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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Single, clear statement of grant's core objective: To understand and address how inadequate nutrition and unhealthy diets affect mental health and well-being across different age groups and socio-economic contexts in Europe.
Explicit identification of target recipient type and size: The grant targets organizations undertaking Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), including SMEs, industry, research institutions (universities), public authorities, NGOs, civil society, healthcare professionals, patients, and consumer associations.
MUST state if grant is 'SECTOR-SPECIFIC' or 'SECTOR-AGNOSTIC': SECTOR-SPECIFIC
Geographic scope and any location requirements: Projects should focus on a 'European comprehensive overview' and data collection in 'Member States and Associated Countries'. International cooperation, particularly with the EU-Africa Partnership, is encouraged.
Key filtering criteria for initial grant screening: Focus on the interlink between nutrition, diet, and mental health; requiring a multi-actor approach; and involving research and innovation (RIA).
Grant frequency and program context: This is a single-stage call within the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025, specifically under Cluster 6 'Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment', Destination 'Fair, healthy and environment-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption'.

Financial Structure

Funding type: Lump sum contribution, as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021.
Total estimated budget for this topic: 10,000,000 EUR.
Expected number of grants: 2.
Minimum contribution per grant: 5,000,000 EUR.
Maximum contribution per grant: 5,000,000 EUR.
Eligible costs: Costs are approximated by the lump sum, based on estimated direct and indirect project costs. Eligible costs include: Personnel costs (employees, direct contractors, seconded staff, SME owners), subcontracting costs, purchase costs (travel, subsistence, equipment, other goods/works/services), and other cost categories (financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods/services, transnational/virtual access to research infrastructure, PCP/PPI procurement, Euratom Cofund staff mobility, ERC additional funding).
Ineligible costs: Costs that are ineligible under the Horizon Europe rules must be excluded from the lump sum calculation.
Indirect costs: A flat rate of 25% is applied to eligible direct cost categories, and this is included in the lump sum calculation.
Payments: Do not depend on actual costs incurred. Payments are contingent on the proper implementation of corresponding work packages as per the grant agreement.
Financial reporting: Beneficiaries have no obligation to document incurred costs, as there is no report of actual costs.
Audits: Financial checks, reviews, or audits are generally not conducted on costs, focusing instead on technical implementation and fulfillment of work package conditions.
Pre-financing: Follows standard Horizon Europe rules and is fixed in the grant agreement.
Mutual Insurance Mechanism: Between 5% and 8% of the total lump sum is retained as a contribution to this mechanism.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type & Structure

Eligible organization types include: Industry (food, drink, hospitality), retailers, social economy actors, SMEs, local authorities, communities, NGOs, civil society, researchers, scientists, healthcare professionals, nutritionists, patients, policy makers, and public authorities.
The proposals must apply the 'multi-actor approach' and ensure adequate involvement of all relevant stakeholders and value chain actors.
Consortium: Required.

Geographic Requirements

Eligible Countries: Described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. Data collection specifically targets 'Member States and Associated Countries'.
International cooperation: Encouraged, particularly with the 'EU-Africa Partnership'.

Proposal Requirements

Proposal page limit and layout: Must adhere to guidelines described in Annex A and E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
Financial and operational capacity: Must meet conditions described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Technical Readiness Levels (TRLs): Topics should exhibit a balance of both high and low TRLs.
Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH): Proposals must include effective contribution from SSH disciplines.
Citizen Science: Involvement of citizens and civil society, including a Citizen Science approach, is encouraged as an appropriate research methodology.
Data: All data produced in the context of this topic must be FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).
Collaboration: Proposals must include a dedicated task and appropriate resources to collaborate with other projects funded under this specific topic.

Application Process

Submission Window & Deadline

Submission session available from: 2025-05-06.
Application deadline: 2025-09-16 00:00:00+0000.
Submission procedure: Single-stage application process.

Application Materials

Application form templates: The application form specific to this call (Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)) is available in the Submission System.
Evaluation form templates: Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) will be used with necessary adaptations.
Detailed budget table: Applicants must prepare their detailed budget using the relevant templates published by the granting authority, specifically the 'Detailed budget table (HE LS)'.
Declaration: Applicants must declare that they have followed their own accounting practices for the preparation of the estimated budget.

Process Steps

Proposal submission: Proposals must be submitted via the Electronic Submission Service on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Evaluation: Proposals will be evaluated by external independent experts based on excellence, expected impact, and quality and efficiency of implementation. Experts with financial knowledge will assess the budget estimate.
Grant agreement preparation: The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement setup is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Reporting & Monitoring

Work package completion: Lump sum contributions are paid when corresponding work packages are properly implemented. If conditions are not met, payments can be delayed or the grant reduced.
Monitoring focus: Checks, reviews, or audits will focus on the technical implementation of the action, including the fulfillment of work package conditions, ethics, research integrity, dissemination, exploitation of results, management of intellectual property, and gender equality.

