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 Outcome: this topic is a continuation of the co-funded European partnership for research into radiation protection and detection of ionising radiation (PIANOFORTE) and constitutes the EU’s contribution for 2026-2027. The establishment of the partnership will contribute to the expected outcomes specified in topic HORIZON-EURATOM-2021-NRT-01-09. The partnership is expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes: establishing improved risk estimates for the justification of practices and optimisation of radiological protection of members of the public, patients, workers and the environment in all exposure situations (medical, natural, occupational and accidental – including co‑exposure and overlapping risks) to support the implementation of the Basic Safety Standards Directive; advancing state-of-the-art understanding of the link between exposure characteristics (radiation quality, dose, dose-rate and dose effects versus gravity) and cancer and non-cancer effects (including optimised detection and dosimetry); developing a knowledge base and analytical tools for the major features of variability in radiation response (including tissue reactions, cancers and cellular…

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: Proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed and tailored towards and contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Patients with refractory cancers and their caregivers/families will have access to optimised, tailored and affordable immunotherapeutic interventions that increase their quality of life, across European regions, EU Member States and Associated Countries; Healthcare professionals and academia will have access to clinical evidence, on effectiveness of immunotherapeutic interventions, to deploy evidence-based treatment interventions with improved patient selection that improve outcomes in real life, i.e. in routine healthcare, for patients with refractory cancers who often present with co-morbidities; National healthcare providers, policymakers and authorities in European regions, EU Member States and Associated Countries will have the evidence to implement and reimburse optimised and affordable immunotherapeutic interventions in their healthcare systems, including in everyday medical practice. Scope: While cancer research and innovation have generated novel treatment options, patients with refractory cancers…

Expected Outcome: Proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed and tailored towards and contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Researchers of different disciplines use advanced multiscale Virtual Human Twins (VHTs) to expand the knowledge and understanding of cancer onset and progression Healthcare professionals and researchers have access to advanced VHT-based solutions that model cancer onset and progression over time, contributing to improve personalised treatments Researchers, healthcare professionals, innovators and citizens have access to cancer VHTs through the UNCAN.eu and the advanced Virtual Human Twin platforms Scope: Virtual human twins (VHTs) are digital representations and in-silico models of an individual’s health and disease at different levels of the human anatomy (e.g. cells, tissues, organs or organ systems) for the prevention, prediction, screening, diagnosis and treatment of a disease, as well as the selection and personalisation of intervention options [1] . The proposed topic will contribute to the EU Cancer Mission objectives by improving the accuracy of dynamic and multiscale VHTs to better understand cancer…

Expected Outcome: Successful proposals will contribute to the updated EU Bioeconomy Strategy, Farm to Fork Strategy, the Horizon Europe Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’, in particular the objectives: ‘Reduce soil pollution and enhance restoration’, the European Chemical Industry Action Plan as well as the Clean Industrial Deal. Projects results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes: Full industrial scale biorefinery and related value chain(s) for the sustainable production of bio-based fertilisers and/or crop protection solutions. Increased availability of cost-competitive and SSbD bio-based alternatives for fertilising and/or crop protection products with suitable agronomic efficacy. Reduced reliance on synthetic/mineral agricultural chemical products. Increased EU strategic autonomy, resilience and competitiveness through a robust cooperation among bio-based industries and farmers. Increased soil health, including minimising accumulation of microplastics and pollutants in soil and water, with positive effects on quality, security and resilience of food production in agriculture. Scope: FAO estimates that up to 40% of food crops are lost due to plant pests…

Expected Outcome: Proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed and tailored towards and contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Healthy people and in particular people at risk will benefit from microbiome tests and programmes that can discover and predict their transition to cancer before the onset of disease. People will have a better understanding of risks and will be enabled to address risks early by following treatments or adapting their lifestyles, including nutrition and other interventions. Physicians will be able to start cancer treatments earlier with a higher success rate. Policy makers and authorities will be enabled to develop and implement advanced and strategic programmes addressing cancer prevention. Scope: This topic will contribute to the achievement of the EU Cancer Mission’s objective to achieve better cancer prevention and early detection. The focus is on the development of validated microbiome tools, an assessment of predispositions, the comparison with other predictive tools and risk modelling approaches. Cancer often develops over several years and progresses silently before symptoms appear. Some cancers are…

Expected Outcome: the proposals under this call are expected to address one or more of the following subjects : • Enhanced personalized monitoring, care and treatments, focusing on the development of highly customized healthcare solutions, including the required research and diagnostic tools, tailored to individual needs, covering various scenarios such as chronic disease management, physiotherapy, precision diagnosis, personalized medicine/treatment, pre- and postoperative care, and daily assistance in homes and common spaces. It also targets effective management of chronic diseases and elderly care through personalized monitoring and interventions facilitated by advanced sensor technologies and edge-to-cloud solutions. This includes the development and integration of solutions for Hospitalization at Home, enabling patients to receive complex, remotely supervised care using intelligent medical devices capable of sensing, analysing, and transmitting real-time data. This requires a continuum, from in-hospital diagnostics to robust, long-term patient support at home via AI-driven care pathways and hospitalization at home. • Prevention and treatment of diseases, allowing the improved…

Expected Outcome: Successful proposals will contribute to the implementation of the EU initiative on Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing and the EU Life Sciences Strategy as well as the updated EU Bioeconomy Strategy, the upcoming EU Biotechnology Act and EU Circular Economy Act. Projects’ results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes: Full industrial scale biorefinery and related value chain(s) for the production of nutritional food ingredients. Resilience and strategic autonomy of EU food sectors via diversification of nutritional food ingredient sources. Increased environmental sustainability of food sectors (e.g. addressing issues like land use, water use, energy consumption, nitrogen cycle, other nutrients, etc.). Improved consumers awareness and acceptance of nutritional food ingredients from alternative sources, contributing to sustainable healthy diets. Scope: Human nutrition is a key area where the bio-based industries can play an important role in addressing the present societal and climate challenges. Considerable attention is given to the utilisation of alternative sources of proteins, fibres and oils/fats, due to the increasing world population…

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 Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes: Advance in the achievement of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan’s research and innovation priorities and targets for wind energy; Efficient and effective support to wind energy research and innovation through alignment and cooperation among different actors, avoiding fragmentation of efforts; Energy producers and consumers benefit from increased performance of wind energy technologies with the focus on efficiency and flexibility, reduced cost, improved reliability and sustainability, operation and maintenance, safety, robustness and security during all stages of the lifetime of a wind energy farm from installation, operation and maintenance to decommissioning; Increased contribution of wind energy to the energy system, with minimal impacts on health and the environment (notably biodiversity and pollution) and at the lowest possible cost. Scope: The action contributes to address the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan’s research and innovation priorities and targets for wind energy, as defined by the Implementation Working Group (IWG) on wind energy, the European…

Expected Outcome: Activities under this topic will support the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food , the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 , including the implementation of the EU Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive, the EU Adaptation Strategy, the EU Water Resilience Strategy, and the forthcoming European Climate Adaptation Plan. Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes: enhanced monitoring of soils at subnational level (e.g. regions and municipalities) leading to an overall improved soil resilience against extreme weather events, particularly in terms of soils’ capacity to withstand and recover from floods, droughts, heatwaves and broader temperature fluctuations; tailored soil management practices and solutions that improve soil health are adopted, promoting sustainable land management, enhancing food system resilience, including food security [1] , and strengthening the overall resilience of agricultural systems to current and future climate extreme events. Scope: Developing and scaling practical solutions to enhance soils’ resilience to extreme weather events is crucial for climate change adaptation. As extreme weather events like…