Funder: European Commission – Horizon Europe (Cluster 1: Health)
Link: Horizon Europe Work Programme – (Pre-publication)
Submission Model: Single-stage submission process
Submission Deadline for Pre-Proposals: 16 September 2025 17:00:00 Brussels time, check the Funding & Tenders Portal for updates.
Budget: Total indicative budget: €30 million; Expected EU contribution per project: ~€6 million
Aims / Objectives:
This call aims to fund research addressing high-burden, under-researched medical conditions (not including rare diseases, rare cancers, and under-researched medical conditions already addressed by projects funded under the HORIZON-HLTH-2024-DISEASE-03-14-two-stage). The goal is to improve understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of these conditions through multidisciplinary, patient-inclusive, and translational approaches. The expected outcomes include:
- The scientific and clinical community:
- make effective use of state-of-the-art information, data, technologies, tools and best practices to better understand the condition, underpinning the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and/or preventive strategies;
- exchange data, knowledge and best practices, thereby strengthening their collaboration and building knowledge and care networks in Europe and beyond;
- make wide use of newly established and, where relevant, open access databases and/or integrate them with existing infrastructures for storage and sharing of collected data according to FAIR[1] principles, thereby encouraging further use of the data.
- Policymakers and funders are informed of the research advances made, and consider further support in light of the sustainability of the studies.
- Patients and caregivers are constructively engaged with the research, which also caters for their needs.
- Health professionals have access to and use improved clinical guidelines on diagnosis and/or treatment of the condition.
Relevance to the pain community:
This funding call is highly relevant to the pain research community, as it explicitly invites projects focused on conditions that are prevalent, complex, and often inadequately treated, including chronic pain-related disorders. It offers an opportunity to advance scientific knowledge, clinical practice, and patient outcomes by addressing persistent gaps in the understanding and management of pain within a broad health research framework.
Include EFIC as a partner in your research consortia/grant applications
Effective communication of results and societal/clinical impact are increasingly emphasised by research funding bodies. EFIC can help your research project achieve this and more through doing the following:
- Communicate your research project results and updates via EFIC’s online communication channels – social media, mailing list, website
- Produce and share video interviews about your research
- Host open webinars on your research
- Connect you to the programme organisers for our scientific meetings, where you may be offered the opportunity to showcase your research
- Provide access to our database of 20,000 clinicians and researchers, including for survey participation.
- Recruit subject matter experts through our ‘Pain Scientist Network’
- Patient and public involvement; Involve = patients and other stakeholders in your research through our strong links with patients’ organisations and experience in lay-audience communication
- Boost your network through engaging with our established connections with scientific societies, industry, patients’ organisations and policy makers.
Please contact sam.kynman@efic.org for more information on how EFIC could contribute.
