Towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) for healthcare

The Horizon Europe funding opportunity HORIZON-HLTH-2027-03-TOOL-08, titled "Towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) for Healthcare," is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) aimed at the development of next-generation artificial intelligence models specifically for healthcare applications. The initiative seeks to foster multidisciplinary collaboration through participation from legal entities established in EU Member States and Associated Countries. It focuses on integrating advanced AI technologies in healthcare, ultimately striving for AGI capabilities in medical contexts.

The expected funding amount for this project is a fixed lump sum of €2,900,000, with one grant anticipated to be awarded. The application process involves a single-stage submission, opening on June 3, 2027, and closing on September 22, 2027, at 17:00 Brussels time. The action emphasizes community building among a diversified group of stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, patients, biomedical scientists, AI developers, data engineers, and ethics experts.

Key activities of the grant will involve creating a strategic roadmap, reviewing existing AI models, assessing safety and efficacy, and identifying relevant healthcare datasets. The project will also explore methods for developing and training frontier AI models, emphasizing ethical considerations and regulatory compliance as outlined by the AI Act and other standards.

The initiative aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare, making the system more personalized and inclusive by leveraging multimodal health data, supported by advanced infrastructures like the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and AI Factories throughout Europe. While there is no explicit co-funding requirement, the success of the project heavily depends on assembling a strong consortium of various stakeholders.

This call represents a significant opportunity in advancing AI applications within the healthcare sector, making strides toward improved clinical outcomes and patient care through innovation in AI technologies.

The EU Funding Opportunity HORIZON-HLTH-2027-03-TOOL-08, titled "Towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) for healthcare," is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (CSA) under the Horizon Europe Programme, specifically within Cluster 1 Health (Single stage 2027/2) (HORIZON-HLTH-2027-03). The action aims to support activities that enable or contribute to the expected impacts of "Developing and using new tools, technologies and digital solutions for a healthy society." The type of Model Grant Agreement is HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS]. The deadline model is single-stage, with a planned opening date of June 3, 2027, and a deadline of September 22, 2027, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of this topic are threefold. First, researchers and innovators should benefit from an improved understanding of how to develop and use the next generation of frontier Artificial Intelligence (AI) models for healthcare, including leveraging AI Factories and combining/expanding the capabilities of existing foundation models towards inclusive and personalized medicine. Second, they should gain a better understanding of how to leverage highly heterogeneous and multimodal health data spanning various anatomical scales. Third, multidisciplinary stakeholders should have access to a collaboratively created roadmap for developing the next generation of frontier AI models for healthcare, moving towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) in this domain.

The scope of the topic is defined by the AI Continent Action Plan, which identifies the health sector (life sciences, medical devices, healthcare delivery) as a key strategic area. The action aims to make European life sciences and healthcare more impactful and productive by fully integrating advanced AI in the health sector and biomedical research, aligning with the objectives of the AI in Science and Apply AI strategies. Healthcare involves combining multimodal data (electronic health records, imaging, laboratory data, molecular/omics data), a process often challenging for specialists. The increasing availability of multimodal health data in Europe, facilitated by the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and high-performance computing facilities (AI Factories), presents an opportunity to develop next-generation frontier AI models for healthcare. This action anticipates and operationalizes the use of federated infrastructures for research and innovation, guided by regulations like the EHDS regulation and the AI Act to foster ethical and safe AI innovation in healthcare. The next generation of frontier AI models are expected to make strides towards AGI, tackling complex tasks with human-like proficiency, thus increasing efficiency and efficacy in healthcare and improving patient outcomes. The action will leverage results, methodologies, and data from other relevant EU-funded projects.

Proposals should include the following coordination and support activities, ensuring multidisciplinary approaches and broad stakeholder representation (healthcare professionals, patients, biomedical scientists, AI developers, data engineers, ethics experts):

Community building: Establish a large-scale, diverse pan-European community of stakeholders with multidisciplinary expertise to develop the next generation of frontier AI models for healthcare, working towards AGI and leveraging the potential of AI Factories. This should build on existing EU-funded communities and networks, potentially leading to formalized long-term collaboration.

Roadmap creation: Review previous research to identify promising AI models and development approaches. Risk assess and review evidence on the safety and efficacy of existing AI models, considering the AI Act, related regulatory provisions, and ethical/security considerations, to inform frontier AI model development. Create a roadmap for developing the next generation of frontier AI models.

Dataset identification, curation, expansion, and use: i) Identify suitable existing datasets for developing frontier AI models for healthcare. ii) Determine how to validate datasets, ensure interoperability, and convert them into formats suitable for frontier AI model development. iii) Identify additional datasets and/or annotations needed for frontier AI model development, ensuring representativeness. iv) Identify methods and infrastructure for privacy-preserving use and expansion of datasets, aligning with the EHDS.

Frontier AI model preparatory activities: Map approaches for training and evaluating frontier AI models, such as combining foundation models for life sciences and healthcare delivery to develop advanced, multidisciplinary models for personalized medicine. These approaches should cover all aspects of trustworthy AI.

