Alternatives to Neutral-Atom Platform Technologies

Expected Impact: The action under this topic is expected to achieve the following impacts: Accelerate EU access to more cost-effective interventions in an increasingly ageing population by identifying personalised treatment approaches for elderly-onset immune diseases. Decrease disease risk later in life by defining specific prevention strategies based on ageing biomarkers and risk factors. Halt age-associated disease exacerbation by the identification of predictive and digital biomarkers that can stratify patients for early intervention. Improve quality of life for healthy individuals and patients by preventing further health decline, avoiding escalating care costs, and properly stratifying individuals earlier in the diagnostic pathway. Accelerate adoption of innovative diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic strategies, strengthening the EU’s position as a healthcare innovator. Evaluate digital biomarker as potential regulatory endpoints in the ultimate goal to develop medicines for ‘healthy ageing’. Integrate fragmented research efforts by bringing together health industry sectors and stakeholders to develop clinical and multi-omics data integration capabilities. Enable new…

Expected Impact: The action under this topic is expected to achieve the following impacts and contribute to the following EU policies/initiatives: deliver innovative, early technology solutions that contribute to addressing strategic unmet public health needs across multiple therapy areas to improve prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment; leverage the unique network and scale of IHI JU members to create a pipeline to support innovative startups in the health industry, fully integrated into European initiatives in support of start-ups and entrepreneurship; drive early cross-sector health R&D and innovation to strengthen the European healthcare industry’s global competitiveness, contributing to the EU Industrial Strategy and Pharmaceutical Strategy objectives; create a sustainable network of European healthcare incubators to guide and support highly talented and innovative early-stage companies; harness digital health and data-sharing technologies (e.g., AI and big data) to enable interoperable health solutions, contributing to the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and improved evidence based care;- the action should generate a portfolio of early‑stage companies that have…

Expected Impact: The action under this topic is expected to achieve the following impacts: Faster and more informed decision-making through the use of an AI-driven NAM (AI Foundation Toxicology Model) and increased efficiency through rapid processing of vast amounts of data [1] . Increased consistency and standardisation in a NAM-based approach, specifically an AI model, used by industry in the efficient development, testing and production of safe and effective innovative health technologies, improving industrial competitiveness. Regulatory adoption of a NAM-enabled second species waiver model (AI Foundation Toxicology Model) and weight-of-evidence framework, in line with recommendations and more consistent global decision-making on waiving second species testing. Reduction in animal use, accelerated timelines and lower costs, enhancing the competitiveness of the European health industry through economical and ethical benefits. Improved public health as patients will benefit from safe and effective medicines developed faster using validated NAMs. The action is expected to contribute to the EU Directive (2010/63/EU) [2] on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Implementation of the NWRSA methodology for secondary rural roads; Innovative and effective enforcement strategies, incentive mechanisms and measures raising risk awareness for fostering safer behaviour; Prevention strategies for reducing road fatalities and serious road traffic injuries on rural roads along with the respective implementation guidelines and policy measures tailored to the responsible stakeholders (regional authorities, police, healthcare professionals, national governments, etc.); GIS-based application to assist local and regional authorities in identifying and mapping the impact of extreme weather phenomena and other natural disasters (such as floods, fires, storms, heavy snowfall etc.) on the safety and resilience of the road network in their jurisdiction. Scope: With more than 50% of all EU road fatalities occurring in rural areas along with evidence suggesting that crashes and crash-related fatalities in rural roads vary from those in urban roads or motorways, it is imperative to understand and mitigate the safety risks in rural roads in view of the EU’s…

