Health: Data ingestion capacities and data services for the European Genomic Data Infrastructure in the European Health Data Space: data storage and processing capacity

This grant opportunity is offered under the Digital Europe Programme, specifically targeting improvements in the European Genomic Data Infrastructure. The call is titled "Health: Data ingestion capacities and data services for the European Genomic Data Infrastructure in the European Health Data Space: data storage and processing capacity." It seeks to enhance the capacity of Member States in sequencing human genomes through secure data storage and processing environments.

The key points of the opportunity are as follows:

The call identifier is DIGITAL-2026-AI-09, and it is categorized as DIGITAL-GP (Grants for Procurement). The total budget for this initiative is €17,500,000, with one anticipated grant to be awarded. The opening date is set for November 4, 2025, and the deadline for applications is March 3, 2026.

Eligible applicants are expected to be public sector organizations such as government agencies, research institutes, universities, and public entities involved in genomic infrastructure. The application process is a single-stage submission through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

The expected outcomes include a 1+ Million Genomes data storage strategy and the establishment of secure federated data storage and processing capacity necessary for the genomic data infrastructure. The initiative will involve technical specifications that align with the European Health Data Space requirements, emphasizing security, compliance, and interoperability.

The funding will specifically cover the acquisition and implementation of systems for "hot storage," secure processing environments, and long-term data archival. This includes the establishment of a federated infrastructure that allows genomic data to be processed without moving it across borders, thereby maintaining security and privacy.

The initiative supports the broader European 1+ Million Genomes initiative and is closely linked with other related projects such as the Genome of Europe project. It focuses on enabling European institutions to enhance their genomic data capabilities to improve healthcare outcomes, foster research, and ensure safe data management practices compliant with legal and ethical standards.

Given the competitive nature of the grant, applicants must demonstrate strong institutional capacity, technical expertise, and alignment with ongoing genomic projects and frameworks. The anticipated success rates are relatively low due to the high value of the grant and the specialized nature of the application.

Co-funding is likely required, meaning applicants will need to demonstrate secured financial contributions from national sources or institutional partners in addition to the grant they seek.

Overall, this opportunity represents a significant investment in the European health sector’s genomic data infrastructure, promoting advancements in personalized medicine and public health research while establishing Europe as a leader in genomic data management.

This EU grant opportunity, under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) and the AI Continent call (DIGITAL-2026-AI-09), aims to enhance the capacity of Member States in sequencing human genomes by improving secure data storage and processing environments. The call, titled "Health: Data ingestion capacities and data services for the European Genomic Data Infrastructure in the European Health Data Space: data storage and processing capacity," specifically targets data storage and processing capabilities.

The action type is DIGITAL-GP DIGITAL Grants for Procurement, utilizing a DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based [DIGITAL-AG] Model Grant Agreement (MGA). The deadline model is single-stage, with a planned opening date of November 4, 2025, and a deadline of March 3, 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes include a 1+MG data storage strategy and a secure federated data storage and processing capacity for the 1+MG data infrastructure. The objective is to address the challenges posed by the high volume of genomic data, ensuring efficient storage, management, and secure processing. The action supports the potential creation of a European Digital Infrastructure Consortium for genomic data (Genome EDIC) and aligns with the requirements, technical specifications, and processes established by the EHDS Regulation to ensure a smooth functioning within the HealthData@EU infrastructure. It builds on the outputs and results of the 1+MG implementing projects and will establish a collaboration agreement with the Genome of Europe (GoE) project.

The scope of the action involves the acquisition and setup of a secure federated data storage and processing capacity for the 1+MG data infrastructure, which is expected to be operated by the relevant EDIC. This includes hot storage working in synergy with secure processing environments aligned with EHDS requirements, such as compliance checks for secure processing environments and detached long-term storage for curated data made available to the 1+MG by data providers, including the Genome of Europe dataset. The data storage capacity should be designed based on an agreed data storage optimisation strategy, balancing storage costs and data depth/breadth/versioning while considering the most appropriate data storage architecture, technology, and legal aspects, and ensuring scalability.

The conditions for application include:

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout, described in section 5 of the call document and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible Countries, described in section 6 of the call document.
3. Other Eligible Conditions, described in section 6 of the call document.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion, described in section 7 of the call document.
5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes, described in section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual.
5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds, described in section 9 of the call document.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement, described in section 4 of the call document.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants, described in section 10 of the call document.

The call document and annexes include:

Call document
Application form templates: Standard application form (DEP) available in the Submission System, Ownership control declaration
Model Grant Agreements (MGA): DEP MGA
Additional documents: DEP Work Programmes, DEP Regulation 2021/964, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Guidance Classification on information in DIGITAL projects, Guidelines on How to Complete Your Ethics Self-Assessment, 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, Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

The budget overview for the year 2025 includes several topics:

