Multisectoral approach to tackle chronic non-communicable diseases: implementation research maximising collaboration and coordination with sectors and...

The Horizon Europe grant opportunity, HORIZON-HLTH-2026-01-DISEASE-09, aims to fund implementation research addressing chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) through a multisectoral approach. Total funding amounts to €9.8 million, with individual project funding ranging from €3.0 to €4.0 million for an expected three projects. The call opens on February 10, 2026, and submissions are due by April 16, 2026, at 17:00 Brussels time.

Eligible applicants include research institutions, universities, public health organizations, non-profits, and government health authorities, among others, stressing equitable partnerships between high-income and low-to-middle-income country institutions. A consortium of diverse, multidisciplinary teams is required for funding, emphasizing shared leadership and stakeholder engagement.

Geographic eligibility primarily targets EU Member States and Associated Countries, though participation from entities in the United States and broader LMICs is encouraged. Proposals should focus on implementation research with evidence-based interventions targeting any NCD or associated risk factors, utilizing community settings like schools, workplaces, and environmental infrastructures outside traditional healthcare facilities.

The funding mechanism is a simplified lump-sum grant, providing flexibility for budget allocation. Applicants will undergo a single-stage evaluation based on criteria of excellence, impact, and implementation, with a rigorous success rate estimated between 2 to 5%. Co-funding is not required, though leveraging additional resources from partners is beneficial.

The scope of funded projects aims to generate actionable insights for policymakers and communities, enhancing health equity and responses to the burdens of NCDs in various contexts, particularly among underserved populations. Proposals are encouraged to integrate social sciences, foster collaborations, and ensure meaningful engagement of early-career researchers. The initiative aligns with global health priorities, aiming to establish the EU as a leader in implementing effective health strategies that address the increasing challenges posed by NCDs worldwide.

This is a Horizon Europe grant opportunity focused on tackling diseases and reducing disease burden, specifically through a multisectoral approach to address chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It emphasizes implementation research that maximizes collaboration and coordination with sectors and settings beyond the traditional healthcare system. The call, HORIZON-HLTH-2026-01-DISEASE-09, is a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (RIA) with a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is February 10, 2026, and the deadline is April 16, 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The total budget for this specific topic is 9,800,000 EUR, with individual contributions ranging from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 EUR, and an indicative number of 3 grants to be awarded.

The expected outcomes of this grant opportunity are:
1. Improved access to insights and evidence for researchers, policymakers, healthcare and non-healthcare stakeholders in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs) serving disadvantaged populations on how to maximize collaboration and coordination with sectors and in settings beyond the healthcare system in the context of NCDs.
2. Enhanced understanding among researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders on how proposed interventions leverage collaborative multisectoral engagement and utilize various settings (education, work, living environments) to reduce risks, prevent, manage, and control NCDs.
3. Full engagement of communities, stakeholders, and authorities in implementing interventions that address the growing burden of NCDs outside traditional healthcare settings, leading to improved health-related outcomes, quality of life, and healthy life expectancy.

The scope of the research includes:
1. Funding implementation research focused on strategies to tackle the growing burden of NCDs 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.
2. 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.
3. Justification for the choice of intervention(s) with existing evidence of effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, sustainability, scalability, and potential for long-term health and other impacts.
4. Exploration of implementation research for proposed interventions in selected study populations 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 contexts.

Proposals should address the following implementation research activities:
1. 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.
2. Have an appropriate strategy for measuring implementation research outcomes and real-world effectiveness outcomes and indicators.
3. Specifically address issues of equitable implementation to ensure interventions reach the populations that need them the most.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Provide opportunities for implementation research capacity building for early career researchers and team members from lower resourced environments, such as LMICs or disadvantaged communities.
7. 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.

The admissibility conditions, proposal page limit, and layout are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form. Eligible countries 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. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. Legal and financial set-up of the grants are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021.

This Horizon Europe funding opportunity aims to support research and innovation actions that address the growing global challenge of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It specifically targets implementation research, encouraging projects to develop and test strategies for preventing and managing NCDs in settings outside of traditional healthcare facilities. The goal is to foster collaboration across various sectors, such as education, workplace, and community environments, to create more effective and sustainable interventions, particularly for vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries and underserved communities in high-income countries. The projects should focus on generating evidence-based strategies that can be adopted by policymakers and practitioners to improve health outcomes and reduce the burden of NCDs worldwide. The initiative also emphasizes the importance of building research capacity in lower-resourced settings and ensuring the active involvement of early-career researchers.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated but can be inferred to include researchers, policymakers, healthcare-related stakeholders, non-healthcare-related stakeholders, authorities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and those in high-income countries (HICs) serving disadvantaged populations, and institutions. The call also mentions the importance of engaging 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. The inclusion of early career researchers and team members from lower resourced environments, such as LMICs or disadvantaged communities, is also encouraged.

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) and HORIZON Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (HORIZON-PPI) and HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) under the Horizon Europe Programme. The grants will be provided as a lump sum.

Consortium Requirement: While not explicitly stated, the emphasis on multidisciplinary approaches, equitable partnerships between HIC-LMIC and/or non-Indigenous-Indigenous members, and stakeholder engagement suggests that a consortium is strongly preferred, if not required.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs), particularly those serving disadvantaged populations. 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. Any legal entity established in the United States of America is eligible to receive Union funding.

Target Sector: The program targets the health sector, with a specific focus on tackling Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and reducing disease burden. It also emphasizes a multisectoral approach, involving sectors outside of the traditional health system, such as education, workplace, environment, social systems, housing, transportation, agriculture, food industry and nutrition, leisure and culture. The program also targets social sciences and humanities (SSH).

Mentioned Countries: Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), High-income countries (HICs), United States of America.

Project Stage: The project stage is implementation research, focusing on strategies to tackle the growing burden of NCDs. The call specifies that proposals with the primary aim of informing the development and/or selection of an intervention for a given context, where the implementation component will be explored in a future project (i.e. standalone feasibility projects) are not in the scope of this topic.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call, with ranges including around 1900000 EUR, 3000000 to 4000000 EUR, 3000000 to 8000000 EUR, 4000000 to 6000000 EUR, 5000000 to 8000000 EUR, 6000000 to 7000000 EUR, 6000000 to 8000000 EUR, 7000000 to 8000000 EUR, 9000000 to 10000000 EUR, 9000000 to 11000000 EUR, and around 10000000 EUR.

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.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic is provided, allowing for an estimation of the competition level.

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

Summary: This Horizon Europe call focuses on funding implementation research to tackle the growing burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs) with underserved populations. The call emphasizes a multisectoral approach, encouraging collaboration and coordination with sectors and settings beyond the traditional healthcare system. Projects should aim to generate evidence relevant to policymakers, communities, and practitioners, with a focus on equitable implementation, stakeholder engagement, and sustainability. The call encourages the involvement of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and experts, as well as the participation in networking and joint activities. Funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and the application process involves a single stage. The call is aligned with the 11th GACD call, indicating a coordinated effort with other international funding agencies.