Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - Global Grand Challenges: Innovative Data and Modeling Approaches to Measure Women's Health

This Grand Challenge aims to bridge this gap by fostering innovative modeling approaches that rethink how women's health is measured, using available data, or easily obtainable, in new ways to provide a more holistic and actionable understanding of health outcomes. Advances in data science, modeling techniques, technological development, and gender-sensitive approaches present a unique opportunity to innovate; especially when global systems are facing unprecedented shifts that could further increase gaps in equity. This Grand Challenge builds on the Women's Health Innovation Opportunity Map 2023, developed collaboratively by over 250 global stakeholders across 50 countries through the Innovation Equity Forum (IEF). The Opportunity Map identified key gaps and priorities in women's health, emphasizing the need for innovation across multiple areas, including data and modeling, health and economic impact, supply and access to services, and skills, knowledge, and networks. The Opportunity Map serves as a roadmap for transformative solutions that address systemic barriers and advance gender-equitable health outcomes for women.

This Grand Challenge seeks to advance innovative ways to measure women's health by either developing new measurement models or adapting existing ones to better capture the full scope of women's health burdens and progress. This Grand Challenge prioritizes solutions that leverage data sources that are existing or under development rather than relying on new, large-scale data collection efforts, ensuring sustainability and feasibility.

Applicants are encouraged to build upon existing work, whether by enhancing ongoing projects with a stronger gender-sensitive approach, refining existing models, or expanding available datasets in ways that align with the Challenge's objectives. While this Grand Challenge does not fund broad new data collection efforts, proposals that require small-scale dataset expansion - where such an extension would significantly improve gendered analysis that generate policy-relevant measurement approaches that improve how women's health is understood and addressed globally - may be considered

Full description available here

Funding: max. USD 150,000 (incl. 15% overheads)

Duration: 18-24 months

Eligibility: This initiative is open to nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, international organizations, government agencies and academic institutions. We particularly encourage applications involving projects led by women, early-career researchers and practitioners seeking to innovate in women's health measurement, or from women-led organizations and applications from institutions based in low- and middle-income countries. We also encourage collaborative submissions across disciplines such as economics, public health, and gender studies.

How to Apply: Applicants should start by creating a profile on the application portal. The proposal – 2 pages maximum – can then be uploaded. The budget table and narrative – template here - can be uploaded separately. Budgets should include 15% indirect costs. Upon registration, applicants must provide information about the tax status of their organization; please contact the Research Office for assistance.

Deadline: 25 March 2025 – 11:30 am PT

Further information

• More information about the program is available here
• The application portal can be found here
• For any other questions, please contact the Research Office