Advancing knowledge on the impacts of micro- and nanoplastics on human health

Closed

Code: 37602 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-03-ENVHLTH-02-two-stage | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

Plastics are an important material in our economy that are everywhere in our daily lives but can present negative environmental and health impacts.

A significant amount of plastic ends up in the environment, degrading into micro- or nano-sized plastic particles that are defined as micro- or nanoplastics (MNPs).

MNPs can be detected in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems worldwide in food, water, air and consumer products.

These MNPs have been documented to accumulate in the human body into cells and tissues (e.g. liver, kidney, gastrointestinal track, placenta, testicles) and cause associated adverse biological effects (e.g. inflammatory response, geno-, cyto-, neuro- and nephron-, respiratory and reproductive toxicity).

The impact of pollution on the development and progression of brain diseases and disorders

Closed

Code: 37599 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-03-ENVHLTH-01-two-stage | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

Life-long exposure to pollutants in the living and occupational environment is an important risk factor for non-communicable diseases, leading to a variety of serious physical and mental health impacts and causing preventable disease burden with associated elevated economic costs.

Pollution disproportionately impacts certain vulnerable groups (e.g. children and older adults) or groups who are more sensitive or more exposed (workers, populations living in polluted areas) to this type of environmental stressor.

At present, over 10% of annual premature deaths in the 27 EU Member States are related to environmental pollution.

Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) evolution: new and innovative processing and methods for future Sentinels and other satellites for reanalyses

Closed

Code: 37594 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL4-2025-02-SPACE-41 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Digital, Industry & Space (Cluster 4)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 25/09/2025

The research and innovation (R&I) priorities focus on enhancing the ability of Copernicus and related models to better integrate diverse satellite observations, especially those sensitive to surface parameters and fluxes. This includes leveraging early satellite data for global and regional reanalyses. Key actions involve using advanced techniques, such as AI and machine learning, for rescuing and correcting historical in situ and remote sensing data, improving data quality and consistency. Additionally, improving the use of Sentinel and other datasets across Copernicus services requires better error characterization and observation models. Lastly, innovative approaches are needed to speed up reanalysis production, better quantify uncertainties, and reduce the computational energy and carbon footprint.

Advancing innovative interventions for mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders

Closed

Code: 37593 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-03-DISEASE-02-two-stage | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

Mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders, that include for example severe depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, psychosis, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addictive behaviours (drugs, alcohol, gaming and others), obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders and autism spectrum disorder are a high burden for patients, health systems and society, and remain unmet medical needs.

More innovative, safer and more effective therapeutic and relapse-preventing solutions based on active substances are required, as for example for mental disorders many available treatments show modest efficacy, non-negligible side effects, discontinuation problems and high relapse rates

Preparing demonstration missions for collaborative Earth Observation and Satellite telecommunication for Space solutions

Closed

Code: 37588 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL4-2025-02-SPACE-32 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Digital, Industry & Space (Cluster 4)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 25/09/2025

The research and innovation (R&I) priorities focus on enhancing satellite communication (SatCom) and Earth Observation (EO) capabilities through advanced technologies. For SatCom, this includes end-to-end mission capabilities such as seamless integration with terrestrial networks, inter-satellite connectivity, reconfigurable payloads, and interoperability with 5G/6G networks. Emphasis is placed on building flexible testbeds and ensuring satellites can act as nodes in distributed systems. For EO, key areas include on-board processing using AI and machine learning for multi-spectral image analysis, improved data transmission, and standardized ground segment interfaces. Digitalisation of EO instruments and miniaturization of equipment are also important. Cross-cutting innovations for both EO and SatCom involve developing secure, flexible, and environmentally efficient systems, with a focus on shared resources, intelligent data fusion, and high-performance processing technologies.

Boosting the translation of biotech research into innovative health therapies

Closed

Code: 37587 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-TOOL-05 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

The Commission Communication ‘Building the future with nature: Boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the EU’  has recently identified research and technology transfer to the market as a major challenge for the biotechnology sector.

This topic aims to speed up the development of innovative biotechnology-based therapies by supporting the initial phases of clinical research.

SMEs play a key role in the EU’s potential to innovate, with most biotechnology-derived drugs in development being progressed by SMEs and small biotech companies.

Leveraging multimodal data to advance Generative Artificial Intelligence applicability in biomedical research (GenAI4EU)

Closed

Code: 37583 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-TOOL-03 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

The availability of large-scale multimodal health data, scientific information, and novel Generative AI models, combined with high-performance computing capacities offer an unprecedented opportunity for researchers to achieve breakthroughs in our understanding of disease development and to develop new predictive models for disease management, personalised treatment solutions and personalised care pathways. 

Advancing cell secretome-based therapies

Closed

Code: 37580 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-TOOL-02 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

Secretome-based therapies have emerged as a promising alternative to cell-based therapies.

