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UC San Diego Launches Big Ideas Initiative

Two private philanthropy opportunities will be announced this month prompting the launch of UC San Diego's Big Ideas Initiative, designed to uncover and support the growth of a "collaborative of big ideas to solve some of the pressing global issues of our time." The Audacious Project provides between $25M - $100M to create change that impacts millions of lives, and the MacArthur Foundation's 100&Change program provides $100M to implement a solution to a global challenge. In anticipation of these funding opportunities, and to identify competitive projects that are ready for consideration, we will be hosting an information session for prospective faculty and support staff.

To accommodate schedules, there will be two 1-hour informational workshops on Thursday, April 18 at 10 am and 1 pm in The Lounge at The Faculty Club. In addition, between x-apple-data-detectors://6, members of the Foundation Relations team and ORA's RPDS staff will be available for one-on-one idea review and discussions. Individuals and teams of faculty and eligible PIs are encouraged to bring their big ideas forward for discussion around these two opportunities and others that may be available for your subject area.

We are pleased to invite you to attend one of the workshops or stop by during the open session. Please RSVP by emailing foundationrelations@ucsd.edu and note your department and/or center affiliations. If you are planning to be available for the personal meetings, please note your preferred time.

This marks the beginning of a focused initiative to stimulate and support transformative big ideas from our campus community, especially as they align to the strategic priorities of UC San Diego. We look forward to uncovering the innovative solutions that will help solve some of our world's most critical challenges.

Pradeep K. Khosla Chancellor Sandra Brown Vice Chancellor - Research