Call for proposals to pilot and implement cancer screening programmes for prostate cancer

Grant Purpose and Target

Core Objective

This grant's mission is to support the implementation of prostate cancer screening programmes in a stepwise approach, encompassing planning, piloting, and roll-out aligned with national priorities. A key focus is on exploring and integrating the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve cancer detection and reduce health disparities across the European Union.

Funding Organization

European Commission (managed by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency - HaDEA).

Target Recipients

Eligible applicants include a wide range of organizations:
* Public authorities
* Research organisations
* Civil society organisations (e.g., patient organisations)
* European Reference Networks (ERNs)
* Academia and education establishments
* Hospitals
* International organisations
* Networks in the field of health

Sector Focus

SECTOR-SPECIFIC: This grant is strictly focused on the Healthcare sector, with specific emphasis on oncology, public health, medical research, and the application of digital health technologies like Artificial Intelligence.

Geographic Scope

Activities must take place in the eligible countries. This includes EU Member States (and their overseas countries and territories), as well as listed EEA countries and countries associated with the EU4Health Programme (such as Norway, Iceland, Ukraine, and Moldova).

Key Filtering Criteria

• Project Focus: Must be centered on piloting and implementing prostate cancer screening programmes.
• Technology Requirement: Must include the exploration and/or use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in screening processes.
• Consortium: A multi-national consortium is mandatory.

Financial Structure

Funding Range

• Expected Project Budget: The grant amount is expected to be around €7,440,000. This figure serves as a guideline for the total project budget. Only one project is expected to be funded under this topic.
• Minimum/Maximum Grant: The call document does not specify a strict minimum or maximum, but implies the grant will be close to the expected budget of €7,440,000.

Co-financing

• Standard Funding Rate: The grant will cover 60% of the project's total eligible costs.
• Increased Funding Rate: The funding rate can be increased to 80% if the project demonstrates 'exceptional utility'. This is determined, in part, by the participation of entities from countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita below 90% of the EU average.

Eligible Costs

Costs must be directly linked to the project and necessary for its implementation. Eligible costs include:
* Personnel costs: Salaries and social security contributions for staff assigned to the project.
* Subcontracting: Costs for specific tasks outsourced to external providers.
* Purchase costs: Including travel and subsistence, equipment (depreciation or full cost depending on use), and other goods, works, and services (e.g., consumables, dissemination materials).
* Indirect costs: A flat rate of 7% of the total eligible direct costs is applied to cover general overheads (e.g., office rent, utilities).

Ineligible Costs

Certain costs cannot be covered by the grant, including:
* Return on capital and dividends.
* Debt and debt service charges.
* Provisions for future losses or debts.
* Interest owed and currency exchange losses.
* Deductible or refundable VAT.
* Financial support to third parties is explicitly ineligible for this topic.

Payment & Reporting

Payments are disbursed in several instalments (pre-financing, interim payments, and a final payment) linked to the submission and approval of periodic technical and financial reports. A final consolidated financial statement is required at the end of the project.

Eligibility Requirements

Formal Criteria

• Consortium Composition: Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least 5 legal entities from at least 5 different eligible countries.
• Legal Status: Applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must be legal entities (either public or private bodies) and registered in the EU's Participant Register.
• Country of Establishment: Applicants must be established in an EU Member State (including OCTs) or an eligible non-EU country (EEA countries and countries associated with the EU4Health Programme). International organisations are also eligible and are exempt from this rule.

Organizational Status

Applicants can be from a diverse range of organizational types, including public authorities, research organizations, NGOs, universities, hospitals, and international organizations. There are no specific requirements regarding organization size or age.

Technical Expertise

Applicants must demonstrate the necessary know-how, qualifications, and resources to successfully implement the project. This will be assessed based on:
* The general profiles and experience of the staff responsible for managing and implementing the project.
* The collective expertise and complementarity of the consortium members.
* A list of previous relevant projects undertaken by the applicants in the last 4 years.

Exclusion Criteria

• Standard EU Exclusions: Applicants subject to EU exclusion decisions or in situations like bankruptcy, fraud, or grave professional misconduct are ineligible.
• Ineligible Activities: Providing financial support to third parties is explicitly not allowed under this topic.

Application Practical Information

Deadlines

• Call Opening: 23 September 2025
• Submission Deadline: 06 January 2026 – 17:00:00 CET (Brussels Time)
• Evaluation Period: January – March 2026
• Grant Agreement Signature: September – October 2026

Required Documents

Applicants must submit a complete proposal package, which includes:
* Application Form Part A: Contains administrative information, filled out online.
* Application Form Part B: The main technical description of the project (template provided, max 70 pages).
* Annexes:
* A detailed budget table/calculator.
* CVs of the core project team members.
* A list of key projects from the last 4 years.

