. For support developing your proposal, please send a request to the Office of Research Development, resdev@ucsc.edu. Within the Division of Social Sciences, please contact Ashlee Tews (ashleeac@ucsc.edu) to initiate notification and proposal support.
Call sent: April 6, 2026
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The Office Foundation Relations is a unit of University Advancement. The FR team creates and maintains mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with private organizations, matching grant initiatives with educational and research programs and centers. FR supports faculty and staff to identify and approach these and other private foundations and corporations for funding, to assist in strategic positioning of the grant application, and to facilitate funder campus visits. For a list of recent funding opportunities, please visit the FR website: FR Calls for Funding.