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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

This grant aims to leverage the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance pandemic preparedness and response within Europe and Associated Countries. - It seeks to develop and improve AI-based tools and technologies for faster detection, understanding, and effective control of infectious disease threats. - Target recipients include a broad range of legal entities, with specific encouragement for startups, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). - This grant is SECTOR-SPECIFIC, focusing on healthcare, public health, and infectious disease sectors with a strong emphasis on technology and AI. - The geographic scope includes EU Member States, Associated Countries, and the United States of America. - Key filtering criteria are a strong focus on AI for pandemic response, health data management, and the ability to contribute to EU-wide public health goals. - This is part of the Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme for Health, likely a recurring program for health-related research.

Financial Structure

Total Topic Budget: EUR 35,000,000 for 2025.
Minimum Grant Amount Per Project: EUR 6,000,000.
Maximum Grant Amount Per Project: EUR 8,000,000.
Currency: EUR (Euro).
Expected Number of Grants: 5 projects are expected to be funded under this topic.
Funding Rate: Not explicitly stated in the topic description. For Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs), the typical funding rate is 100% of eligible costs for non-profit legal entities (e.g., universities, research organizations) and up to 70% for for-profit entities (e.g., companies, including SMEs).
Eligible Costs: Refer to Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes for detailed rules on legal and financial setup of grants. Generally, direct costs (personnel, travel, equipment, other goods/services) and indirect costs are eligible.
Matching Fund/Co-financing Requirements: Not explicitly required for this specific RIA in the provided text. Horizon Europe RIAs typically do not require explicit matching funds beyond the covered percentage of eligible costs.
Payment Schedule and Mechanisms: Details are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Model Grant Agreements (MGA).

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Organization Types

Any legal entity is eligible to apply.
Specific encouragement for participation from start-ups, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
An 'enterprise' is defined as any entity engaged in an economic activity, regardless of its legal form (including self-employed, family businesses, partnerships, associations regularly engaged in economic activities).

Organizational Size and Capacity

SME Definition: An enterprise employing fewer than 250 persons AND having an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million OR an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million.
Small enterprise: Fewer than 50 persons AND annual turnover/balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 10 million.
Microenterprise: Fewer than 10 persons AND annual turnover/balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 2 million.
Calculation of staff numbers (Annual Work Units - AWU) and financial ceilings are based on the latest approved accounting period. Exceeding or falling below thresholds does not change status unless it occurs over two consecutive accounting periods.
Newly established enterprises use a bona fide estimate.

Geographic Location Requirements

Legal entities established in EU Member States are eligible: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
Legal entities established in Associated Countries to Horizon Europe are eligible.
Legal entities established in the United States of America are eligible to receive Union funding.

Partnership/Consortium Requirements

This is a Research and Innovation Action (RIA), which typically requires a consortium of multiple organizations from different eligible countries to apply competitively.
Selected projects are expected to participate in joint activities (clustering, workshops, dissemination) and should budget for this collaboration, implying a multi-partner approach.

Exclusion Criteria

Entities assessed as 'high-risk suppliers' of mobile network communication equipment (and any entities they own or control) are not eligible.
An enterprise cannot be considered an SME if 25% or more of its capital or voting rights are directly or indirectly controlled by one or more public bodies (unless specific exceptions for public investment corporations, venture capital, non-profit research centers, institutional investors, or autonomous local authorities apply).

Technical Expertise Requirements

Requires expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI), health sciences, epidemiology, public health, and potentially medical biotechnology.
Effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and involvement of SSH experts is required to enhance societal impact.

Application Process

Application Timeline

Planned Opening Date: 2025-05-22
Application Deadline: 2025-09-16 00:00:00+0000 (Brussels time)
Submission Model: Single-stage submission.

Application Procedure

Access the Electronic Submission Service via the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Select the correct type of action (HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions) and model grant agreement (HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based).
Follow the steps outlined in the Online Manual and the Application Form specific to this call.

Required Documentation and Materials

Standard Application Form: Available in the Submission System (Part B of the Application Form).
Annexes: Dedicated annex for clinical studies details if applicable, using the provided template.
Work Programme General Annexes: Important reference for admissibility, eligible countries, financial/operational capacity, evaluation, and legal/financial setup.
Guidance Documents: HE Programme Guide, Model Grant Agreements (MGA), Call-specific instructions, Information on clinical studies.

