Advancing research on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of post-infection long-term conditions

The Horizon Europe grant opportunity titled "HORIZON-HLTH-2026-01-DISEASE-03" focuses on advancing research on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of post-infection long-term conditions. It is part of the Health Cluster within Horizon Europe and is categorized as a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) with a Lump Sum Grant funding model. The call is set to open on February 10, 2026, and proposals must be submitted by April 16, 2026.

Eligible applicants include a variety of entities such as research organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large enterprises, healthcare providers, public health authorities, and non-governmental organizations. A multidisciplinary approach with a consortium of multiple applicants from various countries is encouraged, facilitating collaboration among diverse stakeholders including patients, healthcare professionals, and policymakers.

The funding amounts for each project are between €6,000,000 and €8,000,000, with a total budget of €39,300,000 available for approximately five expected grants. Proposals should address the research needs related to long-term health impacts from microbial infections, including understanding disease mechanisms, developing diagnostic tools, and creating effective therapeutic interventions. The projects should also emphasize health equity, addressing disparities in vulnerability among different populations.

Eligible locations for participation include EU Member States, associated countries, and legal entities from the United States. Projects are expected to span from research and development through early-stage clinical trials, focusing on creating evidence-based strategies and tools for managing post-infection conditions.

The application process is single-stage, requiring applicants to submit comprehensive proposals detailing their research plans. While no co-funding is mandatory, the funding supports eligible costs as a lump sum, simplifying budget management for recipients.

In summary, this grant opportunity aims to foster significant advancements in public health by addressing critical knowledge gaps regarding post-infection conditions, ultimately leading to improved patient recovery outcomes and more efficient healthcare systems.

This is a Horizon Europe call, specifically HORIZON HLTH 2026 01 DISEASE 03, aimed at advancing research on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of post infection long term conditions. It falls under Cluster 1 Health of the Horizon Europe program and is a single stage call. The type of action is HORIZON RIA, which stands for Research and Innovation Actions. The Model Grant Agreement is a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant. The planned opening date is February 10, 2026, and the deadline is April 16, 2026, at 17:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcome is that all players along the healthcare value chain have access to evidence based treatment and management strategies for post infection conditions, improving patient recovery and quality of life across diverse populations. Public health authorities and healthcare practitioners should have access to effective prevention, diagnostic, and treatment tools, ensuring better allocation of healthcare resources. Healthcare systems should improve their efficiency and reduce long term economic burdens by streamlining post infectious disease care and addressing disparities in healthcare access. Public health authorities should have access to evidence based information to integrate research findings into policy for improved public health preparedness and resilience, including training of healthcare staff and enhanced long term disease management guidelines.

The scope of the call focuses on microbial infections that lead to long lasting consequences on patients' quality of life, resulting in long term conditions characterized by persistent inflammation, organ damage, and impaired functional capacity. These conditions are often insufficiently understood, underdiagnosed, and lack effective treatments. The call aims to advance research into their prevention, treatment, and management to improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare burdens, and strengthen workforce productivity. The call is open to long term conditions resulting from infections by any type of microorganism, including viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi, which persist after the initial infection has been resolved. Research linked to cancer is excluded.

Proposals should aim to develop innovative approaches for the prevention, diagnosis, and management of post infection conditions, addressing most of the following research areas: identifying protective and risk factors, increasing understanding of pathophysiology to identify biomarkers, developing and validating preventive and/or therapeutic interventions through early stage clinical trials, identifying effective supportive rehabilitation approaches, and examining best practices for integrating post infectious disease management into healthcare settings.

Specific attention should be given to sex and gender differences in post infectious diseases, as well as age, disability, racial or ethnic origin, socio economic, lifestyle, and behavioral factors. Particular emphasis should be placed on populations in a vulnerable situation and groups with pre existing conditions to ensure equitable and inclusive healthcare solutions.

A multidisciplinary, cross sectoral approach is encouraged, involving all relevant stakeholders, including patients, researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers. Proposals should develop a harmonized approach to collection, storage, sharing, and analysis of FAIR data, leveraging existing European research infrastructures and contributing to emerging research infrastructures like the European Health Data Space and the European Open Science Cloud.

Proposals should demonstrate complementarity with ongoing EU initiatives and outline plans for collaboration to maximize synergies and avoid duplication of research efforts. All projects funded under this topic are expected to participate in networking and joint activities and engage early on with the European Medicines Agency. Where relevant, a Health Technology Assessment should be conducted.

If applicable, applicants are encouraged to incorporate artificial intelligence tools and advanced computational modelling/Virtual Human Twin powered tools to predict disease risk and progression, ensuring these tools are developed and tested for diverse populations to minimize bias. Hardware and software should be interoperable in line with internationally accepted standard.

