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Challenges, Innovation Competitions, and NICHD

Overview

The America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act, first passed in 2007 and reauthorized in 2022, allows NIH to challenge research, development, and other communities to improve the competitiveness of the United States. These challenges use cash and other prizes to stimulate solutions for well-defined problems, spur ideas or practices that could point to solutions, help build on skills or capacity in the community, and encourage innovation.

Challenges can include a variety of partners, individuals, and organizations that may not qualify for traditional research funding mechanisms. NICHD collaborates with other agencies, including the Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation at the National Air and Space Administration (NASA), and vendors to conduct challenges and ensure fair competitions that comply with the America COMPETES Act provisions.

Topic Areas

NICHD has led or participated in the following challenges to date:

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