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Strategic Analysis
This call targets challenge-driven AI innovation in critical sectors: healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and autonomous driving. A winning proposal will demonstrate significant technological progress in at least one of these areas, fostering a robust European AI ecosystem and contributing to the EU's strategic autonomy in frontier digital technologies.
TRL 2 → 5
In healthcare - advanced AI will accelerate diagnostics and treatment plans, enhance robotic surgery, or improve patient care through predictive analytics.
In advanced manufacturing - advanced AI will optimize production processes, improve quality control and product design, or enable predictive maintenance.
In autonomous driving - advanced AI will enhance vehicle safety, improve navigation systems, or optimize traffic management. Provided sufficient quality of the proposals received, at least one selected project will focus on in-vehicle autonomous driving applications, in line with the Automotive Action Plan, ensuring coordination with the announced Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance.
Significant technological progress and innovation in Apply AI Strategy's prioritised sectors driven by challenge-oriented, AI-powered solutions.
Increase competitiveness and visibility of the relevant AI community within key application domains, and promote collaborative approaches for AI development in these domains, fostering the ecosystem.
Increase adoption of AI technologies across the following three key application domains: healthcare, advanced manufacturing (including AI-powered robotics) and in-vehicle autonomous driving.
Leadership in frontier technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Quantum, Photonics and Semiconductors is essential to Europe’s economic security and global competitiveness.
The EU will consolidate its world-class research ecosystem through initiatives like the RAISE network of AI science labs, the development of safe and efficient frontier AI models, and the deployment of next-generation AI agents and robotics in strategic sectors.
A long-term quantum strategy will reinforce Europe’s excellence across quantum computing, sensing and communication, supported by new infrastructures and standardisation to secure technological sovereignty.
Photonics and semiconductor technologies will remain critical enablers for the digital and green transitions, with investments in advanced integrated photonic devices and resilient semiconductor ecosystems ensuring Europe’s capacity to innovate, scale and compete globally.
Foresight and support to emerging materials and technologies will further strengthen Europe’s position at the cutting edge to make sure Europe’s does not miss the emergence of new disruptive technologies, aligning with the Draghi report and the Competitiveness Compass to secure a cohesive, sovereign and future-proof European industrial base.
Apply AI Strategy
highThe Apply AI Strategy is central to this call, focusing on the deployment of AI in healthcare to improve screening, diagnosis, and patient outcomes. It emphasizes the creation of a European network of AI-powered screening centres.
Evaluators will prioritize proposals that align closely with the Apply AI Strategy, demonstrating how the project will contribute to the European network of AI-powered screening centres, share best practices, and ensure scalability and sustainability of AI solutions in healthcare.
Automotive Action Plan
lowThe Automotive Action Plan typically focuses on strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of the European automotive industry. It addresses challenges such as decarbonization, digitalization, and global competition, aiming to support innovation, reskilling, and infrastructure development for future mobility solutions.
Evaluators would expect proposals to demonstrate how they contribute to the goals of the Automotive Action Plan, such as fostering innovation in sustainable and digital automotive technologies, supporting the transition to new mobility solutions, or enhancing the skills base for the automotive sector.
Draghi report
lowThe 'Draghi report' (referring to the report by Mario Draghi on the future of European competitiveness) outlines recommendations for strengthening the EU's economic competitiveness, productivity, and growth. It often focuses on areas like the single market, innovation, investment, and reducing regulatory burdens.
Evaluators would look for proposals that align with the report's recommendations, such as contributing to a more competitive European economy, fostering innovation, improving the single market, or attracting private investment, thereby enhancing the EU's overall economic performance.
Competitiveness Compass
lowThe Competitiveness Compass is a framework or initiative, often associated with specific EU institutions or presidencies, aimed at guiding policy actions to enhance the EU's overall competitiveness. It typically identifies key areas for improvement, such as innovation, digital transformation, skills, and a well-functioning single market.
Proposals should demonstrate how they contribute to the strategic objectives outlined in the Competitiveness Compass, for example, by fostering innovation, strengthening the digital economy, addressing skill gaps, or improving the business environment in Europe to boost overall competitiveness.
1. Admissibility conditions — Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible Countries — described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide .
