The University of Maryland announced Thursday an investment of $30 million to 50 projects aimed at addressing world issues through its Grand Challenges Grants program.
The funding initiative targets global problems including climate change, global health and education disparities and is the largest, “most comprehensive” program of its kind at this university, university administrators said in a campuswide email announcing the investment.
“This historic investment gives Terrapins great hope and inspiration that while the challenges we face are grand, they are not impossible,” university President Darryll Pines said in a news release.
The Grand Challenges Grants program, which launched in spring of 2022, asked faculty to propose initiatives that will tackle humanity’s most complex problems.
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The $30 million in investments will be split into four categories, including three institutional grants, six impact awards, 16 team project grants and 25 individual project grants. Each school and college in this university is involved with at least two of the awarded projects.
The institutional grants category will offer the highest level of funding, with a total of $3 million in the next three years for each of the projects. The three projects address climate change, food-energy-water solutions for a changing climate and literacy and equity disparities. Each project is led by faculty at this university.
Other initiatives will address racial and social justice, threats to democracy, pandemic preparedness, sustainability and more.
