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Overview
Cluster 1 funds health research across several themes. For technology companies, the useful entry points are individual topics involving digital tools, diagnostics, medical technologies, data and AI—not the entire health work programme indiscriminately.
Secure clinical and data partners before promising validation results.
Is this for you?
Success rates — the honest picture
Eligibility
- 1Follow the topic-specific consortium and country rules under Horizon Europe.
- 2Address the full expected outcomes, including clinical or health-system evidence where required.
- 3Plan for ethics, health-data governance, regulatory requirements and access to appropriate validation partners.
General Horizon rules apply alongside topic-specific exceptions, clinical/data obligations and any eligibility restrictions.
The frontier-AI topic is a coordination and support action. Its budget is not a general product-development grant for an AI startup.
For point-of-care diagnostics, plan comparative evidence and clinical validation, including the applicable MDR/IVDR conformity route. An AI model alone is not a clinical deployment strategy.
The AI predictive-biomarker topic concerns chronic non-communicable diseases and excludes cancer; use the exact expected outcomes when assembling the clinical and data partners.
Selected 2027 technology topics
These are selected topic envelopes and expected contributions from the updated work programme, not guaranteed awards or the whole Cluster 1 budget.
Expected contribution ranges in the work programme describe the whole project. They are not a grant promise to each startup.
How to apply — step by step
- 1Choose the action type and topicBefore consortium formation
Distinguish research grants from coordination actions; check the updated work programme.
Official instructions - 2Prepare clinical, data and ethics inputsBefore proposal submission
Align expertise, datasets, validation and ethics with the topic’s scope; the AI biomarkers topic excludes cancer.
Official instructions - 3Follow the correct stagePublished topic deadlines
Submit Stage 1 for the biomarkers call, then Stage 2 only if invited; other topics may be single-stage.
Official instructions
What evaluators look for
Excellence
Scientific and technical credibility, methodology and fit to the exact health topic.
Impact
Credible contribution to the topic’s expected outcomes and health benefits.
Implementation
Consortium expertise, resources and an executable work plan.
Documents you'll need
Updated single-stage and two-stage schedules, topic budgets and clinical-research conditions.
- Contains:
- Updated single-stage and two-stage schedules, topic budgets and clinical-research conditions.
- Length:
- 215 pages; call overviews pp. 21–25
- Why:
- Consult the current issuing-body version for this route.
- When:
- Before selecting the topic and again before submission.
AI-enabled predictive biomarkers for chronic non-communicable diseases excluding cancer; application route and expected outcomes.
- Contains:
- AI-enabled predictive biomarkers for chronic non-communicable diseases excluding cancer; application route and expected outcomes.
- Why:
- Consult the current issuing-body version for this route.
- When:
- Before selecting the topic and again before submission.
Portable diagnostic technologies, comparative performance evidence, clinical validation and regulatory considerations.
- Contains:
- Portable diagnostic technologies, comparative performance evidence, clinical validation and regulatory considerations.
- Why:
- Consult the current issuing-body version for this route.
- When:
- Before selecting the topic and again before submission.
Official programme updates and the 26 November 2026 information day.
- Contains:
- Official programme updates and the 26 November 2026 information day.
- Why:
- Consult the current issuing-body version for this route.
- When:
- Before selecting the topic and again before submission.
Eligibility, admissibility, award criteria and procedure.
- Contains:
- Eligibility, admissibility, award criteria and procedure.
- Length:
- 44 pages
- Why:
- Use the issuing body’s current version when preparing an application.
- When:
- Before submission
Consortium registration, applications, grant preparation and reporting.
- Contains:
- Consortium registration, applications, grant preparation and reporting.
- Why:
- Use the issuing body’s current version when preparing an application.
- When:
- Before submission
2026 Deadlines
- 2026-10-292026-10-29AI biomarkers call opens
HORIZON-HLTH-2027-02-TOOL-01-two-stage.
- 2026-11-262026-11-26Health information day
Published 09:00–17:00 CET event; check the official page for attendance details.
- 2027-02-172027-02-17AI biomarkers Stage 1 deadline
17:00 Brussels time.
- 2027-06-032027-06-03Additional 2027 tool topics open
Includes bioprinting, Virtual Human Twins and frontier-AI coordination.
- 2027-09-162027-09-16Stage 2 and selected tool deadlines
AI biomarkers Stage 2 is by invitation; the single-stage tool topics have their own application route.
After you're funded
Plan ethics compliance, data management, dissemination, reporting and consortium/IP arrangements under the signed grant agreement and topic conditions.
Practical notes
Secure clinical and data partners before promising validation results. A generic AI capability without access to the right evidence is rarely enough for a credible health proposal.
Official sources checked on 12 October 2026. Calls can be amended; confirm the current terms and exact submission time in the linked official documents.
Identify the clinical sites, usable datasets and validation pathway before drafting the work plan. Ask each data holder what access and consent conditions can be delivered during the project.
17 February 2027 is the first-stage entry deadline; 16 September 2027 is for shortlisted two-stage applicants. The later single-stage tools call has its own route.
Key Features
Official links & resources
Frequently Asked Questions
A health-technology startup able to contribute a defined technical capability to a research consortium, with access to the clinical expertise and validation setting the topic requires.
The amount and funding rate depend on the selected research or innovation action. A topic budget covers a competition, not necessarily one company or project.
One concrete upcoming example is HORIZON-HLTH-2027-02-TOOL-01-two-stage, covering AI-based predictive biomarkers for non-communicable diseases excluding cancer. It opens on 29 October 2026; the first-stage deadline is 17 February 2027. Other health topics have different dates.
Published expected contributions apply to the complete project. For example, the AI biomarker topic expects €6–8M and point-of-care diagnostics €5–7M per project; each partner receives its agreed budget share.
Related Programmes
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