This action should consider the results of other relevant AI in health projects, particularly the GenAI4EU topics HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-CARE-01 and HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-TOOL-03, and leverage AI Factories, specialized health data infrastructures funded under the Digital Europe Programme, biobanks, relevant ERICs, and data resources accessible through the EHDS infrastructure starting in 2029, funded under the EU4Health Programme (2021-2027).

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. Participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States and Associated Countries to safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, or security. Entities controlled by non-eligible countries may participate only if they can demonstrate that their participation would not negatively impact the Union’s strategic interests. If projects use satellite-based data, they must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS. 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 (Excellence, Impact, Implementation) will be 4, with a cumulative threshold of 12. 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.

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum, as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021. 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.

The application and evaluation form templates include a standard application form (HE CSA) and a standard evaluation form (HE CSA). Guidance documents include the HE Programme Guide, Model Grant Agreement (MGA), Lump Sum MGA, call-specific instructions, a detailed budget table (HE LS), guidance on lump sums, and an ownership control declaration. Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 (General Introduction, Health, General Annexes), HE Programme Guide, HE Framework Programme 2021/695, HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, the Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

The budget for HORIZON-HLTH-2027-03-TOOL-08 is 2,900,000 EUR, with an indicative contribution of around 2,900,000 EUR and an indicative number of 1 grant. The opening date is June 3, 2027, and the deadline is September 22, 2027.

LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics. The submission system is planned to open on the date stated in the topic header.

The opportunity aims to foster the development of next-generation AI models for healthcare by building a multidisciplinary community, creating a roadmap, identifying and curating relevant datasets, and preparing for frontier AI model development. It seeks to leverage European data and infrastructure to improve healthcare outcomes through advanced AI technologies, while adhering to ethical and regulatory guidelines. The funding is provided as a lump sum, and the project is expected to contribute to the broader goals of the Horizon Europe Programme in developing digital solutions for a healthy society.

Eligible Applicant Types: The call specifies that participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States and Associated Countries. The call also mentions the need for a broad representation of stakeholders in the consortium, including healthcare professionals, patients, biomedical scientists, AI developers, data engineers, and ethics experts. Therefore, eligible applicant types include research organizations, universities, SMEs, large enterprises, healthcare providers, patient organizations, and other relevant stakeholders established in eligible countries.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant (HORIZON-AG-LS) under the HORIZON Europe Programme. The action type is HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA).

Consortium Requirement: The call explicitly states that proposals should ensure multidisciplinary approaches and a broad representation of stakeholders in the consortium. This indicates that a consortium of multiple applicants is required.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): Participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States and Associated Countries. 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.

Target Sector: The primary target sector is health, with a focus on developing and using new tools, technologies, and digital solutions for a healthy society. The call emphasizes the integration of advanced AI in the health sector and biomedical research, including life sciences, medical devices, and healthcare delivery. The call also targets the AI sector, specifically the development of next-generation frontier AI models and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) for healthcare.

Mentioned Countries: The call refers to Member States and Associated Countries of the EU. It also mentions non-EU/non-Associated Countries that have made specific provisions for funding participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on preparatory activities and coordination and support actions. The call aims to lay the foundation for the development of next-generation frontier AI models. Activities include community building, roadmap creation, dataset identification, curation, expansion, and use, and mapping approaches for training and evaluating frontier AI models.

Funding Amount: The budget for the HORIZON-HLTH-2027-03-TOOL-08 topic is EUR 2,900,000. The expected contribution per grant is around EUR 2,900,000, with an indicative number of 1 grant.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage call, as indicated by the "single-stage" deadline model.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rate cannot be determined from the provided text, but given that only one grant is expected for the HORIZON-HLTH-2027-03-TOOL-08 topic, the success rate is expected to be low.

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

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call, HORIZON-HLTH-2027-03-TOOL-08, aims to foster the development of next-generation frontier AI models for healthcare, ultimately striving towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) in the health sector. It falls under the "Health" cluster of the Horizon Europe program and seeks to support activities that contribute to "Developing and using new tools, technologies and digital solutions for a healthy society". The call is structured as a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), meaning it focuses on networking, coordination, and preparatory activities rather than direct research and innovation.

The primary goal is to bring together a diverse, pan-European community of stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, patients, biomedical scientists, AI developers, data engineers, and ethics experts. This community will collaborate to create a roadmap for developing these advanced AI models. Key activities include identifying and curating relevant healthcare datasets, addressing ethical and regulatory considerations (such as those outlined in the AI Act), and mapping out approaches for training and evaluating these models. The call emphasizes leveraging existing EU-funded initiatives, such as the AI Factories, the European Health Data Space (EHDS), and relevant projects like GenAI4EU.

The funding is provided as a lump sum grant of approximately EUR 2,900,000, and only one project is expected to be funded under this specific topic. Eligible applicants must be legal entities established in EU Member States or Associated Countries. The application process is single-stage, with a deadline of September 22, 2027. This call is a crucial step towards realizing the potential of AI to transform healthcare, making it more efficient, effective, inclusive, and personalized.