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  1. An institution, body, office or agency established by or based on the Treaty on European Union and the Treaties establishing the European Communities.

    All education and training facilities for people of different age groups.

    An intergovernmental organization having legal personality under public international law or a specialized agency established by such an international organization. An international organization, the majority of whose members are Member States or Associated Countries and whose main objective is to promote scientific and technological cooperation in Europe, is an International Organization of European Interest.

    An NPO is an institution or organization which, by virtue of its legal form, is not profit-oriented or which is required by law not to distribute profits to its shareholders or individual members. An NGO is a non-governmental, non-profit organization that does not represent business interests. Pursues a common purpose for the benefit of society.

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    A microenterprise, a small or medium-sized enterprise (business) as defined in EU Recommendation 2003/361. To qualify as an SME for EU funding, an enterprise must meet certain conditions, including (a) fewer than 250 employees and (b) an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million. These ceilings apply only to the figures for individual companies.

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  1. Administration & Governance, Institutional Capacity & Cooperation 

    This topic focuses on strengthening governance, fostering institutional capacity, and enhancing cross-border cooperation. It includes promoting multilevel, transnational, and cross-border governance by designing and testing effective structures and mechanisms, as well as encouraging collaboration between public institutions on various themes. 

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Call key data

Multisectoral approach to tackle chronic non-communicable diseases: implementation research maximising collaboration and coordination with sectors and in settings beyond the healthcare system (GACD)

Funding Program

Horizon Europe: Cluster 1 - Health

Call number

HORIZON-HLTH-2026-01-DISEASE-09

deadlines

Opening
10.02.2026

Deadline
16.04.2026 17:00

Funding rate

100%

Call budget

€ 9,800,000.00

Estimated EU contribution per project

between € 3,000,000.00 and € 4,000,000.00

Link to the call

ec.europa.eu

Link to the submission

ec.europa.eu

Call content

short description

The aim of this topic is to fund implementation research focused on strategies to tackle the growing burden of NCDs (non-communicable diseases) through actions in sectors and settings outside the traditional health system and its facilities (with or without the involvement of the healthcare system) to attain equitable health-related outcomes or influence health determinants for people living in LMICs, and/or underserved populations in HICs.

Call objectives

The Commission is a member of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD). The GACD specifically addresses NCDs and supports implementation research to improve health outcomes. This topic is launched in concertation with the other GACD members (international funding agencies) and aligned with the 11th GACD call.

Besides health-related determinants, the burden of NCDs is also driven by structural and social inequities, population ageing, the effects of globalisation on marketing and trade, diet and activity, commercial and economic determinants of health, rapid urbanisation and climate change, factors over which a conventional healthcare-oriented system has little sway. There is a need for a comprehensive approach, involving sectors outside of health, to meet the global targets that governments have agreed upon to protect people from chronic NCDs. Tackling chronic NCDs most effectively therefore requires engagement and coordinated policy development within and across many government departments, including education, workplace, environment, social systems, housing, transportation, agriculture, food industry and nutrition, leisure and culture.

Proposals can focus on more than one setting and/or include cross-sectoral approaches, involving both health and non-health settings to expand efforts to reduce risks, prevent, manage and control NCDs. Safety is a major concern in non-health settings, and proposals should ensure any risks and safety considerations are addressed.

The choice of intervention(s) and provision of existing evidence of the intervention’s effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, sustainability, scalability and potential for long-term health and other impacts should be justified (and in what context this evidence has been generated).

The majority of evidence-based interventions implemented outside of the health sector focus on prevention of NCDs: relatively few focus on strategies for management of these chronic conditions, and a limited number are implemented in LMIC contexts or underserved communities. Therefore, it may be important to undertake formative research as a part of the proposal to support readiness for implementation.

Applicants should explore the implementation of proposed intervention(s) for a selected study population(s) based in one or more LMICs, and/or underserved populations experiencing health disparities, including Indigenous populations, in HICs, considering the unique social, political, economic, and cultural context(s) in which the study will take place. Applicants should justify why any adaptation will not compromise the known effectiveness of the selected intervention(s).