Expected Impact: This Challenge looks to accelerate the development and uptake of clinically validated interventions that target the root cause of multiple age-related morbidities. It will: Deliver biotechnology-based interventions for healthy ageing Accelerate the implementation of personalised care in ageing based on molecular phenotyping​ Provide recommendations for regulatory pathways addressing ageing as a target to inform developers, regulators, and other decision makers​, and Improve citizen literacy on longevity. Expected Outcome: Ambitious proposals put forward under this call will deliver: Proof-of-concepts (TRL3 completed) of biotechnology-based or pharmaceutical interventions that prevents or delays the onset of, or reverts, an age-related disease in a vertebrate model system, based on the hallmarks of ageing, taking into consideration practical challenges of implementing such an intervention Tools to facilitate development or adoption of the interventions above, such as proof-of-concept validation of biomarker signatures or suitable pre-clinical models​, and Approaches to address the shared regulatory hurdles and societal challenges linked to ageing-related…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Housing-led approaches [1] aligned with the NEB are made available to stakeholders involved in tackling homelessness [1] . Robust evidence on NEB-aligned housing-led approaches tackling homelessness (including people temporarily hosted by acquaintances and family) to inform the development and/or update of policies and services for prevention and early intervention in the context of the green transition [1] in neighbourhoods [1] . Scope: Social and affordable housing is being advanced in the EU, including through the Affordable Housing Initiative [5] . Despite efforts, current policies for the green transition are failing to adequately address the housing crisis. Homelessness remains a structural challenge across Europe, with negative impacts on both individuals experiencing it (e.g. physical and mental health, social and economic conditions) and neighbourhood communities [1] (e.g. pressure on public services, erosion of social fabric [1] , etc.). Research and innovation gaps in tackling homelessness range from data collection (i.e. the variety of approaches to defining,…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to some or all of the following outcomes: Critical infrastructure operators and authorities have access to efficient, adaptable, resilient and reliable tools and processes enabling or improving virtual and physical stress tests of their respective assets/ and operations; Critical entities have broader and deeper understanding of their technical and operational vulnerabilities and adaptive capabilities, improving the scenario building and stress tests exercises; Systems allowing notification and collaboration under stress conditions are available for relevant stakeholders; Critical entities are better equipped for post-incident investigations, including data collection, analysis and improved learning, management and sharing in a secure manner; Improved operational procedures including incidents management and training curricula are developed. Scope: The resilience of critical entities is of paramount importance as disruptions to these systems can have significant consequences for the whole economy, public health, security or safety. These systems, responsible for providing essential services for modern society, are…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Robust evidence on how inhabitants experience their neighbourhood [1] and the impact of these experiences on their health and well-being. The research informs policies, strategies, neighbourhood planning and procurement for the green transition [1] of neighbourhoods, including their nature-positive [3] transformation and climate resilience. Scope: Neighbourhoods are human-social constructs and environments. They are shaped by complex inter-connections and interdependencies of human and non-human actors in the natural and built environment [1] they comprise. An increasing body of research is looking at the relationship between people and the built environment, from neuro-architectural aspects of space to atmosphere and ambiance aspects in urban design and planning, influencing also the perception of beauty. Digitalisation is also allowing to understand, map and enhance how inhabitants experience the built environment. Yet, more evidence is needed on how inhabitants react to and identify with their neighbourhoods as well as the effects of these experiences on their physical and…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to some or all of the following expected outcomes: Creation of cutting-edge tools, processes, equipment and technologies to enhance disaster and emergency response capabilities for various practitioners as well as for assets, such as vehicles, aircraft, and heavy equipment; Taking into consideration existing technologies, development of autonomous drones, robotics, and other technologies specifically designed for emergency medical response and search and rescue operations in hazardous conditions such as wildfires, earthquakes and large-scale events; Improvement of response efficiency and safety for survivors and emergency practitioners through the adoption of advanced, technology-driven solutions in disaster scenarios; Consider needs of existing EU-level capacities, emergency reserves, and stockpiling in the deployment of the assets and being able to move them. Scope: The scope of this topic is the development of innovative tools, equipment, and technologies to enhance the capabilities of emergency responders operating in complex and hazardous disaster environments. By leveraging advancements in smart protective…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Significantly higher awareness of the construction ecosystem actors about solutions that are inspired by vernacular knowledge [1] , nature-based solutions [1] , bioclimatic design and/or frugal innovation [1] . The application of the developed solutions helps to achieve and maintain the thermal comfort in buildings while significantly reducing life cycle energy use, GHG emissions and costs compared to solutions that currently dominate the market. Scope: Reducing life cycle GHG emissions in buildings is key to meet the Green Deal’s objectives and make the built environment more sustainable [1] . However, achieving thermal comfort inside buildings with poor thermal resilience often relies on energy-intensive solutions, such as air conditioning which not only emits GHGs and represents significant energy costs, but also contributes to urban heat island effects, impacting the health and well-being in neighbourhoods [1] , particularly for groups in a vulnerable situation such as the elderly and low-income households. There is therefore a need to further develop and demonstrate the…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Evidence of the structural social infrastructure [1] and services needed to address homelessness [1] at neighbourhood [1] level is made available to stakeholders involved in tackling homelessness. Improved availability and accessibility of key social infrastructure and services for homeless groups in the targeted neighbourhoods. Scope: Based on 2024 data, over 1.2 million people are estimated to experience homelessness in Europe [4] , with a significant proportion (45%) of surveyed homeless individuals finding themselves in a situation of chronic homelessness for over two years [5] . While housing-led approaches [1] are crucial to tackle homelessness, addressing the structural and multidimensional causes of homelessness also requires systemic interventions focusing on social infrastructure and services in neighbourhoods. Social infrastructure and services include the physical places as well as public and community [1] sector facilities and services that support and enable access to healthcare, employment, education, community integration, and other social services. They must be…

Expected Impact: The developed solutions should demonstrate their potential in concrete terms through the execution of a first roll-out stage during the project life-cycle, with a strong uptake strategy guiding their future adoption after the end of the project. The sustainability of the results and their continued benefits to users is a key ambition of this call for proposals. The project is furthermore expected to make a strong impact for the wider ecosystem of European decentralised social media. The insights gained on youth needs and desires on mental-health and inclusivity friendly social media should benefit the wider community of stakeholders in this space, and wherever possible developed technology should contribute to the software stacks of the ActivityPub and ATProtocol communities. Finally, the project should generate insights on the opportunities and challenges for decentralised social media as a genuine and widely used alternative to non-decentralised services, and contribute to the understanding of the key factors that would allow EU tech start-ups in the space to scale and succeed. Through the specific focus on youth audiences, the project may also provide use cases…