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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

This grant aims to fund implementation research focused on strategies that strengthen health systems to deliver equitable, high-quality care and improved health outcomes for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It targets global efforts, with a particular emphasis on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and disadvantaged populations in high-income countries (HICs). - Target recipient type: Research institutions, universities, public health organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other legal entities capable of conducting complex implementation research, often in consortia. - Target size: Consortia, typically involving partners from HICs and LMICs. - SECTOR-SPECIFIC (Healthcare, Public Health, Research). - Geographic scope: Global, with a strong focus on LMICs and disadvantaged populations in HICs. Eligible countries are defined by Horizon Europe rules (Annex B) with specific mention of US entities being eligible for funding. - Key filtering criteria: Focus on NCDs, implementation research (not efficacy trials), health systems strengthening, health equity. - Grant frequency and program context: Part of Horizon Europe's 'Tackling diseases and reducing disease burden' destination within the 2025 Work Programme, launched in concertation with the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD). This program is expected to have recurring calls.

Financial Structure

Grant amount: Between EUR 3,000,000 and EUR 4,000,000 per grant.
Total budget for this topic: EUR 20,000,000 (expected to fund 5 grants).
Currency: EUR.
Legal and financial set-up of the grants are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Applicants are expected to include a budget for networking and joint activities (e.g., joint workshops, GACD Annual Scientific Meetings, exchange of knowledge, best practices, communication activities).
Financial and operational capacity requirements are outlined in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Eligibility Requirements

Organization Type & Structure

Any legal entity is eligible, with specific mention that entities established in the United States of America are eligible to receive Union funding.
Consortium required: Yes, implied by the expectation of a multidisciplinary team and equitable partnership between HIC-LMIC and/or non-Indigenous-Indigenous members.
Not eligible: Entities assessed as 'high-risk suppliers' of mobile network communication equipment (and any entities they own or control).

Geographic Location

Applicants must be from countries eligible under Annex B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Project implementation must focus on Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) and/or disadvantaged populations in High-Income Countries (HICs).

Capacity & Expertise

Demonstrate financial and operational capacity as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Propose an appropriately expert and skilled research team ensuring a multidisciplinary approach.
Ensure equitable partnership and shared leadership between HIC-LMIC and/or non-Indigenous-Indigenous members of the project team and external stakeholders through a clear governance strategy.
Include meaningful involvement of early career team members, including at least one as a co-investigator.

Project Focus & Scope

Research must be implementation research focused on strategies to support health system transformation and/or strengthening using evidence-based interventions in the context of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
Proposed implementation research should focus on one or more evidence-based intervention(s) (or complex interventions) for building equity-orientated health systems change.
Not in scope:
- Proposals with the primary aim of informing the development and/or selection of an intervention for a given context, where the implementation component will be explored in a future project (i.e. standalone feasibility projects).
- Epidemiological cohorts.
- Etiological work, mechanistic, or epidemiological research, unless an essential component of a focused study to develop implementation research approaches.
- Clinical trials, validation studies, or intervention efficacy studies for a new or established pharmacological agent or behavioural intervention.

Application Process

Application Submission

Submission deadline: 2025-09-16 00:00:00+00:00.
Submission session available from: 2025-05-22.
Procedure: Single-stage submission.
Platform: Electronic Submission Service via the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Application form: The Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) specific to this call is available in the Submission System.
Required documentation: Submit a research plan and a strategy for measuring implementation outcomes. If including clinical studies, provide details in a dedicated annex using the template provided.

Evaluation Process

Evaluation and award processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
An indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is also described in Annex F.
Evaluation criteria: Excellence, Impact, and Implementation, with specific thresholds (4, 4, 4 respectively; cumulative 12).

Post-Award & Support

Projects are strongly encouraged to participate in networking and joint activities, including internationally, as appropriate.
Project partners should be engaged from the beginning to contribute to the sustainability of the intervention after the project ends.
Support resources available include: Online Manual, HE Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), IT Helpdesk, European IPR Helpdesk, CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk, and ETSI Research Helpdesk.
Model Grant Agreements (MGA) and Annotated Model Grant Agreement are available for reference.

Evaluation Criteria

Scoring Thresholds

Excellence: Minimum score of 4.
Impact: Minimum score of 4.
Implementation: Minimum score of 4.
Cumulative Threshold: Minimum total score of 12.

Excellence Criteria

Research Plan: Proposals must provide a research plan using validated implementation research frameworks or a hybrid design.
Outcome Measurement: An appropriate strategy for measuring implementation research outcomes and real-world effectiveness outcomes and indicators is required. Other health or non-health outcome measures, especially those identified as important by patient participants and/or critical for advancing Universal Health Coverage (UHC), are also welcome.
Intervention Justification: The choice of intervention(s) must be justified, along with provision of existing evidence of the intervention's effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, sustainability, scalability, and potential for long-term health and other impacts.
Adaptation Justification: If any adaptation of the intervention is proposed, applicants must justify why it will not compromise the known effectiveness of the selected intervention(s).
Study Design: Expected to use an appropriate implementation research design and frameworks for feasibility studies, cluster randomised control trials (cRCTs), before and after studies, and additional implementation science classifications of study designs (e.g., hybrid designs).