The secretome of cells is defined as the repertoire of molecules and biological factors that are secreted into the extracellular space and has been shown to be a key factor for therapeutic activity due to its paracrine effects.

The potential to manufacture, store and use secretome factors as off-the-shelf products, while maintaining the therapeutic benefits of cells but with fewer safety concerns, has placed the secretome at the forefront of regenerative medicine. Different cell secretomes or parts thereof have been the subject of clinical trials, but there is currently no regulatory-approved secretome-based therapy owing to several challenges.

Currently, for the majority of secretome-based therapies, the main bottlenecks are: the incomplete understanding of their mode of action, their reproducibility due to a lack of standardised manufacturing processes and a lack of potency- and quality assurance assays. Additional limitations are the characterisation of the bioactive factors and the optimisation of the delivery strategies.

Enhancing cell therapies with genomic techniques

Closed

Code: 37577 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-TOOL-01 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

Therapies based on cells, stem cells or somatic cells, have been shown to be highly effective as therapeutics for a variety of health conditions.

However, bottlenecks remain which currently hamper their safe and efficient application on a large scale.

Genome- and epigenome editing have great potential to overcome some of these bottlenecks and to lead to the next-generation of cell-based therapies.

Advancing the frontier of cell-based therapy with these tools and further translation of such research into clinically viable solutions may open up a new era of innovative therapies.

Digitalisation of conformity assessment procedures of medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices

Closed

Code: 37574 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-IND-02 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

The regulations on Medical Devices (MDR) and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices (IVDR) have introduced stricter regulatory requirements in view of ensuring a high level of patient safety and public health. The implementation of the new regulatory requirements still remains a challenge for manufacturers.

SMEs face particular challenges as they have limited resources to adapt to the new framework.

One of the main issues reported by manufacturers is the complexity and perceived unpredictability of the conformity assessment procedure involving a Notified Body.

Digital enablers and building blocks for Earth Observation and Satellite telecommunication for Space solutions

Closed

Code: 37569 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL4-2025-02-SPACE-31 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Digital, Industry & Space (Cluster 4)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 25/09/2025

This topic falls under the European Partnership on Globally Competitive Space Systems and focuses on satellite communications (SatCom), Earth Observation (EO), and new commercial space transportation solutions, as part of broader digitalisation efforts for space services. The emphasis is on accelerating the development of low- to mid-TRL technologies that enhance competitiveness, especially through digital technologies that improve data resolution, timeliness, and resilience across end-to-end SatCom and EO systems. Projects should contribute to one or more of the following outcomes: improving the performance and integration of satellite networks with terrestrial systems to maintain EU leadership in global connectivity; enabling new commercial services through digitalised space solutions; and advancing EO payloads, technologies, and data processing capabilities. Overall, the goal is to foster more flexible, reactive, and globally competitive space-based services within the EU space sector.

Optimising the manufacturing of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs)

Closed

Code: 37568 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-IND-01 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

New pioneering treatments called Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs), including cell and gene therapies, are at the cutting edge of medicines discovery.

Owing to their precise nature, ATMPs embody personalised medicine and reflect a shift in medicine towards potentially one-time curative therapies instead of chronic therapies that mainly cure the symptoms but not the underlying cause of diseases.

Tackling high-burden for patients and under-researched medical conditions

Closed

Code: 37565 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-DISEASE-07 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

A number of medical conditions fail to be recognised and/or be correctly diagnosed in a significant proportion of patients.

As a consequence, they are inadequately treated and often can become a chronic and high burden for the patient.

These medical conditions, including:

1. myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome,
2. autism,
3. gynaecological diseases,
4. low back pain,
5. other,

may be insufficiently researched even though they manifest with high prevalence.

Implementation research addressing strategies to strengthen health systems for equitable high-quality care and health outcomes in the context of non-communicable diseases (GACD)

Closed

Code: 37560 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-DISEASE-06 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

The European Commission is a member of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD).

The GACD specifically addresses NCDs and supports implementation science to improve health outcomes. This topic is launched in concertation with the other GACD members (international funding agencies) and aligned with the 10^th GACD call.

ISOS Pilot Mission Detailed Design – satAPPs component

Closed

Code: 37559 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL4-2025-02-SPACE-24 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Digital, Industry & Space (Cluster 4)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 25/09/2025

To tackle the above expected outcomes, the following R&I actions should be addressed, taking into account the provided technical annex:

• R&I to complete ISOS Pilot mission detailed mission and system design (including relevant key technology maturation) for the satAPPs component. All relevant technologies shall reach the necessary TRL.
• R&I on technologies relevant for innovative satAPPs at TRL 6 that will be used in the context of the ISOS pilot mission to demonstrate upgrade of components’ functionalities and/or payload exchange and IOD/V experiments.
• R&I on satAPP modules specifically for hosting IOD/V experiments.
• Contribution to the overall ISOS pilot mission detail design in close cooperation with other mission components, the ISOS Pilot Mission Coordination and Support Action and the ISOS Pilot Mission Advisory Group.

