Research infrastructure services to enable R&I addressing main challenges and EU priorities related to the health domain

The grant opportunity HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-SERV-01 is part of the Horizon Europe program, specifically addressing research infrastructure services in health. Eligible applicants include research infrastructures of European interest, such as ESFRI Landmarks, ERICs, and various organizations from EU member states and associated countries, alongside some entities from countries like Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Japan. The funding type is characterized as a grant, specifically under the Horizon Research and Innovation Action framework, with a budget ranging from €1 million to €15 million depending on the specific project.

The call emphasizes the requirement for consortia, typically necessitating interdisciplinary collaboration among multiple applicants, with at least one ESFRI or ERIC involved. Geographic eligibility extends across EU member states, EEA countries, and associated nations, allowing some participation from third countries under specific conditions.

Target areas for funding encompass medical countermeasures for epidemic response, improvements in pediatric clinical research, and research linking environmental factors to human health. The application process is single-stage, with a deadline set for September 18, 2025.

The project aims to provide innovative and efficient research infrastructure services to enhance societal problem-solving capacity related to health issues. Expected outcomes for funding include the development of tools for epidemic preparedness, improved pediatric treatments, and environmental health assessments. Each project is encouraged to follow fair data management principles, ensuring compliance with regulations.

Overall, the initiative seeks to increase accessibility to research infrastructure services, promote collaboration among European institutions, and fortify the EU's ability to respond to health challenges. Successful proposals should adhere to mentioned criteria and be prepared for the competitive nature of the funding application process.

This EU funding opportunity, HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-SERV-01, falls under the Horizon Europe (HORIZON) program, specifically the Research Infrastructures 2025 call (HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01). It is a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) with a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG] model grant agreement. The call is currently open for submission with a single-stage deadline. The opening date was May 6, 2025, and the deadline for submission is September 18, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The main objective of this topic is to provide innovative, customised, and efficient research infrastructure services that enhance society's long-term problem-solving capacity and evidence-based policy making in the health domain. Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes, depending on the area addressed:

Area 1: Research infrastructure services to support research and development of medical countermeasures for epidemic response:
 * Excellent research and innovation to identify, characterise, and mitigate the effects of existing and future emerging pathogens of public health concern.
 * A comprehensive, updated, and available catalogue of research infrastructure services relevant to tackling infectious diseases epidemics.
 * Increased knowledge on and development of intervention tools against (re)emerging pathogens, enabled by relevant research infrastructure services.
 * Availability of research data from access provision activities for re-use on common data platforms and registries, according to FAIR principles and GDPR compliance.
 * Challenge-driven integration of EU research infrastructures and organizational alignment with the future Pandemic Preparedness Partnership, EU Reference Laboratories, and the EU4Health funded laboratory network DURABLE.
 * A long-term sustainability concept for a research infrastructure network supporting epidemic research.

Area 2: Research infrastructure services for improving clinical research in the paediatric area:
 * Advancement of paediatric medicines and other therapeutic and diagnostic approaches to markets and clinical use.
 * Accelerated availability of solutions and products to paediatric patients in need.
 * Wider access to rationally designed research infrastructure services across Europe to support the competitiveness of the European industry and biotech SMEs developing paediatric medicines, treatment, and diagnostic devices.
 * Joined forces of research infrastructures and paediatric competence networks in EU Member States and Associated Countries to facilitate paediatric research within the EU regulatory environment.
 * Availability of innovative tools for conducting paediatric clinical trials, re-using population and historical data, and enhancing data sharing across actors at different care levels and regions in Europe.

Area 3: Research infrastructure services to enable research linking environmental factors to human health:
 * Better risk assessment tools and data evidence to anticipate and mitigate negative environmental implications on human health.
 * Evidence to inform policy making and public health bodies regarding the assessment and management of environmental risks for human health.
 * Wider access to specialised research infrastructure services to underpin the competitiveness of the European industry, including SMEs, in risk assessment and management of environmental impact on human health.
 * Links with environmental research on exposure to other living organisms within the One-Health concept.

The scope of this topic involves providing trans-national (on-site or remote) and/or virtual access to integrated and customised research infrastructures services for challenge-driven research and innovation in the health domain. This includes ad hoc user training and scientific/technical support, as well as training courses for exploiting leading-edge research infrastructures and developing data stewardship skills. Activities to facilitate access procedures, develop remote services, and improve/harmonise services are also supported. The main focus is on access provision to existing services, with support for improving and optimising services, including joint/cross-research infrastructure services, ensuring their long-term sustainability. The topic does not support longer-term R&D for new instrumentation, tools, methods, or advanced digital solutions.

