EU and International Funding Programmes

Please contact the EU Office at an early stage if your are planning to submit an application.

Advance Notice: ERC Advanced Grant 2026

The ERC Advanced Grant is aimed at excellent Principal Investigators that are established research leaders who want long-term funding to persue a ground-breaking, ambitious project. An ERC Advanced Grant Principal Investigator is expected to be an active researcher with a track record of significant research achievements. ERC Advanced Grants may be awarded up to € 2.5 million for a period of 5 years.

Deadline date for submission: 27.08.2026

Advance Notice: ERC Plus Grant 2026

The ERC Plus Grant supports outstanding Principal Investigators who address a major scientific challenge. Applications for ERC Plus Grants should be for projects that could not be carried out with a regular ERC grant. Scholars at all career stages can apply for an ERC Plus Grant if they have an outstanding record of scientific achievement at the forefront of their field. ERC Plus Grants may be awarded up to € 7 million for a max. period of 7 years.

Deadline Date for Submission: 02.09.2026

Currently no open calls for proposals for MSCA Doctoral Networks or Postdoctoral Fellowships. Information about MSCA Actions can be found in the Work Programme 2026-2027 for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Next planned deadline for proposals for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships: 09.09.2026.

Next planned deadline for proposals for MSCA Doctoral Networks: 24.11.2026.

Cluster Health

The Work Programme 2026/2027 has been finalised. The following topics will be open for submissions in the Funding & Tenders Portal shortly:

• Behavioural interventions as primary prevention for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) among young people
• Support for a multilateral initiative on climate change and health research
• Innovative interventions to prevent the harmful effects of using digital technologies on the mental health of children and young adults
• Multisectoral approach to tackle chronic non-communicable diseases: implementation research maximising collaboration and coordination with sectors and in settings beyond the healthcare system (GACD)
• Understanding of sex and/or gender-specific mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases: determinants, risk factors and pathways
• Identifying and addressing low-value care in health and care systems
• Support to European Research Area (ERA) action on accelerating New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to advance biomedical research and testing of medicinal products and medical devices
• Development of novel vaccines for viral pathogens with epidemic potentia
• Pilot actions for follow-on funding: Leveraging EU-funded collaborative research in regenerative medicine
• Establishing a European network of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) for Advanced Therapies Medicinal Products (ATMPs)
• Advancing research on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of post-infection long-term conditions
• Regulatory science to support translational development of patient-centred health technologies
• Towards a better understanding and anticipation of the impacts of climate change on health
• Scaling up innovation in cardiovascular health
• Building public trust and outreach in the life sciences
• Integrating New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to advance biomedical research and regulatory testing
• Towards climate resilient, prepared and carbon neutral populations and healthcare systems

Submission deadline: 16.04.2026

Mission Cancer

The Work Programme for Mission Cancer has been finalised. The following topics will be open for submission in the Funding & Tenders Portal shortly:

• Pragmatic clinical trials to optimise immunotherapeutic interventions for patients with refractory cancers
• Virtual Human Twin (VHT) Models for Cancer Research
• Earlier and more precise palliative care
• Improve the Quality of Life of older cancer patients
• Boosting mental health of young cancer survivors through the European Cancer Patient Digital Centre (ECPDC)
• Development of a research capacity building programme on cancer with and for Ukraine
• Microbiome for early cancer prediction before the onset of disease

Submission deadline: 15.09.2026

Pathfinder Open 2026

This bottom-up call supports multidisciplinary research teams. New visionary and high-risk projects at an early stage of development are to be funded with up to 4 million euros each. The projects are intended to identify technologies for new markets.

Submission deadline: 12.05.2026

Pathfinder Challenges 2026

This call has two pre-defined challenges relevant to the healthcare sector:

• Biotechnology for Healthy Ageing
• DeepRAP: Deep Reasoning, Abstraction & Planning towards trustworthy Cognitive AI Systems

Smaller consortia (at least two eligible entities) or single applicants as well as larger consortia can apply.

Submission deadline: 28.10.2026.

Horizon Europe is the current European Union’s framework programme for research and innovation with a budget of EUR 95.5 billion up to 2027. Horizon Europe offers a broad range of funding opportunities, from support for basic scientific research to application-oriented collaborative projects and market launch activities.

Horizon Europe is structured in three central pillars:

• Excellent Science
• Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
• Innovative Europe

An additional underlying pillar “Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area” supports the entire programme and serves to optimise national research and innovation potential across Europe, thereby strengthening the European Research Area.

_{Source: factsheet “Horizon Europe – Investing to shape our future“ of the European Commission}

The first pillar „Excellent Science“ primarily supports bottom up (individual) research at all levels and includes the European Research Council (ERC), Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and Research Infrastructures. ERC Advanced Grants fund established, active researchers with a track record of outstanding research contributions of 10 years or more. ERC Consolidator Grants fund promising researchers at the start of their careers as independent group leaders. These grantees have already established their own research group. ERC Starting Grants support young, innovative researchers who are setting up their own research groups. ERC Synergy Grants assemble two to four Principal Inverstigators who aim at implementing an ambitious, synergistic, inter- or transdisciplinary research programme. An ERC Proof of Concept funds researchers who are already ERC Grantees and who aim to use particular results from their grants by pre-commercial exploitation. MSCA Doctoral Networks are networks of European institutions with the purpose of training doctoral researchers in a structured manner to increase their competences in an international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral research and training programme.and MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships. MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships promote individual research projects of Postdocs at research institutions in Europe and abroad. They aim to enhance the career opportunities of Postdocs through international and inter-sectoral mobility.

