Selection of hosting sites and fellows for EFSA's European Food Risk Assessment Fellowship (EU-FORA) Programme.

The EU-FORA Fellowship Programme call, identified as EUBA-EFSA-2026-ENREL-01, aims to enhance food safety risk assessment expertise within Europe through a structured fellowship initiative. The programme is designed for consortia comprising two types of entities, namely a fellow-sending organization and a hosting site, both of which must be competent organizations as defined under Article 36 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002. Eligible participants are entities from EU Member States, Iceland, or Norway, and each consortium must consist of organizations from different countries.

The funding provided is a direct grant of €55,000 per fellowship, contributing to a total budget of €825,000, supporting approximately 15 fellowships annually. These grants are used to cover costs related to the fellow's training, travel, and administrative expenses. The focus of the fellowship is not on traditional research projects but on capacity building and professional development for mid-career professionals with 3 to 15 years of experience in food safety scientific work.

Applications follow a single-stage procedure, with the planned call opening on November 4, 2025, and closing on February 26, 2026. The selection process will evaluate submitted proposals based on quality and relevance, conducted by the EFSA evaluation committee.

The fellowship programme includes comprehensive training opportunities such as a three-week induction at EFSA, structured training modules, and networking with alumni, aiming to foster knowledge transfer and professional relationships in the field of food safety risk assessment. While no formal financial co-funding is required, consortia must demonstrate operational capacity through in-kind contributions, such as staff time and resources from both participating organizations.

Overall, the EU-FORA Fellowship Programme is a targeted initiative to enhance human capital in food safety across Europe, encouraging collaboration between national competent organizations while adhering to specific eligibility criteria and operational guidelines.

The EUBA-EFSA-2026-ENREL-01 call, under the EU Bodies and Agencies (EUBA) Programme, aims to select hosting sites and fellows for the European Food Risk Assessment Fellowship (EU-FORA) Programme of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The call is a EUBA EUBA Type of Action with a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is 04 November 2025, and the deadline for submission is 26 February 2026, 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The objective of this call is to identify consortia composed of hosting sites and fellow sending organisations. Both types of organizations must be competent under Article 36 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002, which is EFSA’s Founding Regulation. The process involves a sending organisation proposing a fellow who will receive training through a work programme provided by the hosting site, which will be responsible for the fellow's training. Hosting sites should demonstrate strong capacity and extensive experience in activities related to food safety risk assessment. The EU-FORA fellowship programme will concentrate on activities within EFSA’s mandate.

The call has several conditions that applicants must meet. These conditions cover admissibility, eligibility, financial and operational capacity, exclusion criteria, and the legal and financial setup of the grants.

1. Admissibility Conditions: These pertain to the proposal page limit and layout. More details can be found in the call for proposals document.

2. Eligible Countries: Eligibility criteria are detailed in section 2.2 of the call for proposals document. To be eligible, applicants must be on the list of competent organizations designated by Member States, as per Article 36 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002 and Commission Regulation (EC) 2230/2004. EFSA Management Board regularly updates this list, which is available at https://efsa.my.site.com/competentorganisations/s/competentorganisation/CompetentOrganisation__c/00B1v000009LqfIEAS.

3. Other Eligible Conditions: These are described in section 2.2 of the call for proposals document.

4. Financial and Operational Capacity and Exclusion: Financial and operational capacity requirements are detailed in section 2.4 of the call for proposals document.

5a. Evaluation and Award: Submission and evaluation processes, as well as evaluation and award criteria, are described in sections 2 and 2.5 of the call for proposals document. Submission modalities are described in section 3 of the call for proposals document.

5b. Evaluation and Award: Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in sections 2 and 2.5 of the call for proposals document.

5c. Evaluation and Award: The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described on page 2 of the call for proposals document, under the section 'Indicative procedure timetable'.

6. Legal and Financial Set-up of the Grants: This is described in section 1.5 of the call for proposals document and in the Draft Grant Agreement.

The call documents and annexes include:

Call for proposals
Annex 1 draft Grant Agreement
Application form templates (to be downloaded from the EU Funding and Tender portal Submission Service)

Additional documents include:

EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
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 for this topic is 825,000 EUR for the year 2026. The type of action is EUBA EUBA Type of Action, and it is a single-stage application process.

There are currently 0 partner search announcements. LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

The submission system is planned to open on 04 November 2025.

For help related to this call, applicants can contact EFSAProcurement@efsa.europa.eu. Additional support resources include the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ for submission of proposals, the IT Helpdesk for technical issues, and the Online Manual for a step-by-step guide through the Portal processes.

In summary, this call for proposals aims to foster collaboration between hosting sites and sending organizations to train fellows in food safety risk assessment, aligning with EFSA's objectives. It requires applicants to be competent organizations within the EU Member States and to adhere to specific eligibility and operational criteria. The funding supports the EU-FORA fellowship programme, focusing on activities within EFSA’s remit. The application process involves a single-stage submission, with detailed guidelines and support resources available through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Eligible Applicant Types: The call is specifically targeted towards consortia comprising two types of organizations: hosting sites and fellow sending organizations. Both types of organizations must be competent organizations as defined under Article 36 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002, EFSA’s Founding Regulation. To be eligible, applicants must be on the list of competent organizations designated by the Member States in accordance with Article 36 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002 and Commission Regulation (EC) 2230/2004. This list is regularly updated by EFSA Management Board and is available for consultation using the provided link. Hosting sites are expected to have a strong capacity and broad experience in activities relevant to food safety risk assessment.

Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, as indicated by the "Draft Grant Agreement" listed under the call documents and annexes.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium is required. The call explicitly seeks to identify consortia of hosting sites and fellow sending organizations.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The eligible countries are those whose competent organizations are listed by the Member States in accordance with Article 36 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002 and Commission Regulation (EC) 2230/2004. This implies that the geographic eligibility is limited to EU Member States.

Target Sector: The program targets the food safety sector, specifically focusing on food safety risk assessment. The activities should fall within EFSA’s remit.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the eligibility is tied to the list of competent organizations designated by EU Member States. Therefore, the relevant region is the EU.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on training and development through a fellowship program. The sending organization proposes a fellow to be trained under a work programme offered by the hosting site. This suggests a development and training stage.

Funding Amount: The total budget for the topic EUBA-EFSA-2026-ENREL-01 is EUR 825,000. The indicative number of grants is not specified in the provided text.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, as indicated by the "Call for proposals" document. The deadline model is single-stage.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money through a grant agreement. The hosting sites will receive funding to support the training of the fellows.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage, meaning applicants submit a full proposal in one go.

Success Rates: The success rates are not specified in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The co-funding requirement is not specified in the provided text.

Summary:

This opportunity is a call for proposals under the EU Bodies and Agencies (EUBA) program, specifically targeting the European Food Risk Assessment Fellowship (EU-FORA) Programme. The call, identified as EUBA-EFSA-2026-ENREL-01, aims to establish consortia consisting of hosting sites and fellow sending organizations. Both entities must be competent organizations as defined by EU regulations and listed by their respective Member States. The core objective is to facilitate the training of fellows in food safety risk assessment, with the sending organization nominating a fellow to be trained at the hosting site. The hosting sites should possess significant expertise in food safety risk assessment activities within EFSA’s scope. The funding is provided through a grant agreement, and the total budget allocated for this topic is EUR 825,000. The application process involves a single stage, with a planned opening date of November 4, 2025, and a deadline of February 26, 2026. The call is focused on enhancing expertise and capacity in food safety risk assessment within the EU framework. Application form templates are to be downloaded from the EU Funding and Tender portal Submission Service.