Proposals should adhere to the European Charter for Access to Research Infrastructures, address data management, interoperability, and connection to the European Open Science Cloud, and consider major European/international initiatives. They should also involve interdisciplinary research infrastructures of European interest, including at least one ESFRI Landmark or ERIC as a beneficiary. Access may be open to third countries’ researchers working on global challenges. Proposals should include an outreach plan to advertise services, especially to Widening countries and relevant industries, including SMEs, and exploit synergies with other EU grants. A list of services/installations opened for access and the amounts of access units available must be included.

The integration of the gender dimension in research content is not mandatory, but proposals should promote it where applicable.

The topic targets scientific challenges and EU priority areas related to the health domain, specifically:

Area 1: Research infrastructure services to support research and development of medical countermeasures for epidemic response, building on previous work and the ISIDORe project.
Area 2: Research infrastructure services for improving clinical research in the paediatric area, enabling and accelerating R&I towards innovative biomedical products and therapies for children.
Area 3: Research infrastructure services to enable research linking environmental factors to human health, investigating the effect of environmental exposure and developing innovative tools for deciphering causal pathways and preventing associated diseases.

Applicants are not required to include a plan for exploitation and dissemination of results, as the main objective is service provision. The application page limit is 100 pages.

Eligible costs may take the form of unit costs for trans-national and virtual access to research infrastructures.

The total budget for this topic in 2025 is 30,000,000 EUR, with an indicative contribution of around 10,000,000 EUR per grant and an expected number of 3 grants.

The opening date is May 6, 2025, and the deadline is September 18, 2025.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to bolster research and innovation in the health domain by providing funding for projects that offer access to high-quality research infrastructure services. The call focuses on three key areas: epidemic preparedness, paediatric research, and the link between environmental factors and human health. The goal is to enhance the EU's capacity to address health challenges, promote collaboration, and ensure the long-term sustainability of research infrastructure networks. Applicants should carefully review the eligibility criteria, scope, and expected outcomes for each area to develop strong and impactful proposals.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are research infrastructures of European interest, including ESFRI Landmarks and ERICs, legal entities hosting ERIC facilities, resources or related services, and exceptionally, legal entities established in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and USA, which provide access to their research infrastructures to researchers from Member States and Associated Countries. SMEs are also mentioned as potential participants in outreach activities. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a member of the consortium.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily grant, specifically HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) under the Horizon Europe program. Eligible costs may take the form of unit costs for trans-national and virtual access to research infrastructures.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a consortium of multiple applicants. Proposals should involve a necessary interdisciplinary set of research infrastructures of European interest. Proposed actions should ensure strong links to research infrastructures of pan-European relevance, with at least one ESFRI Landmark or European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) as a beneficiary.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States, Associated Countries, and, under specific conditions, legal entities from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and USA. Access could also be open to third countries’ researchers.

Target Sector: The target sector is health, encompassing research infrastructure services related to medical countermeasures for epidemic response, improving clinical research in the paediatric area, and enabling research linking environmental factors to human health. This includes areas like infectious diseases, biomedicine, environmental exposure, and related technologies and data services.

Mentioned Countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, USA, EU Member States, Associated Countries.

Project Stage: The project stage focuses on providing access to existing research infrastructure services, with support for improvement, optimisation, and development of new services in the mid-term (2-3 years). The topic does not support longer-term R&D for new instrumentation, tools, methods, and advanced digital solutions. The expected maturity is validation and demonstration.

Funding Amount: The funding range varies depending on the specific action type (RIA or CSA) and the topic. It ranges from 1,000,000 EUR to 15,000,000 EUR for CSA actions and from 3,000,000 EUR to 15,000,000 EUR for RIA actions, with some actions having an indicative contribution "around" a specific amount like 5,000,000 EUR or 10,000,000 EUR.

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 provide access to research infrastructure services, training, and support activities. Eligible costs may take the form of unit costs for trans-national and virtual access to research infrastructures.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants is provided for each topic, which can be used to estimate the potential success rate based on the number of expected applications.

Co-funding Requirement: The need for co-funding is not explicitly mentioned, but it is implied that the funding covers eligible costs, suggesting that full funding is possible, especially when unit costs are used.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call (HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01) aims to enhance research and innovation in the health domain by providing transnational and virtual access to integrated and customized research infrastructure services. The call targets three main areas: developing medical countermeasures for epidemic response, improving clinical research in paediatrics, and enabling research linking environmental factors to human health. It supports activities such as training, service customization, and integration of access procedures. The call is open to a wide range of applicants, including research infrastructures, universities, SMEs, and other legal entities from EU Member States, Associated Countries, and certain third countries. Funding is provided through grants, with varying amounts depending on the action type (RIA or CSA) and specific topic, and the application process involves a single stage. The ultimate goal is to improve society's problem-solving capacity and evidence-based policy making in the health sector by facilitating access to advanced research infrastructure services and promoting collaboration among researchers and institutions. The call emphasizes adherence to FAIR data principles and the European Charter for Access to Research Infrastructures.