“First in the World Challenge” is a new initiative announced by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The goal of the new program is to inspire Indian scientists to develop novel approaches to challenging health issues.
According to ICMR, the program aims to promote innovative, out of the box, futuristic concepts, the creation of new knowledge.
It also aims to promote the discovery and advancement of ground-breaking health technologies (drugs, treatments, vaccines, diagnostics, interventions, etc.).
The technologies must be such that they have never been thought, tested or tried in the world till date.
This is a high-risk, high-reward endeavour with potentially unpredictable success rates.
A group of researchers (from one institute or from several institutes) or an individual may submit the proposals.