Evaluation Process

Evaluation and Award Process: Described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
Evaluation Criteria: Proposals will be evaluated against Excellence, Impact, and Implementation criteria with specific thresholds (4 for each, 12 cumulative).
Indicative Timeline for Evaluation and Grant Agreement: Described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Post-Award Requirements and Compliance

Reporting Schedule: Described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Model Grant Agreement.
Monitoring and Evaluation: Projects are subject to ongoing monitoring and evaluation as per Horizon Europe rules.
Joint Activities: Selected projects are expected to participate in joint activities such as project clustering, workshops, and joint dissemination activities. Applicants should budget for this collaboration.
FAIR Data: Adherence to FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) is required for datasets generated.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation and award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are primarily described in Annex D and Annex F of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Scoring and Thresholds

Excellence: Threshold of 4
Impact: Threshold of 4
Implementation: Threshold of 4
Cumulative Threshold: 12 (proposals must achieve at least 12 across all criteria)

Key Scoring Factors (based on grant scope)

Relevance and Contribution to Objectives: How well the proposal aligns with using AI for pandemic preparedness and response, and achieving the expected outcomes: readily available, trustworthy, and ethical AI tools; access to diverse data types; and fast learning systems.
Innovation and Technological Advancement: Development of new or improvement of existing AI-based tools, methods, and technologies (including generative AI) for safety, efficiency, and impact in medical, societal, or logistical countermeasures.
Data Management and Interoperability: Ability to scout, assemble, and prepare appropriate FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) datasets from across the EU and Associated Countries. Leveraging existing and emerging data research infrastructures (e.g., EHDS, EOSC).
Ethical and Trustworthiness Considerations: Comprehensive addressing of cybersecurity, data privacy, trustworthiness, equity, data quality, and access modalities. Particular attention to detecting and mitigating gender, ethnicity, and other biases to ensure fair and beneficial AI models.
Societal Impact: Expected contribution to reducing disease burden, strengthening R&I expertise in healthcare systems, reducing health threats from epidemics and AMR, and empowering citizens in health decisions. Explicit requirement for effective contribution from Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines.
Feasibility and Implementation Quality: Quality and efficiency of the work plan, including appropriate resources, effective engagement with end-users, policymakers, regulatory bodies, and authorities in development, testing, and validation. Consideration of training needs, responsible use, and energy consumption.
Clinical Studies Integration (if applicable): For proposals including clinical studies, the detailed annex provided in the submission system will be evaluated.
Consortium Quality: Strength and complementarity of the project consortium, reflecting the need for multi-disciplinary expertise and international cooperation.
Synergies: Potential synergies with other relevant EU-funded projects (e.g., related to European health research infrastructures, EIC strategic challenges on health, EIT-KIC Health, or other Horizon Europe Clusters).

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance Requirements

General Conditions: Admissibility conditions, proposal page limits, and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Legal and Financial Setup: Described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Clinical Studies: If clinical studies are included, they must adhere to relevant regulations and ethical standards; details should be provided in a dedicated annex.
EU Financial Regulation: Compliance with EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.

Data Protection and Privacy

Proposals must comprehensively address data privacy and cybersecurity aspects, especially when accessing, integrating, and analyzing diverse datasets.
Use of AI tools must be trustworthy and ethical.

Ethical Standards and Requirements

Projects must adhere to ethical standards, including attention to detecting and mitigating gender, ethnicity, and other biases in AI models.
The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment should be consulted for general principles.

Technical Standards and Policies

FAIR Data: Requirement for datasets generated to be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.
European Health Data Space (EHDS) and European Open Science Cloud (EOSC): Projects should leverage the capacities of these architectures and research environments.
Intellectual Property Policies: Governed by the Model Grant Agreements (MGA) and Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Risk Management and Security

Protection of European communication networks: Entities identified as 'high-risk suppliers' of mobile network communication equipment are explicitly excluded.
Addressing technical, operational, and social limitations related to cross-border access to quality data and AI implementation in the EU legal context.

Unique Aspects and Strategic Opportunities

Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH): Effective contribution of SSH disciplines and involvement of SSH experts is mandatory to produce meaningful societal impact.
SME/Startup Encouragement: Specific encouragement for participation from start-ups, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises to strengthen their scientific, technological, and innovation potential, and explore commercial exploitation.
Synergies and Collaboration: Opportunities for potential synergies exist between projects funded under the same or different topics/clusters of Horizon Europe, or even with ongoing Horizon 2020 projects. Budget should be allocated for joint activities.
Alignment with EU Priorities: Research and Innovation should contribute to Horizon Europe's strategic plan (2025-2027) Key Strategic Orientation 3 ('A more resilient, competitive, inclusive, and democratic Europe') and the mission of the European Health Emergency and Response Authority (HERA).
International Cooperation: Particularly needed to combat infectious diseases and leverage expertise/investment globally.

Grant Details