BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION GLOBAL HEALTH PROGRAM

Grantee Organization Name

Grant #

Interim Scientific Progress Report

Guidelines – Grand Challenges

Purpose of this Interim Report

The Foundation has confidence in the potential of the projects chosen for funding, and in the capabilities of our grantees to succeed. Most projects funded by the Foundationhave some inherently high risks. We encourage grantees to take these risks, recognizing that, even with great foresight, it is not always possible to predict the exact progress of specific research strategies, novel activities, and discoveries, all of which can be influenced by outside events. We believe in working with grantees to reshape projects as they unfold to help improve the chances for success in meeting the original purposes of the grant.

Apart from the necessary straightforward updates of administrative items, the primary purpose of this interim report is to provide you an opportunity to give us: (1) a frank assessment and status report about how the project is progressing; and (2) justification for any proposed revisions in the project plan, time lines, Activities and Milestones, Global Access Strategy and budget line items necessitated by circumstances.

It is critical that you share with us an accurate picture of progress. The report should make clear what is on schedule vs. what is not; what is working well vs. what is not; and any options being considered to help resolve the challenges that have been encountered. The foundation requires straightforward answers, not to raise criticisms, but rather in the spirit of working as partners to facilitate progress towards the charitable goals that were agreed upon at the outset. Therefore, please focus on providing direct answers to the questions; and specific, quantifiable information about progress towards meeting milestones.

Please keep the following guidelines in mind when completing this progress report:

  • The narrative section (Section II) of the progress report should be concise and not exceed 10 pages. Your Program Officer may request additional pages when appropriate.
  • Use 11 point font, 1” margins and single spacing; include the page number in the footer and the organization name and Grant ID# in the header.
  • Do not include appendices or attachments in your report unless requested or approved in advanced by your Program Officer/Coordinator.

As stated in your grant agreement letter, annual payments will be made following receipt and satisfactory review of these narrative and financial reports. Please follow the format outlined below. Note that Annual Reports will have a slightly different format. If you have any questions, please contact your Program Officer/Coordinator.

InterimScientific Progress Report Form Section A

I. Summary Information

Grant ID#:
Report Due Date: / DateRange of Activities Reported: / MM/YYYY-MM/YYYY
Project Title:
Organization Name:
Principal Investigator/Project Director:

Last name

/

First name

Title

/

Telephone

Address

/

Fax

E-mail

Web site

Grant Amount (U.S. dollars): / Project Duration (months):
Project End Date:
Has this project been granted a no-cost extension? / Yes / No
Currently Active Geographic Location(s) of project
Report Prepared by: / Date Submitted: / mm/dd/yyyy
Title:
Phone:
E-mail

II. NarrativeProgress Report Guidelines

In developing the following section of the report, adhere to the guidelines provided on the following pages and use the numeral headings from the following instructions in your report.

  1. Individual Objectives, Activities & Milestones: Organized by Objective, provide a narrative describing your team’s progress.

For each Objective, please address the following:

  1. Describe the Activities performed during this reporting period. This should include a detailed evaluation of performance for any Milestones which have been completed as well as a discussion of progress towards upcoming Milestones. Please provide supporting data as appropriate.
  2. Briefly discuss any Milestones that were not completed according to the proposed project plan, the reasons they were not completed and the proposed corrective action.
  3. Please briefly summarize what you are currently planning to accomplish in the second half of the current reporting period.

Items B - I provide you an opportunity to summarize progress for the project as a whole. These sections should be brief summaries.

  1. Accomplishments: List the significant accomplishments for this project during the reporting period, and relate them to your progress in meeting the Objectives and Goals of the project.
  2. Changes: Describe any major changes that have had, or will have an impact on the project funded by the foundation that have occurred during the reporting period.
  3. Challenges: Discuss how you have dealt with the anticipated challenges described in your grant proposal. Have there been any additional internal or external challenges? How were they addressed? What challenges do you foresee in the next year?
  4. Lessons Learned: What lessons have you learned during the past year that will help you to achieve your project’s Goals and Objectives? These should be both project-specific as well as broader lessons (i.e. best practices, cultural messages/attitudes, etc.)
  5. Publications and Data Sharing: Please attach as an Appendix to this form a list of any publications, giving full citations and append a copy of each publication. Please include articles in press. As applicable, describe how you have maximized data sharing and dissemination consistent with the charitable purposes of the project, recognizing that these must be balanced against any potential decisions to secure intellectual property rights.
  6. Media Coverage: Please also include one copy of any press releases or media coverage of your project since the last reporting period.
  7. Collaborative Activities: Please describe any actual or planned future: 1) collaborative activities with other Grand Challenges grantees, 2) specific sharing of standard operating procedures, databases, reagents and test materials with other Grand Challenge grantees and 3) collaborative activities with other individuals or institutions outside the Grand Challenges, but which contribute to solving one or more of Grand Challenges.
  8. Management Updates: When appropriate, include a brief description of significant updates to the management team or approach to management of your project. Please identify any major positions that have remained vacant for more than 3 months.

III. Financial Report Guidelines

Please provide total funds spent during the reporting period and describe any anticipated variances from the approved budget. In each case of a variance in excess of 10%, please indicate if prior approval from your Program Officer was sought and received.

Please note that you may estimate costs for the last 1-3 months of this reporting period as required, subject to the availability of final cost data from your institution’s accounting system. In the event your estimates are significantly different than actual costs when available, please report those differences in the subsequent financial report.

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Privacy Notice

Notice. To help evaluate progress, requested reports, projects and associated materials submitted to the foundation (collectively, “Submission Materials”) may be subject to confidential external review by independent subject matter experts in addition to analysis by foundation staff. Please consider carefully the information included in the Submission Materials. If you have any doubts about the wisdom of disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, the foundation recommends you consult with your legal counsel. You may wish to consider whether such information is critical for evaluating the submission, and whether more general, non-confidential information may be adequate as an alternative for these purposes.

We respect confidential information we receive. Nonetheless, notwithstanding your characterization of any information as being confidential, the foundation may disclose all information contained in Submission Materials to the extent it determines is necessary to evaluate the progress of the project and the manner and scope of future funding, including to external peer reviewers; please note, however, that the foundation seeks to obtain confidentiality obligations from each of its external peer reviewers prior to disclosing Submission Materials to them.

Warranty. By submitting any Submission Materials, the grantee warrants to the foundation that they have the right to provide the information submitted.

Grantees with questions concerning the contents of their Submission Materials may contact the foundation Program Officer.

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Final 10/12/2005