Nineteen ninety-six could be characterized as a year of transition, in which modalities for the receipt and financing of research proposals existed side by side with unsolicited proposals and new modalities for the promotion and support of research, such as research competitions, programs for the training and education of investigators in public health, and support for multicenter projects. These latter forms of action --some of which had been attempted in previous years-- and others proposed by the Research Coordination subsequent to an evaluation of the Research Grants Program (RGP), were the subject of discussion and analysis in the Internal Advisory Committee on Health Research (IACHR) and the Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR) during 1996 and received the Director’s approval for implementation in 1997. As part of this process and to pave the way for the new policies and standards of the Research Grants Program in 1997, the Research Coordination, in close cooperation with the IACHR, decided to take a series of steps to ensure the transition and launch the new policies. Generally speaking, the RGP approved and financed a total of 21 research projects in 1996, twelve (12) of which were unsolicited proposals and nine, special initiatives related to the Regional Research Competition (5) and public health research training grants (4). Total financing to support individual projects in 1996 amounted to US$ 520,000 (See Table 1). If RGP financing for the technical cooperation activities of the Multicenter Study on Violence (Project ACTIVA) is also taken into account, the total amount executed by the Grants Program in 1996 was US$ 675,000. (AU)