Application Process

• Platform: Submissions must be made electronically through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
• Procedure: This is a single-stage call, meaning a full proposal is submitted from the start.
• Consortium Requirement: A consortium of at least 5 entities from 5 different eligible countries is mandatory.

Support

• Financial Support: The grant provides co-financing of up to 60% (or 80% in cases of exceptional utility) of eligible project costs.
• Helpdesk: For non-IT questions about the call, applicants can contact HaDEA at [email protected]. For technical portal issues, an IT Helpdesk is available.

Post-Award Obligations

• Project Duration: Projects are expected to have a maximum duration of 36 months.
• Reporting: Regular technical and financial reporting is required to receive payments.
• Mandatory Deliverables: All projects must produce a website, a leaflet, and dissemination and evaluation reports. This topic also has specific mandatory deliverables, including reports on:
• Ongoing prostate cancer screening programmes.
• Evidence on benefits, harms, and cost-effectiveness.
• The use and potential of AI in screening.
• Synergies with other relevant EU-funded projects.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be assessed and scored out of 100 points based on the following criteria. To be considered for funding, proposals must meet both the minimum score for each criterion and the overall minimum score.

Scoring Factors

• 1. Relevance (30 points; minimum pass score: 21)
• Clarity and Consistency: How well the proposal's objectives and activities are defined and aligned.
• Strategic Fit: Extent to which the project matches the call's priorities, contributes to the EU's strategic context (e.g., Europe's Beating Cancer Plan), and builds on previous work like the 'PRAISE-U' project.

• European Added Value: The project's trans-national dimension, its interest for multiple countries, the potential for results to be used EU-wide, and its ability to foster cross-border cooperation.

• 2. Quality (60 points total)

• Project Design and Implementation (30 points; minimum pass score: 21): The technical quality, feasibility, and methodology of the project. This includes the logical framework, a realistic timetable, a robust risk management strategy, and a clear monitoring and evaluation plan. The cost-effectiveness and financial management plan are also assessed here.

• Project Team and Cooperation Arrangements (30 points; minimum pass score: 21): The quality, expertise, and complementarity of the consortium members. Evaluators will look for appropriate management structures, clear decision-making processes, and effective communication mechanisms to ensure smooth collaboration.

• 3. Impact (10 points; minimum pass score: 7)

• Ambition and Effectiveness: The project's expected short, medium, and long-term effects on target groups and the general public. The degree of ambition and potential for triggering change or innovation is key.

• Communication and Sustainability: The quality of the communication and dissemination strategy to maximize impact and ensure the visibility of EU funding. The plan for ensuring the sustainability and continuation of the project's results after the EU funding ends is also critical.

• Overall Threshold: A minimum total score of 70 out of 100 is required to pass.

Cross-cutting Themes

An equity perspective is a required milestone, meaning projects must demonstrate how they will reach underrepresented or vulnerable subpopulations to reduce disparities in access to diagnosis.

Compliance and Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

• Ethics: Projects must adhere to the highest ethical standards and comply with all applicable EU, international, and national laws. This includes specific regulations on clinical trials (e.g., Regulation 536/2014) and data protection (GDPR).
• Data Protection: Any processing of personal data must comply with EU Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR). Beneficiaries must ensure data is processed lawfully, for legitimate purposes, and with appropriate security measures.

IP Policy

• Ownership: Beneficiaries retain the ownership of the results they generate during the project.
• EU's Rights of Use: The European Union is granted a royalty-free, non-exclusive, and irrevocable licence to use project materials, documents, and information. This right allows the EU to use the results for its own purposes and to distribute them to the public for policy, communication, and publicity purposes.

Unique Aspects

• Collaboration is Key: The project must demonstrate close collaboration and create synergies with several other major EU initiatives, including the 'PRAISE-U' project, the Joint Action 'EUCanScreen', and the European Cancer Imaging Initiative. This is not optional and must be detailed in the proposal.
• Network Establishment: A mandatory milestone is the establishment of a network of prostate cancer screening experts, relevant European medical societies, and patient organisations.
• Equity Focus: The project must explicitly address health equity by developing strategies to reach underrepresented and vulnerable populations.

Industry-Specific Rules

Beyond the general requirements for healthcare projects, clinical research, and data handling, no further industry-specific rules are mentioned. Adherence to standards for medical devices and software (if AI tools are developed) would be implicitly required.