ISOS Pilot Mission Detailed Design – Logistics component

Closed

Code: 37554 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL4-2025-02-SPACE-23 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Digital, Industry & Space (Cluster 4)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 25/09/2025

To tackle the above expected outcomes, the following R&I actions should be addressed, taking into account the provided technical annex:

• R&I to complete ISOS Pilot mission detailed mission and system design (including relevant key technology maturation) for the logistics component, demonstrating the achievement of the required TRL for all relevant technologies;
• R&I on key enabling technologies relevant for design of a logistics component that can transport cargo (i.e., satAPPs and propellant) taken from an upper stage to the HOST component;
• R&I on solutions for docking and propellant management and transfer with the HOST. Building on existing European designs is encouraged;
• Contribution to the overall ISOS pilot mission detail design in close cooperation with other mission components, the ISOS Pilot Mission Coordination and Support Action and the ISOS Pilot Mission Advisory Group.

ISOS Pilot Mission Detailed Design – HOST component

Closed

Code: 37550 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL4-2025-02-SPACE-22 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Digital, Industry & Space (Cluster 4)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 25/09/2025

To tackle the above expected outcomes, the following R&I actions should be addressed taking into account the provided technical annex:

• R&I to complete ISOS Pilot mission detailed mission and system design (including relevant key technology maturation) for the platform component (HOST), demonstrating the achievement of the required TRL for all relevant technologies;
• R&I on key enabling technologies relevant for design of a scalable, modular, flexible platform component, equipped with robotic manipulation, satAPPs compatibility and refuelling capability (for the HOST and the hosted servicer and logistic spacecraft), that can be extended and reconfigured to meet different demands (e.g., governmental and commercial, IOD/V and additional servicer hosting slots, robotic/manufacturing testbeds, warehouse and logistic node, etc.);
• Contribution to the overall ISOS pilot mission detail design in close cooperation with other mission components, the ISOS Pilot Mission Coordination and Support Action and the ISOS Pilot Mission Advisory Group;
• R&I on related HOST functions and applications including related operational concepts considering the use of distributed computing, multi-agent and network architectures and supported by simulations, enhancing the overall pilot mission system functionality.

ISOS Pilot Mission Detailed Design – Servicing component

Closed

Code: 37547 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL4-2025-02-SPACE-21 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Digital, Industry & Space (Cluster 4)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 25/09/2025

To tackle the above expected outcomes, the following R&I actions should be addressed, taking into account the provided technical annex:

• R&I to complete detailed mission and system design (including relevant key technology maturation) for the servicing component as part of the ISOS pilot mission. More specifically, projects should finalise the detailed design for this component building on current or previous developments, demonstrating the achievement of the required TRL for all relevant technologies;
• Contribution to the overall ISOS pilot mission detail design in close cooperation with the other mission components (including other servicing components), the ISOS Pilot Mission Coordination and Support Action and the ISOS Pilot Mission Advisory Group;
• R&I on related service capabilities and applications including operational concepts for servicing individual or fleets of satellites based on the functionality of the pilot mission system design. More specifically, possible use case for servicing a real EU asset is expected to be developed up to delivery of a concept of operations (CONOPS).

Digital solutions for autonomy for space transportation systems, design and simulation tools – targeting demonstration

Closed

Code: 37544 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-CL4-2025-02-SPACE-13 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Digital, Industry & Space (Cluster 4)(2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 25/09/2025

To tackle the above-mentioned expected outcomes, the following R&I should be addressed: R&I on advanced technologies and digital sensors for new space transportation, such as smart avionics with modularity and reusability drivers, health monitoring system and smart sensors, and structural health monitoring addressing thermo-mechanical monitoring and damage detection, ground and flight software for data management even by use of AI-algorithms.

The developments should aim at on-ground or in-orbit demonstration focusing on software and digital tools.

Support for the functioning of the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R)

Closed

Code: 37543 | Identifier Code: HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-DISEASE-05 | Programme name: 2939 | Sub-program: Health (Cluster 1) (2021-2027) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 16/09/2025

Recent history has illustrated the potential extent of threats posed by new or emerging infectious diseases, as well as the central importance of global collaboration and coordination to fight such regional or international challenges.

GloPID-R was established in 2013 for this reason, in response to a request for coordination by the Heads of International Research Organisations.

GloPID-R now provides a widely recognised platform for infectious disease research funders to work together to better tackle severe epidemics such as Ebola or Zika, pandemics at regional level that affect outermost regions, as well as global pandemics such as COVID-19.