Support & Resources

Guidance documents: Applicants can consult the HE Programme Guide, Model Grant Agreements (MGA) including the 'Lump Sum MGA', Call-specific instructions, and guidance on 'Lump sums - what do I need to know?'.
Online resources: The Funding & Tenders Portal offers an Online Manual, FAQ, Terms and Conditions, and Privacy Statement.
Assistance: Support is available through the Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), IT Helpdesk, European IPR Helpdesk, and CEN-CENELEC/ETSI Research Helpdesk.
Partner Search: A service to find partner organizations for proposals is available.

Evaluation Criteria

Standard Horizon Europe Criteria

Award criteria: As described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Scoring and thresholds: As described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Evaluation process: As described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.

Specific Project Quality

Excellence: Quality of the proposed research and innovation approach.
Expected Impact: The proposal's contribution to improving healthy diet monitoring, enhancing science-based communication, identifying mechanisms of nutrition's effect on mental health, providing evidence for decision-makers, identifying sound data for standardized metrics (including 'Omics'), enhancing knowledge for nutrition in mental health disorders, and using indicators for food group effects on mental health prevention.
Quality and efficiency of implementation: Assessment of the work plan and effective allocation of resources.
Budget evaluation: External experts with financial expertise will check the budget estimate based on relevant benchmarks, ensuring resources match activities.

Cross-Cutting & Special Aspects

Multi-actor approach: Active participation and engagement of diverse stakeholders throughout the entire project development and implementation is crucial for performance and sustainability.
Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH): Effective contribution is required to ensure a human-centred approach to research and innovation, and to support social innovation.
Citizen Science: Encouraged and assessed as a research methodology.
Data management: Compliance with FAIR data principles will be evaluated.
Complementarity: Proposals should demonstrate awareness of and avoid duplication with other relevant funded projects and initiatives (e.g., ERA4Health, Nutribrain, JPND’s ERA-NET Cofund, EU Missions, European partnerships).

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory & Ethical Compliance

Regulatory compliance: Proposals must adhere to the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 and the EU Grants AGA (Annotated Model Grant Agreement).
Ethical standards: The implementation of the action will be subject to checks on ethics and research integrity.
Data protection: All data produced must comply with FAIR principles ('Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable').
Intellectual Property (IP): Management of intellectual property generated by the project will be monitored.
Labour standards: Principles from the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment should be considered.

Research & Implementation Standards

Multi-actor approach: This approach is a mandatory requirement for proposals, ensuring comprehensive engagement of all relevant stakeholders and value chain actors.
Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH): Effective integration of SSH disciplines is required to apply a human-centred approach to research and innovation and support social innovation.
Citizen Science: Encouraged as a research methodology to involve citizens and civil society actively.
One Health approach: Encouraged for relevant activities to ensure unifying approaches in research and innovation.
International cooperation: Encouraged for maximizing impact, especially with the EU-Africa Partnership on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA).
SME participation: Actively promoted to facilitate the transition of innovations to the market.
Complementarities: Proposals are expected to consider and avoid duplication with ongoing related projects and partnerships, such as ERA4Health, JPND’s ERA-NET Cofund, EU Missions ('A Soil Deal for Europe', 'Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030'), and European partnerships (Agroecology, Animal Health and Welfare, Sustainable Blue Economy, Sustainable Food Systems, Agriculture of Data, PRIMA, EIP-AGRI).

Strategic Alignment & Context

Policy alignment: Projects should contribute to the Commission communication on a comprehensive approach to mental health (2023) and the Healthier together - the EU non-communicable diseases (NCD) initiative (2022).
Food 2030 Pathways: The grant aligns with and contributes to Food 2030 pathway 7 ('Nutrition and Sustainable Healthy Diets') and will help deploy solutions to the 11 Food 2030 pathways for action.
Green Deal objectives: Supports the EU Green Deal's aims for competitive, resilient, and sustainable food systems.
Cross-cutting priorities: The call highlights cross-cutting themes such as Multi-Actor Approach, AI, Societal Engagement, SSH, Digital Agenda, and EOSC and FAIR Data.
Innovation ecosystems: Encourages the development of innovation ecosystems to bring together various public and private sector actors, researchers, and society, including support for Regional Innovation Valleys for Bioeconomy and Food Systems.
Widening participation: Efforts are increased to enhance innovation actions for food systems sustainability in widening countries, EU outermost regions, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Grant Details