Dear Readers, 

In February 2023, we announced the recipients of 50 Grand Challenges Grants, the largest and most comprehensive program of its kind ever introduced at the University of Maryland, supporting projects that address some of the most critical societal issues, including climate change, social justice, global health, and education disparities. Launched in partnership between the Office of the Provost and the Division of Research, this program is a Fearlessly Forward strategic initiative designed to accelerate solutions to humanity’s grand challenges within our communities and around the globe through education, research, scholarship, creative activities, community partnerships and outreach.

Since the launch of the program, our grantees and interdisciplinary teams have engaged in new and exciting efforts aimed at advancing the public good. With faculty from every college and school involved, the Grand Challenges projects are interdisciplinary collaborations, making this truly a cross-campus initiative. We are excited to take this opportunity to share some of the achievements and progress of our grantees thus far, based on the submission of their annual reports. Here are some highlights from year one of the Grand Challenges program:

• The Grand Challenges projects have collectively engaged more than 30,000 individuals
• Grand Challenges grantees have developed a total of 300 new or expanded partnerships since the launch of the program
• Almost $25M in external funding has been received by Grand Challenges grantees since the program was launched

A key component of the Grand Challenges program is also providing students with unique experiential learning opportunities and research experiences, including internships, new capstone courses, field data collection, technical training, co-authorship of publications, research presentations, and study abroad.

Grand Challenges grantees are helping to protect our state from extreme weather and flooding, guiding state and national policy on digital accessibility, advancing literacy efforts across Maryland, increasing equity in education with new technologies, empowering young people to become more civically engaged, scaling global solutions for community-driven capacity building at the food-energy-water nexus, forecasting malnutrition and humanitarian emergencies, and so much more.

We hope you will enjoy learning more about this important, transformative work as our Grand Challenges teams move fearlessly forward.