3. Other Eligibility Conditions — In order to achieve the expected outcomes, and safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security, it is important to avoid a situation of technological dependency on a non-EU source, in a global context that requires the EU to take action to build on its strengths, and to carefully assess and address any strategic weaknesses, vulnerabilities and high-risk dependencies which put at risk the attainment of its ambitions. For this reason, participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Iceland and Norway and the following additional associated countries: Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In addition, entities established in third countries which may become associated to Horizon Europe during 2026 and 2027 may be eligible to participate in this topic if the third country is identified for this topic as an eligible country in the List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe at the time of submission of the application[[See the List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe available at https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_horizon-euratom_en.pdf]]. In any case, the association agreement to the Programme must apply by the time of the signature of the grant agreement. For the duly justified and exceptional reasons listed in the paragraph above, in order to guarantee the protection of the strategic interests of the Union and its Member States, entities established in an eligible country listed above, but which are directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity, may not participate in the action unless it can be demonstrated, by means of guarantees positively assessed by their eligible country of establishment, that their participation to the action would not negatively impact the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, or security. Entities assessed as high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment within the meaning of ‘restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ (or entities fully or partially owned or controlled by a high-risk supplier) cannot submit guarantees.[[ The guarantees shall in particular substantiate that, for the purpose of the action, measures are in place to ensure that: a) control over the applicant legal entity is not exercised in a manner that retrains or restricts its ability to carry out the action and to deliver results, that imposes restrictions concerning its infrastructure, facilities, assets, resources, intellectual property or know-how needed for the purpose of the action, or that undermines its capabilities and standards necessary to carry out the action; b) access by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity to sensitive information relating to the action is prevented; and the employees or other persons involved in the action have a national security clearance issued by an eligible country, where appropriate; c) ownership of the intellectual property arising from, and the results of, the action remain within the recipient during and after completion of the action, are not subject to control or restrictions by non-eligible countries or non-eligible country entity, and are not exported outside the eligible countries, nor is access to them from outside the eligible countries granted, without the approval of the eligible country in which the legal entity is established.]] Described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion — described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds — To ensure a portfolio coverage, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking, but also to at least one proposal focusing on each of the three sectors (one in healthcare, one in advanced manufacturing and one in-vehicle autonomous driving), subject to proposals passing all evaluation thresholds. Described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes — are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual .
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement — described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants — Beneficiaries must provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. FSTP grants may be provided to either a single SME or to a small team of legal entities. Where provided to a small team, the coordinator (lead applicant) must be an SME and other recipients of financial support must be either an SME, a research organisation, and/or public body secondary or higher education establishment. FSTP amounts: The maximum amount to be granted per FSTP grant (whether provided to one legal entity or a team of legal entities) is EUR 300,000 in stage 2 and EUR 2,250,000 in stage 3. The amount of EUR 300,000 in stage 2 is justified as the challenge and corresponding tasks defined for this stage must be complex enough in order to take the best and most informed decision in the selection for the next stage based on a convincing technical prototype/proof of concept that reaches sufficient level of performance in terms of scale and maturity. The amount of EUR 2,250,000 in stage 3 is justified by the ambition of reaching significant technology progress and innovation, defined in the expected outcome of the call, including the need for the selected projects to scale their solutions to the maturity expected. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 2,550,000. In accordance with Annex 5 of the grant agreement “SPECIFIC RULES FOR CARRYING OUT THE ACTION (— ARTICLE 18) Implementation in case of restrictions due to strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security of the EU and its Member States ”, by default beneficiaries must ensure that, inter alia , no recipient of FSTP is (i) established in a country which is not an eligible country (as identified in the
for eligibility) or (ii) controlled by such countries or entities from such countries (directly or indirectly as per the specific conditions for eligibility). In line with the possibility for the granting authority to agree otherwise, as concerns control of SMEs or private research organisations that participate as recipients of FSTP, beneficiaries must only ensure that such entities are not directly majority-owned (i.e., more than 50% of the capital) by entities established in non-eligible countries. Described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) Guidance HE Programme Guide Model Grant Agreements (MGA) HE MGA Call-specific instructions Information on financial support to third parties (HE) Ownership Control Declaration Annex
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes HE Programme Guide HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement Guidance on participation in EU calls with ownership and control restrictions
Evaluators will prioritize proposals that clearly articulate how their AI-powered solutions address specific challenges within the prioritised sectors (@SC1, @SC2, @SC3). They will look for a strong emphasis on innovation, technological leadership, and a clear path to increasing AI adoption (@EO1, @EO3). A robust plan for fostering collaboration within the AI community and leveraging existing initiatives like the AI-on-demand platform or the European Partnership on AI, Data and Robotics (ADRA) is crucial (@EO2, @possible_collaborations). Furthermore, proposals must demonstrate how they contribute to Europe's strategic autonomy and competitiveness in AI (@EI1, @EI2), with particular attention to the mandatory financial support to third parties (FSTP) mechanism and strict adherence to the eligibility conditions regarding control by non-eligible countries.
Everything the call asks for, seen from the call's point of view. Each line shows what answers it, and which partner carries it.
