EUConsult Information Service
2008 October
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News / Resources
Funding News/Resources
- Swiss philanthropist donates 125m dollars to Harvard University
Harvard University has announced a five-year, 125 million dollar gift, the largest in its history, from alumnus Hansjörg Wyss. The gift will fund the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. The Swiss philanthropist is founder, majority shareholder and managing board President of the Swiss medical technology company Synthes. His wealth is estimated at 7-9 thousand million Swiss francs (EUR 4,655m – 5,985m). Wyss graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1965 with an MBA (Master of Business Administration). Bern, the city where he was born, is currently hoping for a gift of 20m Swiss francs (EUR 13.3m) for the extension of the city’s museum of art.
- Ideas wanted for second round of Gates Foundation grants
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation heard so many creative new ideas when it asked scientists around the world to share their "blue sky" global health projects that the foundation decided to hand out almost twice as much money as initially planned. In all, 104 scientists in 22 countries will be getting $100,000 each to do some initial research on an unusual approach to preventing or curing diseases like AIDS or tuberculosis, or tackling another problem in global health such as drug resistance. Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of global health at the Gates Foundation, was set to announce the first round of its Grand Challenges Explorations grants at a global health meeting in Bangkok on Wednesday. The new program is expected to last five years. Ideas for the second round of grants are due at the foundation's web site by 2 November.
Washington Post (for full article)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Grand Challenges in Global Health programme
- 2008 Guide To European Union Funding
The 14th edition of the ECAS guide to EU funding for NGOs has been fully revised and updated. Every year ECAS produces two new, specialised and updated funding guides on how to attain funding from the EU Institutions.
The guides run through step by step on how to gain funding from the EU institutions for programmes in every policy area. They also give advice on how to get through the ridged and bureaucratic systems, practical information on the time that you will need to invest, and the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. Volume 1 covers funding within the EU and Volume 2 funding outside the EU.
- Past Economic Downturns and the Outlook for Foundation Giving
To address growing concerns about the impact of the current economic downturn on foundation giving and the nonprofit sector, the following piece provides historical context by examining foundation giving trends in prior recessionary periods and times of economic distress. Drawing upon existing data and research, Steven Lawrence offers perspectives on the future outlook in light of current conditions and explains factors that generally cause foundation giving to remain relatively stable even when economic conditions are turbulent.