Impact Criteria

Health Equity: Explicitly address health equity and the principles of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Policy Relevance: Proposals would be expected to generate evidence that is of direct relevance to policymakers, communities, and practitioners.
Stakeholder Engagement: Requires a clear stakeholder engagement strategy with evidence of support/engagement from key stakeholders for delivering patient-centred care, including co-creation with relevant policymakers, local authorities, community groups, patients, family members, and carers from project development through knowledge translation.
Sustainability: Demonstrate sustainability of the strategy beyond the lifespan of the project.
Reduced Disease Burden: Contribute to reducing disease burden in the EU and worldwide through effective disease management.
NCD Mortality Reduction: Contribute to reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by one third (by 2030) and attaining WHO Global Action Plan targets.
Health System Strengthening: Contribute to strengthening Research and Innovation expertise, human capacities, and know-how for combating diseases.
Patient Empowerment: Empower patients and citizens to make and shape decisions for their health and better adhere to knowledge-based disease management strategies.

Quality & Efficiency of Implementation Criteria

Team Composition: An appropriately expert and skilled research team is required, which can ensure a suitable multidisciplinary approach and demonstrates equitable partnership and shared leadership between HIC-LMIC, and/or non-Indigenous-Indigenous members of the project team.
Early Career Researchers: Ensure meaningful involvement of early career team members, including at least one early career member as a co-investigator.
Capacity Building: Provide opportunities for implementation research capacity building for early career researchers and team members from lower resourced environments.
Data Disaggregation: Studies should be designed to capture and disaggregate data on sex and/or gender differences, and if feasible, a plan for capturing intersectional impacts on health outcomes should be included in the analysis strategy.
Stakeholder Engagement Plan: A clear plan for continuing to engage with stakeholders throughout the project and to help sustain the project's implementation, facilitate scale up, and use knowledge generated after the grant ends.
Networking Budget: Proposals are expected to include a budget for networking and joint activities (e.g., participation in joint workshops, Annual Scientific Meetings of the GACD, exchange of knowledge, best practices, joint communication activities).
Clinical Studies Annex: If applicable, details of clinical studies must be provided in a dedicated annex using the template provided in the submission system.
Social Sciences & Humanities (SSH): Requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions, as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory & Ethical Compliance

Eligible Countries: Defined in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Financial & Operational Capacity: Described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Exclusion Criteria: Described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Legal & Financial Set-up: Described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Satellite Data Use: If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation, or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
High-Risk Suppliers: Entities assessed as 'high-risk suppliers' of mobile network communication equipment (and any entities they own or control) are not eligible to participate as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, or associated partners. This relates to the protection of European communication networks.
Clinical Studies: Applicants must review the broad definition of clinical studies (see introduction to this work programme part) and provide details in a dedicated annex using the template provided in the submission system, if applicable.

Strategic & Cross-Cutting Themes

Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH): Requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions, as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, to produce meaningful effects enhancing societal impact.
Health Equity: A central focus, aiming to address differences in intervention access, uptake, and effectiveness in socially disadvantaged groups and develop strategies for reducing inequities. Proposals should consider the social determinants of health.
Sex/Gender & Intersectional Impacts: Studies should be designed to address such differences and at a minimum, capture and disaggregate data on sex and/or gender differences. If feasible, a plan for capturing intersectional impacts on health outcomes should be included in the analysis strategy.
Innovation: The focus is on innovative implementation strategies for existing evidence-based interventions, rather than the development of entirely new interventions.

Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing

International Cooperation: Highly encouraged to pool expertise, access world-class research infrastructures, and leverage critical scales of investments on priority needs through better alignment with other funders of international cooperation in health Research and Innovation.
Networking: Strong encouragement to participate in networking and joint activities, including internationally (e.g., GACD Annual Scientific Meetings), with a budget expected for such activities.
Synergies: Cooperation between EU-funded projects is welcomed and supported for cross-fertilisation, including with other projects funded under Horizon 2020, other Clusters (e.g., Civil security for society, Digital/Industry/Space, Food/bioeconomy/natural resources/agriculture and environment), or pillars of Horizon Europe (e.g., European health research infrastructures, EIC strategic challenges on health, EIT-KIC Health).
Knowledge Translation: Proposals will require a strategy to include relevant policymakers, local authorities, and other stakeholders, with co-creation from project development through the implementation knowledge translation phase.

Grant Details