The second pillar “Global Challenges & European Industrial Competiveness” comprises six thematic clusters, including the Cluster Health. This part of the programme provides funding for collaborative research, in which partners from different countries work together on a project. Applications can only be submitted in relation to topics within six different areas of intervention: 1) Health throughout the Life Course, 2) Environmental and Social Health Determinants, 3) Non-Communicable and Rare Diseases, 4) Infectious Diseases, including poverty-related and neglected diseases, 5) Tools, Technologies and Digital Solutions for Health and Care, including personalised medicine, 6) Health Care Systems.

The third pillar “Innovative Europe” bundles together instruments with a focus on innovation and market uptake. These include, among others, the European Innovation Council (EIC). From basic research to the marketability of a product, this creates a wide range of participation opportunities.

Horizon Europe introduces missions for the first time in Pillar II to increase the effectiveness of funding by pursuing clearly defined targets. Five missions have been identified, one of which is the Mission Cancer. This mission addresses the understanding of cancer, prevention, diagnosis and treatment, quality of life and equal access to care. In addition, partnerships within the Cluster Health contribute to the implementation of Horizon Europe.

More information about Horizon Europe and the different programme parts can be found in the following links:

The EU4Health programme contributes to the EU’s objective of tackling long-term health challenges by building stronger, more resilient and more accessible health systems.

EU4Health is one of the main instruments to pave the way to a European Health Union. Established by Regulation (EU) 2021/522EN, EU4Health brings an EU added value and complements the policies of the Member States to pursue four general and ten specific objectives representing the areas of intervention:

• Improve and foster health
  • Health promotion and disease prevention, in particular cancer
  • International health initiatives and cooperation
• Protect people
  • Prevention, preparedness and response to cross-border health threats
  • Complementing national stockpiling of essential crisis-relevant products
  • Establishing a reserve of medical, healthcare and support staff
• Access to medicinal products, medical devices and crisis-relevant products
  • Ensuring that these products are accessible, available and affordable
• Strengthen health systems
  • Reinforcing health data, digital tools and services, digital transformation of healthcare
  • Enhancing access to healthcare
  • Developing and implementing EU health legislation and evidence-based decision making
  • Integrated work among national health systems

European Partnerships are means for cooperation between the European Commission, EU- Member States, the private sector and other stakeholders, to turn research results into socio-economic outcomes, and in turn, strengthen and adapt the European industry to major challenges such as digitisation and climate change.

These partnerships are instruments for aligning research, technology development and innovation with European political priorities and for creating synergies with national and regional programmes. European Partnerships come into place when the objectives of Horizon Europe can be better achieved by this instrument than through other activities in the framework programme. European Partnerships serve to complement European, national and regional initiatives. Horizon Europe is the most important framework for implementing these partnerships. The (financial) engagement of EU-Member States and the European industry is important.

There are now three distinctly different types of European Partnerships: Co-funded Partnerships (these bring together national and regional funding organizations and issue calls for proposals for transnational projects), Institutionalised Partnerships (for long-term commitment and a greater degree of integration; based on Article 185 or 187 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) and Co-Programmed Partnerships.

In addition to calls for proposals within Cluster Health, a number of European Partnerships provide additional funding opportunities in the field of health, which are supported by Horizon Europe funds. The following partnerships are either already in operation or are currently in preparation:

• Innovative Health Initiative (IHI)

  ---

• European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP)

  ---

• European Partnership for the Assessment of Risk from Chemicals (PARC)

  ---

• Fostering ERA for Health (ERA4Health)

  ---

• Transforming Health and Care Systems (THCS)

  ---

• European Partnership on Rare Diseases (EJP RD)

  ---

• European Partnership for One Health/Antimicrobial Resistance (JPI AMR)

  ---

• European Partnership Pandemic Preparedness

  ---

• Joint Programming Neurodegenerative Disease (JPND)

  ---

• ERA-NET NEURON

  ---

• Antimicrobial Resistance (JPI AMR)

  ---

• ERA-NET TRANSCAN

  ---

• European Partnership for Personalised Medicine (EP PerMed)

  ---

• Eurostars

  ---

The Interreg Upper Rhine Programme 2021-2027 funds cross-border collaborative projects in the metropolitan region Upper Rhine, namely the areas of Alsace, southern Palatine, Baden and the cantons of Northwestern Switzerland. The programme is supported by the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRD) and addresses a number of challenges that are common to all parts of the Upper Rhine region, such as mobility, climate change, cross-border public health issues as well as on reinforcing the research, development and innovation capacities in the region.

The Interreg Upper Rhine Programme is based on the principle of co-financing. Researchers interested in submitting proposals to open calls should note that own funding has to be provided. The programme’s share in the overall project costs will vary depending on the respective priority and the specific goals addressed by the call, but the recipient’s own funds should usually cover 50% of the planned project costs.