The notion of 'grand challenges' (GC) is increasingly used in international research and innovation discourse, but risks being used rhetorically to justify business as usual policy approaches. We draw on a study that maps the characteristics of policy problems and proposals referred to in association with 'GC', showing how transition management fits well as a response to these characteristics. We then use the transition management perspective to evaluate prevailing research and innovation policy for an exemplar policy sector (biofuels), in countries with differing policy histories for that sector (the UK, Norway and Sweden). We argue that transition management functions well as a means of highlighting not only policy shortcomings in a sector, but also policy directions appropriate to the scale of GC.