Understanding the interactions between cardiovascular disorders and comorbidities and/or their therapeutic treatments - InterHeart

The ERA4Health InterHeart grant opportunity focuses on advancing research related to cardiovascular disorders and their interactions with comorbidities and therapeutic treatments. This grant is part of the European Union's Horizon Europe initiative, specifically under the HORIZON-HLTH-2022-DISEASE-03-01 topic. The total funding available for this call is €9,180,000, and it aims to foster transnational collaboration in health research.

Eligible applicants include academia (public and private universities and research institutes), the clinical/public health sector (hospitals and healthcare organizations), enterprises engaged in health research and innovation, and operational stakeholders like NGOs and patient advocacy groups. Consortia must consist of 3 to 7 partners from a minimum of three different countries, with special rules for partners from Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia.

The application process involves two stages: first, a pre-proposal due on March 7, 2025, followed by a full proposal for shortlisted consortia due on June 17, 2025. There is a rebuttal phase after the full proposal evaluation, allowing applicants to respond to reviewers' feedback.

The grant supports monetary funding for research activities, with individual project amounts likely ranging from €1 million to €5 million, though exact figures depend on national or regional funding rules. Co-funding is not explicitly required, but some partners may need to secure their own funding.

The evaluation process includes assessments by expert reviewers, considering criteria like scientific excellence, societal impact, and project feasibility. Applicants can appeal evaluation outcomes if they find procedural irregularities.

Overall, the call emphasizes collaboration across various sectors to tackle cardiovascular health challenges, supporting innovative research with potential for clinical application while adhering to European ethical standards.

The ERA4Health InterHeart 2025 call focuses on "Understanding the interactions between cardiovascular disorders and comorbidities and/or their therapeutic treatments." It is part of the HORIZON-HLTH-2022-DISEASE-03-01 topic, aiming to foster a European Research Area (ERA) for health research. The full name of the EU funded project is "Fostering a European Research Area for Health Research" with grant agreement number 101095426.

The call opens on January 7th, 2025. There are multiple cut-off deadlines. The pre-proposal deadline is March 7th, 2025, at 12:00 CET (Brussels time). The full proposal deadline is June 17th, 2025, at 12:00 CEST. The total funding available is 9,180,000.00 €. The project acronym is ERA4Health.

The submission process involves two steps: pre-proposal and full proposal. The pre-proposal must be submitted in English using the ERA4Health pre-proposal template available on the ERA4Health website. The project coordinator must submit the pre-proposal on the PT-outline platform and fill in the required fields before the deadline. Consortia invited to the second step must prepare their full proposal in English using the full proposal template provided by the Joint Call Secretariat (JCS). The full proposal must be submitted in English on the PT-outline platform using the same login as for the first step. The second step includes a rebuttal phase.

Eligible applicants include: Academia (research teams in public and private universities), Clinical/public health sector (research teams in hospitals/public health settings), Enterprises (private companies of all sizes involved in health research and innovation), and Operational stakeholders (e.g., patient advocacy organizations, municipalities, NGOs). Operational stakeholders should provide useful knowledge, ensure research is useful and translatable, and influence decision-making. Consortia are strongly encouraged to include partners from all categories (A, B, C, and D). The consortium should be well-balanced in terms of international participation, and integration of partners from categories B, C, and D is highly recommended.

The number of participants and their research contribution should be appropriate for the aims of the transnational research project and reasonably balanced in terms of international participation. A minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 eligible partners from at least 3 different countries participating in the call are required. The maximum number of eligible partners can be increased to 6 or 7 if they include 1 or 2 partners, respectively, from Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia. No more than 2 eligible partners from the same country participating in the call will be accepted within one consortium. A maximum of 2 collaborators per consortium are allowed. Collaborators are self-funded partners who do not request funds from participating funding organizations. Collaborators must demonstrate clear added value, secure their own funding, and include a letter of commitment. A collaborator cannot be a work package leader. Each principal investigator can submit either 1 proposal as project coordinator or up to 2 proposals as a simple partner. Applicants are encouraged to contact their national/regional contact points to check their national/regional eligibility rules.

Project partners will be funded by their relevant national/regional funding organization. Eligible costs, funding rules, and the type of studies allowed will vary. Each project partner should define its own budget according to the funding rules of its own country/region. Applicants are strongly advised to reach out to their relevant funding organization contact person before applying; for some countries/regions, this might be mandatory.

The Joint Call Secretariat (JCS) will check pre-proposals for formal eligibility criteria. National/regional funding organizations will perform an eligibility check for compliance with national/regional regulations. Each eligible pre-proposal will be evaluated by three reviewers. The reviewers will assess the pre-proposal and complete a written evaluation form with scores and comments for each evaluation criterion. A ranking list will be established based on the scores. The Call Steering Committee (CSC) will decide which pre-proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal. Consortia will receive the evaluation reports written by the 3 reviewers.

The JCS will check the full proposals for formal eligibility criteria and substantial changes from the pre-proposals. Each full proposal will be allocated to three reviewers. The reviewers will perform the assessment of the full proposal and complete a written evaluation form with scores and comments for each criterion.

The evaluation criteria are: 1. Excellence (Scientific quality of the proposal, Novelty and ambition), 2. Impact (Unmet public and societal need, Added value of transnational collaboration, Potential of applicability, Participation/engagement with end-users, Effectiveness of the proposed measures to exploit and disseminate the project results), and 3. Quality and efficiency of the implementation (Feasibility of proposal, Coherence and effectiveness of the work plan, Use of existing biobanks and existing cohorts, Appropriateness of the management structures and procedures, Adequacy of the budget, Sustainability of the research capacities). Sub-criterion 2e, 3e, and 3f will be evaluated at the full proposal evaluation stage. Proposals not relevant to the call topic and objectives will not be funded.