Proposals should address all the following implementation research activities:

  • Clearly describe the implementation research methodology, including the statistical design, and provide a rationale for the implementation strategy/ies to be explored (in light of the context), the community/population group(s) to benefit, the settings and sectors involved (and how these should be engaged), the current state of the art and how the proposal improves on this, and, if used, the theories, models and/or frameworks underpinning the research.
  • Have an appropriate strategy for measuring implementation research outcomes and real-world effectiveness outcomes and indicators.
  • Specifically address issues of equitable implementation to ensure interventions reach the populations that need them the most.
  • Engage an appropriately expert and skilled research team which can ensure a suitable multidisciplinary approach and that demonstrates 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.
  • Provide a stakeholder engagement strategy with evidence of support/engagement from key stakeholders for delivering the intervention and a pathway to sustain the proposed intervention (if proven effective) after the funding from the GACD grant ends.
  • Provide opportunities for implementation research capacity building for early career researchers and team members from lower resourced environments, such as LMICs or disadvantaged communities.
  • Ensure meaningful involvement of early career team members, including at least one early career member as a co-investigator.

The study population may include the general population, people with one or more existing NCDs, those currently without NCDs, or a combination of both. Applicants may propose implementation research focused on interventions that are implemented at the individual, family, community (e.g. work or school), population, and/or structural level. With regard to NCDs, applicants are encouraged to explore any chronic non-communicable condition (or combination of conditions), including mental health disorders, substance use disorders, autoimmune conditions, musculoskeletal conditions, neurological disorders and sleep disorders and/or any risk factor (or combination of risk factors). Additionally, whenever relevant, applicants are also encouraged to take a life course approach, adapting interventions for particular life stages with the goal of promoting life-long health.

Proposals should use an appropriate implementation research design and frameworks, cluster Randomised Control Trials (cRCTs), before and after studies, and additional implementation science classifications of study designs (e.g. hybrid designs), noting that applicants are not limited to any particular design.

Proposals are expected to generate evidence that is of direct relevance to policymakers, communities and practitioners. Proposed work should develop a strategy to include the relevant policymakers, local authorities, as well as other stakeholders such as community groups, or other individuals or organisations involved in the implementation of the intervention, with co-creation from the development of the proposal through to the knowledge translation phase. Project partners should be engaged from the beginning to contribute to the sustainability of the intervention after the end of project. Proposals should demonstrate sustainability of the strategy, beyond the lifespan of the project.

Poverty, discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, and other inequities are directly associated with reduced potential for equitable access to quality care. Proposals should consider relevant determinants of health (e.g. social, structural, commercial, economic) and discuss their potential impact on the effective implementation of the intervention(s). If there is a focus on a particular population (e.g. gender, racial or ethnic origin, etc.), then the reason for this should be justified.

This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

All projects funded under this topic are strongly encouraged to participate in networking and joint activities, including internationally, as appropriate. These activities could, for example, involve the participation in joint workshops, the Annual Scientific Meetings of the GACD, the exchange of knowledge, the development and adoption of best practices, or joint communication activities. Therefore, proposals are expected to include a budget for such activities and should consider covering the costs of any other potential joint activities without the prerequisite to detail concrete joint activities at this stage. The details of these joint activities will be defined during the grant agreement preparation phase.

Applicants should provide details of their clinical studies in the dedicated annex using the template provided in the submission system. As proposals under this topic are expected to include clinical studies, the use of the template is strongly encouraged.

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Expected results

This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination “Tackling diseases and reducing disease burden”. To that end, proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed at, tailored towards and contributing to some of the following expected outcomes:

  • Researchers, policymakers, healthcare- and non-healthcare-related stakeholders and authorities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and/or those in high-income countries (HICs) serving disadvantaged populations have access to improved insights and evidence on how to maximise collaboration and coordination with sectors and in settings beyond the healthcare system in the context of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
  • Researchers, policymakers, healthcare- and non-healthcare-related stakeholders and authorities have an improved understanding how the proposed interventions draw on collaborative multisectoral engagement and utilise the different settings in which people are educated, work and live, to expand efforts to reduce risks, prevent, manage and control NCDs.
  • Communities, relevant stakeholders from different sectors and authorities are fully engaged in implementing and taking up interventions that tackle the growing burden of NCDs through actions in sectors and settings outside the traditional health system and its facilities health-related outcomes, improve quality of life across the life course and extend healthy life expectancy.