This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities 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.

Participation of start ups, micro, small and medium sized enterprises is also encouraged to strengthen their scientific and technological foundations and enhance their innovation potential.

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.

The admissibility conditions are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout are described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non EU/non Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 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. Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks. Other eligibility conditions are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. The thresholds for each criterion will be 4 (Excellence), 4 (Impact) and 4 (Implementation). The cumulative threshold will be 12. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

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. Legal and financial set up of the grants are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

Application and evaluation form templates include the standard application form (HE RIA, IA) and the standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA). Guidance documents include the HE Programme Guide, Model Grant Agreement (MGA), Lump Sum MGA, call specific instructions, information on clinical studies (HE), detailed budget table (HE LS), and guidance on lump sums. Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2026 2027, the HE Programme Guide, the HE Framework Programme 2021/695, the HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764, the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, the Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

The budget for this topic in 2026 is 39,300,000 EUR. The opening date is February 10, 2026, and the deadline is April 16, 2026. The estimated contribution per project is between 6,000,000 and 8,000,000 EUR, and the indicative number of grants is 5.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call focuses on research and innovation actions to tackle the challenges posed by long term conditions resulting from microbial infections. It encourages a multidisciplinary, inclusive approach, emphasizing the use of FAIR data, collaboration with existing initiatives, and the integration of AI and advanced modelling tools. The call aims to improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare burdens, and enhance public health preparedness by developing innovative prevention, diagnostic, and management strategies for post infection conditions. The funding is provided as a lump sum, and the call is open to a wide range of stakeholders, including researchers, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and SMEs. The overall goal is to translate research findings into effective policies and practices that improve the lives of individuals affected by these conditions.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include startups, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), researchers, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and other relevant stakeholders (medical and non-medical). The call encourages a multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral approach. Legal entities established in the United States of America are also eligible to receive Union funding.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) with eligible costs taking the form of a lump sum. Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (HORIZON-PPI) is also listed as a funding type.

Consortium Requirement: A multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral approach is encouraged, implying that a consortium of multiple applicants is preferred, although not explicitly stated as a requirement.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 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.

Target Sector: The target sector is health, specifically research and innovation related to the prevention, diagnosis, and management of post-infection long-term conditions. This includes areas such as genetics, epigenetics, immune responses, inflammatory responses, biomarkers, diagnostic approaches, pharmacological treatments, precision medicine, rehabilitation, physical therapy, cognitive interventions, psychological support, artificial intelligence, and advanced computational modelling. It also involves integrating social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines.

Mentioned Countries: United States of America.

Project Stage: The project stage ranges from research and development to validation and early-stage clinical trials (phase 1 and phase 2 for pharmacological interventions). The call aims to develop evidence-based treatment and management strategies, diagnostic and treatment tools, and improve healthcare system efficiency.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call, ranging from approximately €1,900,000 for Coordination and Support Actions to between €3,000,000 and €11,000,000 for Research and Innovation Actions.

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant to support their research and innovation activities.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly stated, but the indicative number of grants for each topic provides some insight into the potential success rate.

Co-funding Requirement: The need for co-funding is not explicitly mentioned, but 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.

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call, under Cluster 1 Health, focuses on "Advancing research on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of post-infection long-term conditions." It aims to support activities that contribute to tackling diseases and reducing the disease burden by addressing the long-lasting consequences of microbial infections. The call is open to a wide range of applicants, including startups, SMEs, researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers, encouraging a multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach.

The funding mechanism is primarily grants, with eligible costs covered as a lump sum. While a consortium is not explicitly required, the nature of the research areas suggests that collaborative projects are favored. The geographic eligibility extends to EU member states, associated countries, and, notably, legal entities established in the United States of America.

The call targets the health sector, specifically research and innovation in areas such as identifying risk factors, understanding pathophysiology, developing preventive and therapeutic interventions, and integrating post-infectious disease management into healthcare settings. Projects should aim to develop evidence-based strategies, diagnostic tools, and improve healthcare system efficiency.

The project stage spans from research and development to validation, including early-stage clinical trials. The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic, ranging from approximately 1.9 million EUR for coordination and support actions to between 3 million EUR and 11 million EUR for research and innovation actions. The application process involves a single stage, and the success rates can be inferred from the indicative number of grants available for each topic.

In essence, this call seeks to stimulate research and innovation that will lead to better prevention, diagnosis, and management of long-term conditions arising from microbial infections, ultimately improving patient outcomes, reducing healthcare burdens, and enhancing public health preparedness.