“First in the World Challenge” Initiative

About “First in the World Challenge” Initiative:

• The “First in the World” Challenge, inspired by the success of Chandrayaan-3, is a major initiative of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) designed to promote the development of groundbreaking health technologies.
• The scheme aims to foster novel, out-of-the box, futuristic ideas, new knowledge generation, discovery/development of breakthrough health technologies (vaccines, drugs/therapeutics, diagnostics, interventions, etc.) that have never been thought of, tested, or tried in the world till date.
• This high-risk, high-reward program will provide funding for projects at various stages, from proof-of-concept to prototype and final product development.
• The proposal must have bold research ideas with significant wide-ranging impact and, if successful, should have potential ‘first of its kind’ biomedical and technological innovations for better health outcomes in the global context.
• Proposals aiming for ‘incremental’ knowledge’ or ‘process innovation ‘will not be funded through this scheme.
• The proposals can be submitted by an individual or by a team of researchers (either from a single institute or from multiple institutes).
  • Every team application must designate one Principal Investigator from the team who will be responsible for technical, administrative, and financial deliverables.
• Selection: A selection committee will be formed by experts of high repute, innovators, policymakers and scientists with outstanding record of conducting research and innovation in the biomedical domain.
• This initiative will inspire our scientists to come up with innovative ideas for finding solutions to difficult health problems.

Q1: What is the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)?

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi is the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination, and promotion of biomedical research. It is one of the oldest medical research bodies in the world. Its vision is to translate their research into action for improving the health of the population.

Source: ICMR announces ‘First in the World Challenge’ to encourage scientists to find innovative ideas to tackle health issues