Each main criterion will be scored on a scale from 0 to 5. A full proposal will be considered fundable if the score for each individual criterion is at least 3 points and the overall score at least 10 points.

Before the Peer Review Panel (PRP) meeting, each coordinator will receive the evaluation report written by the reviewers and will have 13 days to comment on factual errors or misunderstandings. The JCS will give the PRP members access to full proposals, reviews, and rebuttals. The PRP will meet to discuss each proposal and assign final scores and rank the proposals. The final summary review report will be sent to the project coordinators.

Ethics experts will assess the full proposals recommended for funding by the PRP and selected for funding by the CSC. Only the proposals approved by both the scientific evaluation and ethical assessment will be funded.

A final decision will be taken by the national/regional funding organizations based on the ranking list, available funding, and ethics clearance. The JCS will inform the project coordinators of the final decision.

Applicants can appeal against the evaluation outcome if they suspect a breach in the application of the evaluation and selection procedures. The appeal must be submitted to the JCS via email within 7 calendar days after the date of the eligibility check or evaluation outcome email notifications. The appeal must demonstrate a procedural irregularity, factual or manifest errors in the evaluation process, misuse of powers, or a conflict of interests. A designated Redress Committee will process all appeals received by the deadline, and the decision will be communicated to the appellant within 10 calendar days from the deadline for submitting the appeals.

In summary, this funding opportunity, under the ERA4Health initiative, aims to support transnational research projects focused on understanding the complex interactions between cardiovascular disorders and related health conditions, as well as their treatments. It encourages collaboration between academia, clinical sectors, enterprises, and operational stakeholders from multiple European countries. The application process involves a two-stage submission, with rigorous evaluation criteria covering scientific excellence, potential impact, and implementation quality. Ethical considerations are also a key part of the evaluation. The funding is distributed through national and regional funding organizations, emphasizing the importance of understanding and adhering to specific local regulations and guidelines.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are: Academia (research teams working in public and private universities, other higher education institutions or research institutes), Clinical/public health sector (research teams working in hospitals/public health and/or other health care settings and health organisations, including primary health care), Enterprises (private companies of all sizes involved in health research and innovation), and Operational stakeholders (e.g., patient advocacy organisations, municipalities and local governments, local/national NGO’s).

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, with project partners being funded by their relevant national/regional funding organisation.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium is required. The consortium must consist of a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 eligible partners from at least 3 different countries participating in the call. The maximum number of eligible partners can be increased up to 6 or 7 if they include 1 or 2 partners, respectively, from Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia. No more than 2 eligible partners from the same country participating in the call will be accepted within one consortium. A maximum of 2 collaborators per consortium are allowed, where collaborators are self-funded partners.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is based on the countries participating in the call, as defined by the national/regional funding organisations. Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia are specifically mentioned as countries that can increase the maximum number of partners in a consortium. The specific list of participating countries is detailed in Annex I of the call text available on the ERA4Health website.

Target Sector: The target sector is health, specifically focusing on understanding the interactions between cardiovascular disorders and comorbidities and/or their therapeutic treatments. The call also aligns with the European Research Area (ERA) for health research.

Mentioned Countries: Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia.

Project Stage: The project stage is not explicitly defined, but it appears to target research projects that can demonstrate progress beyond the state-of-the-art with innovation potential and potential applicability in the short to medium term, including translation to clinical, public health, pharmaceutical/health device, or other industrial applications.

Funding Amount: The total funding available is 9,180,000.00 €. The funding for each project partner will be provided by their respective national/regional funding organization, so the specific funding range per project is variable and depends on the funding rules of each country/region.

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a two-step submission process: pre-proposal and full proposal.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money through grants, funded by their relevant national/regional funding organisation.

Application Stages: The application process consists of two stages:
1. Submission of a pre-proposal.
2. Submission of a full proposal (only for consortia invited after the pre-proposal stage).
There is also a rebuttal stage after the full proposal evaluation, where applicants can comment on the reviewers' comments.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the process includes a formal check, evaluation by reviewers, and a decision by the Call Steering Committee (CSC) based on reviewers' recommendations and available budgets, suggesting a competitive selection process.

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding is not explicitly required, but collaborators (self-funded partners) are allowed, and their participation requires secure own funding. Project partners will be funded by their relevant national/regional funding organisation.

Summary:

This ERA4Health call focuses on funding transnational research projects aimed at understanding the interactions between cardiovascular disorders and comorbidities, as well as their therapeutic treatments. The call is structured around a two-stage submission process, starting with a pre-proposal and followed by a full proposal for selected consortia. The total funding available is 9,180,000.00 €, distributed among the selected projects based on the funding rules of the respective national/regional funding organizations of the project partners.

Eligible applicants include academic research teams, clinical/public health sector teams, enterprises involved in health research and innovation, and operational stakeholders such as patient advocacy organizations and local governments. Consortia must be transnational, with a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 eligible partners from at least 3 different countries, with some exceptions for consortia including partners from Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia.

The evaluation process includes a formal check, review by experts, and a decision by the Call Steering Committee, with an ethics clearance step for projects recommended for funding. Applicants have the opportunity to appeal the evaluation outcome if they suspect a breach in the evaluation procedures. The call encourages multidisciplinary approaches and the inclusion of partners from different levels in the value chain, with a strong emphasis on the potential impact of the research on clinical practice, public health, and industry. The call aims to foster a European Research Area for health research by supporting collaborative projects that address unmet public and societal needs in the field of cardiovascular health.