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-AUTOMOTIVE - DIGITAL-SIMPLE: DIGITAL Simple Grants, 3,500,000 EUR, Single-stage, Opening date 2025-11-04, Deadline 2026-03-03, Indicative number of grants: 1
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-STORAGE - DIGITAL-GP: DIGITAL Grants for Procurement, 17,500,000 EUR, Single-stage, Opening date 2025-11-04, Deadline 2026-03-03, Indicative number of grants: 1
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-TOOL - DIGITAL-SIMPLE: DIGITAL Simple Grants, 5,000,000 EUR, Single-stage, Opening date 2025-11-04, Deadline 2026-03-03, Indicative number of grants: 1
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-ECAVA - DIGITAL-CSA: DIGITAL Coordination and Support Actions, 1,000,000 EUR, Single-stage, Opening date 2025-11-04, Deadline 2026-03-03, Indicative number of grants: 1
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-GENAI-PA - DIGITAL-CSA: DIGITAL Coordination and Support Actions, 1,800,000 EUR, Single-stage, Opening date 2025-11-04, Deadline 2026-03-03, Indicative number of grants: 1
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-SOLUTIONS-CANCER-STEP - DIGITAL-SME: Digital SME Support Actions, 14,400,000 EUR, Single-stage, Opening date 2025-11-04, Deadline 2026-03-03, Indicative number of grants: 1
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-VIRTUAL-TESTBEDS-STEP - DIGITAL-SIMPLE: DIGITAL Simple Grants, 17,000,000 EUR, Single-stage, Opening date 2025-11-04, Deadline 2026-03-03, Indicative number of grants: 2

There are 7 partner search announcements available for collaboration on this topic. LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests. The submission system is planned to open on the date stated on the topic header.

For support, applicants are advised to read all provisions carefully before preparing their application and to consult the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ and the Online Manual. The IT Helpdesk is available for technical questions.

In summary, this grant opportunity focuses on improving the infrastructure for genomic data storage and processing within the European Health Data Space. It aims to support the acquisition and setup of secure, scalable, and federated data storage solutions that meet the specific requirements of genomic data and comply with relevant regulations. The initiative encourages collaboration and seeks to establish a robust and efficient system for managing and utilizing genomic data to boost research and innovation in healthcare.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated in the provided text. However, given the context of European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) and the Digital Europe Programme, eligible applicants are likely to include consortia of organizations from member states, potentially involving research institutions, universities, SMEs, and other relevant entities capable of contributing to the establishment and operation of a secure federated data storage and processing capacity. The call is geared towards actions that support the potential creation of a European Digital Infrastructure Consortium for genomic data (Genome EDIC).

Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically DIGITAL Grants for Procurement (DIGITAL-GP) and DIGITAL Simple Grants (DIGITAL-SIMPLE) and DIGITAL Coordination and Support Actions (DIGITAL-CSA) and Digital SME Support Actions (DIGITAL-SME).

Consortium Requirement: The text suggests that a consortium is preferred, especially given the reference to the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC). The action supports the acquisition and set-up of a secure federated data storage and processing capacity, implying that multiple entities will likely need to collaborate.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is likely EU member states, given the context of the Digital Europe Programme and the aim to boost the capacity of Member States.

Target Sector: The program targets the health sector, specifically focusing on genomics, data storage, data processing, and secure processing environments. It also involves ICT and digital infrastructure. The call is related to AI and has topics for automotive, cancer solutions and virtual testbeds.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are explicitly mentioned, but the focus on boosting the capacity of "Member States" implies that the opportunity is targeted towards EU member states.

Project Stage: The project stage is geared towards development and implementation, focusing on the acquisition and set-up of infrastructure. It builds on the outputs and results of the 1+MG implementing projects, suggesting it is beyond the initial research phase and moving towards deployment and operationalization.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic.
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-AUTOMOTIVE - DIGITAL-SIMPLE: €3,500,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-STORAGE - DIGITAL-GP: €17,500,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-TOOL - DIGITAL-SIMPLE: €5,000,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-ECAVA - DIGITAL-CSA: €1,000,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-GENAI-PA - DIGITAL-CSA: €1,800,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-SOLUTIONS-CANCER-STEP - DIGITAL-SME: €14,400,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-VIRTUAL-TESTBEDS-STEP - DIGITAL-SIMPLE: €17,000,000

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

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants to acquire and set up infrastructure and implement related activities.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic is specified, which can give an idea of the competition level.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

This opportunity is a call for proposals under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), specifically the AI Continent (DIGITAL-2026-AI-09) call. It aims to enhance the capacity of EU Member States in sequencing human genomes by scaling up secure data storage and processing environments. The focus is on supporting the acquisition and setup of a secure federated data storage and processing capacity for the 1+MG data infrastructure, which is expected to be operated by a European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) for genomic data.

The call targets various areas including automotive, health data storage, health tools, cancer solutions, and virtual testbeds, with different funding levels allocated to each. The funding mechanism is primarily grants, including DIGITAL Grants for Procurement (DIGITAL-GP), DIGITAL Simple Grants (DIGITAL-SIMPLE), DIGITAL Coordination and Support Actions (DIGITAL-CSA) and Digital SME Support Actions (DIGITAL-SME). The application process is single-stage, with a planned opening date of November 4, 2025, and a deadline of March 3, 2026.

The initiative is closely linked to other EU projects and regulations, such as the 1+MG data infrastructure, the Genome of Europe (GoE) project, the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation, and the HealthData@EU infrastructure. It emphasizes the importance of data security, compliance with EHDS requirements, and scalability of the data storage and processing capacity.

Applicants are expected to develop a 1+MG data storage strategy and establish a secure federated data storage and processing capacity. The projects should include hot storage, secure processing environments, compliance checks, and long-term storage solutions. The data storage capacity design should consider data storage optimization strategies, balancing storage costs, data depth, and legal aspects.

Overall, this call is a significant initiative to bolster Europe's capabilities in genomics and data management, aligning with the broader goals of the Digital Europe Programme and the European Health Data Space. It seeks to create a robust and secure infrastructure for genomic data, enabling advanced research and innovation in the health sector.