We are already halfway through the EU's research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe. Several research groups at the Faculty of Medicine have been successful with their applications.
"We hope for an equally strong finish and even more approved projects," says Research Dean Jan Bj?lie.
New Calls in Health
In May, new EU calls in Health under Horizon Europe will be announced. The application deadline is mid-September 2025. Subject to changes, the EEF anticipates that the following topics will be published in this year's call:
- Impact of Pollution on Brain Disorders
- Microplastics and Health
- Antibiotic Resistance and ?Phage therapy?
- Innovative Interventions for Mental and Behavioural Disorders
- Artificial Intelligence in Pandemic Preparedness
- Antibodies for Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases
- Cell Therapy with Genomic Techniques
- ?Cell Secretome Therapy?
- Generative Artificial Intelligence and Multimodal Data
The External Funding Office (EEF) is well-informed about upcoming calls. Contact med-funding@medisin.uio.no to receive the calls or to have an enthusiastic chat about EU funding.
Cancer Initiatives Also Have New Deadlines in September
The EU's missions and calls in the cancer field, ?Mission cancer,? will also have a deadline in September. Thematic areas for 2025 include environmental factors and their impact on childhood cancer, surgery, early-phase clinical trials for childhood cancer, and clinical studies on nutrition and older cancer patients.
Partnerships in Health
The EU has established nine so-called Partnerships in health. These include antibiotic resistance, rare diseases, personalised medicine and the health system. ?Innovative Health Initiative? (IHI) and the Partnership for Global Health (EDCTP) are also part of this.
Calls in these programmes will continue throughout 2025. Keep updated on relevant calls in the partnerships through the faculty's newsletter “Funding opportunities” and the Research Council of Norway's newsletter on Horizon Europe.
The fourth EU Health Programme
EU4Health, the EU’s fourth health programme, will run in parallel with Horizon Europe. The Health Programme also includes calls for proposals that may be of interest to you. The Norwegian Directorate of Health administers Norway's participation in EU4Health, and it is recommended to subscribe to their newsletter for information on upcoming calls.
Tips for success
A strong EU application takes a lot of work. But if the application is successful, an EU project will undoubtedly open new doors and expand the researchers’ horizons. MED-nytt has asked the research advisers to provide some tips on what they believe is important when it comes to succeeding with EU applications:
- Start early, ideally before the call for proposals is officially published. Establishing a strong consortium can take time, as can application development and agreeing on an appropriate division of labour. Feel free to contact us at the Division for External Research Funding to receive information about future calls for proposals.
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Set aside the time. Thematic EU applications are extensive and project managers need to invest adequate time during the application phase. An early start also ensures that you can fully utilise the support system at the University of Oslo and the support schemes available to EU applicants.
- Remember to be strategic when choosing research partners. It might be OK to base an application around an existing network, but you should be prepared to include partners you have not previously collaborated with.
- Ensure that your research concept is suitable and in line with the underlying funding purpose in the call for proposal.
- Thoroughly analyse the call for proposals. The call for proposals sets out the framework for the content of the research project. Make sure that you include all requested activities/objectives. Be critical when it comes to including research that does not specifically respond to the call for proposals.
- Establish a small but dedicated group of writers.
- Do not wait to get started on the budget. Contact the financial adviser early on to start budgeting and obtain academic approval from your manager as early as possible to ensure that you can apply. Ensure that there is some funding set aside for distribution if it later turns out that there are challenges associated with distributing the budget across all partners.
- Everyone at the External Funding Office (EEF) is here to help. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you are thinking about applying to a call for proposals. We can help you find relevant information, involve the support schemes at the University of Oslo and provide consultancy services and administrative support during the application process.
- Take advantage of the courses and webinars offered by the RCN or other advisory institutions. These can provide excellent advice about developing consortiums and gaining an overview of what the EU expects from an application.
- Build experiences and adopt a long-term perspective. We recommend that researchers have experience as partners before assuming the coordinator role. Participation in international projects or COST networks can be great starting points for participating in successful EU applications.