The BRIGHT Grant is a competitive awards program funded by Research Fund, Vanke School of Public Health (VSPH), Tsinghua University. This program invites BRIGHT Network members to apply for funds to support research and capacity-building activities on topics of importance to solving critical global health challenges. The funded projects are conducted in partnership with Tsinghua mentors. The BRIGHT Grant helps to nurture the professional development of early career researchers from developing countries, and ultimately provides the grant recipients with the knowledge, skills, and connections to further their careers as leaders in global health research.

The BRIGHT Grant funding opportunity looks to support locally-led research projects that 1) aid in our understanding of how public health issues affect people’s lives in developing countries, and 2) test approaches to help individuals, families, communities, and stakeholders respond to and mitigate the effects of those challenges.

In the 2025/2026 application cycle, we will fund research proposals addressing five priority areas:

1. Assessing the Consequences of USAID's Suspension of HIV/AIDS Assistance: A Multi-Stakeholder Qualitative Study in Low- and Middle-income Countries.

2. Malnutrition Transition in Low- and Middle-income Countries: Trend, Causes and Interventions.

3. Improving Access to Essential Diagnostic Tools in Primary Health Care.

4. Enhancing Access to Medications through Health Systems in Low- and Middle-income Countries.

5. Real-World HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Uptake Willingness and Adherence among High-Risk Populations.

The objectives of the proposed studies in these priority areas should be to obtain critical information that will contribute to advancing the work in these specific areas and help inform future BRIGHT Network research efforts.

The BRIGHT Grant invites applications from all the BRIGHT Network members who wish to work with mentor scientists from VSPH and are eligible for working as Principal Investigators on the proposed study. The number of projects funded under the 2025/2026 application cycle are up to five, and each one is anticipated to run for 12-month only. Awards will be for a maximum of US$ 28,000. If a project is selected to receive an award, funds will be made available to the applicant’s institution at the start of the project term, after the project contract is signed by both Tsinghua University and the recipient institution.