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Eligibility Criteria

Regions / countries for funding

Candidate Countries, EU Member States, Eastern Partnership, Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)
Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Liechtenstein, Morocco (المغرب), Norway (Norge), Switzerland (Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), United Kingdom

eligible entities

EU Body, Education and training institution, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)

Mandatory partnership

Yes

Project Partnership

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:

  • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions: 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.
  • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States: Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe; Albania, Arab Republic of Egypt, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Republic of Korea, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom. Other third countries may become associated to Horizon Europe during the programme. For the purposes of the eligibility conditions, applicants established in other third countries negotiating association to Horizon Europe will be treated as entities established in an Associated Country, if the Horizon Europe association agreement with the third country concerned applies at the time of signature of the grant agreement.
  • the following low- and middle-income countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic), Congo (Republic), Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt (Arab Republic), El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic), Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea (Democratic People's Republic), Kyrgyz Republic, Lao (People’s Democratic Republic), Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States), Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic), Vietnam, Yemen Republic, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
  • In recognition of the opening of the US National Institutes of Health’s programmes to European researchers, any legal entity established in the United States of America is eligible to receive Union funding.

Legal entities which are established in countries not listed above will be eligible for funding if provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.

Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call/topic.

A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.

Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:

  • at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
  • at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.

As affiliated entities do not sign the grant agreement, they do not count towards the minimum eligibility criteria for consortium composition (if any).

In recognition of the opening of the US National Institutes of Health’s programmes to European researchers, any legal entity established in the United States of America is eligible to receive Union funding.

If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

other eligibility criteria

Specific cases

Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.

Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any specific call/topic conditions.

Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.

EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.

International organisations — International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are eligible to receive funding for ‘Training and mobility’ actions or when provided for in the specific call/topic conditions. Other international organisations are not eligible to receive funding, unless provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.

Joint Research Centre (‘JRC’) — Where provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC, but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.

Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities (otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible).

EU restrictive measures — Entities subject to EU restrictive measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) as well as Article 75 TFEU, are not eligible to participate in any capacity, including as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any).

Legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine — Given the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the involvement of Belarus, there is currently no appropriate context allowing the implementation of the actions foreseen in this programme with legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine. Therefore, even where such entities are not subject to EU restrictive measures, such legal entities are not eligible to participate in any capacity. This includes participation as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any). Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for justified reasons.

With specific regard to measures addressed to Russia, following the adoption of the Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1745 of 24 June 2024 (amending Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014) concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, legal entities established outside Russia whose proprietary rights are directly or indirectly owned for more than 50% by a legal person, entity or body established in Russia are also not eligible to participate in any capacity.

Measures for the protection of the Union budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary — Following the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506, as of 16 December 2022, no legal commitments can be entered into with Hungarian public interest trusts established under the Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity they maintain. Affected entities may continue to apply to calls for proposals and can participate without receiving EU funding, as associated partners, if allowed by the call conditions. However, as long as the Council measures are not lifted, such entities are not eligible to participate in any funded role (beneficiaries, affiliated entities, subcontractors, recipients of financial support to third parties, etc.). In the case of multi-beneficiary grant calls, applicants will be invited to remove or replace that entity in any funded role and/or to change its status into associated partner. Tasks and budget may be redistributed accordingly.

Additional information

Topics

Administration & Governance, Institutional Capacity & Cooperation, 
Health, Social Services, Sports

Relevance for EU Macro-Region

EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region

UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)

Additional Information

Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.

Applications must be submitted using the forms provided inside the electronic submission system (not the templates available on the topic page, which are only for information). The structure and presentation must correspond to the instructions given in the forms.

Applications must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents.

Applications must include a plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results including communication activities, unless provided otherwise in the specific call/topic conditions. The plan is not required for applications at the first stage of two-stage procedures. If the expected exploitation of the results entails developing, creating, manufacturing and marketing a product or process, or in creating and providing a service, the plan must include a strategy for such exploitation. If the plan provides for exploitation of the results primarily in non-associated third countries, the applicants must explain how that exploitation is to be considered in the EU’s interest.

The application form will have two parts:

  • Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
  • Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.

Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).

The limit for a full application (Part B) is 45 pages.

The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5.

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025).

The criteria are described in General Annex D. The following exceptions apply: The thresholds for each criterion will be 4 (Excellence), 4 (Impact) and 4 (Implementation). The cumulative threshold will be 12.

Call documents

Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 Cluster 1 - HealthHorizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 Cluster 1 - Health(1700kB)

Contact

National Contact Points for Horizon Europe
Website

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