This matrix lists everything the call asks for: outcomes, impacts, scope, the requirements buried in the call text, and policy alignment. Sign up free and GrantForge tracks each line against the concept you build.
| Requirement | Covered by | Carried | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope activities | |||
| SC1In healthcare - advanced AI will accelerate diagnostics and treatment plans, enhance robotic surgery, or improve patient care through predictive analytics. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| SC2In advanced manufacturing - advanced AI will optimize production processes, improve quality control and product design, or enable predictive maintenance. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| SC3In autonomous driving - advanced AI will enhance vehicle safety, improve navigation systems, or optimize traffic management. Provided sufficient quality of the proposals received, at least one selected project will focus on in-vehicle autonomous driving applications, in line with the Automotive Action Plan, ensuring coordination with the announced Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| Expected outcomes | |||
| EO1Significant technological progress and innovation in Apply AI Strategy's prioritised sectors driven by challenge-oriented, AI-powered solutions. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EO2Increase competitiveness and visibility of the relevant AI community within key application domains, and promote collaborative approaches for AI development in these domains, fostering the ecosystem. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EO3Increase adoption of AI technologies across the following three key application domains: healthcare, advanced manufacturing (including AI-powered robotics) and in-vehicle autonomous driving. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| Other requirements | |||
| No other requirements in this call. | |||
| Expected impacts | |||
| EI1Leadership in frontier technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Quantum, Photonics and Semiconductors is essential to Europe’s economic security and global competitiveness. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EI2The EU will consolidate its world-class research ecosystem through initiatives like the RAISE network of AI science labs, the development of safe and efficient frontier AI models, and the deployment of next-generation AI agents and robotics in strategic sectors. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EI3A long-term quantum strategy will reinforce Europe’s excellence across quantum computing, sensing and communication, supported by new infrastructures and standardisation to secure technological sovereignty. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EI4Photonics and semiconductor technologies will remain critical enablers for the digital and green transitions, with investments in advanced integrated photonic devices and resilient semiconductor ecosystems ensuring Europe’s capacity to innovate, scale and compete globally. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EI5Foresight and support to emerging materials and technologies will further strengthen Europe’s position at the cutting edge to make sure Europe’s does not miss the emergence of new disruptive technologies, aligning with the Draghi report and the Competitiveness Compass to secure a cohesive, sovereign and future-proof European industrial base. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| Underlying policies | |||
| POL1apply ai strategyThe Apply AI Strategy is central to this call, focusing on the deployment of AI in healthcare to improve screening, diagnosis, and patient outcomes. It emphasizes the creation of a European network of AI-powered screening centres. | · | · | Sign up to track |
The binding rules of this call. Items marked auto are verified by GrantForge from the call and the template. The others are yours to confirm.
LMIC entities auto-eligible
Low/middle-income country entities are automatically eligible for funding.
EU space data infrastructures
If the project uses satellite-based Earth observation, positioning, navigation or timing data/services, beneficiaries must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS. Other sources may be added but not substitute EU infrastructures.
Civil applications only
Horizon Europe funds exclusively civil applications. Research with exclusive military or dual-use application is excluded.
Gender Equality Plan
Having a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) is an eligibility criterion for public bodies, research organisations, and higher education institutions from Member States and Associated Countries.
Open Science
Mandatory open access to peer-reviewed scientific publications and responsible management of research data (FAIR principles, DMP required).
Talk to the Grant Coach to build your concept. The steps below fill in as it takes shape, and your coverage tracks the progress. You can refine everything once your project workspace is created.
Step 1 of 2 · Build your concept
The problems this call frames, and who they affect. Your concept and plan address them.
Existing healthcare systems often face challenges with slow diagnostic processes, lack of personalized treatment options, and inefficient patient care pathways, leading to suboptimal outcomes and increased costs.
Many advanced manufacturing operations struggle with sub-optimal production efficiency, inconsistent quality control, and reactive maintenance strategies, leading to higher operational costs and reduced competitiveness.
Despite advancements, public and regulatory concerns regarding the safety, reliability, and ethical implications of autonomous driving systems remain significant barriers to their widespread adoption and integration into daily life.
The European AI landscape is often fragmented, with insufficient collaboration between research, industry, and public sectors, which can impede innovation, slow down technology adoption, and undermine global competitiveness against other major AI hubs.
Hospitals, clinics, medical research institutions, and healthcare professionals who will directly benefit from and implement advanced AI diagnostic and treatment tools.
SMEs and large industries involved in manufacturing processes that can adopt AI-powered robotics, quality control, and predictive maintenance solutions.
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), automotive suppliers, and technology developers focused on integrating AI into autonomous driving systems.
Academic and industrial researchers, AI engineers, and technology developers who will contribute to and benefit from the project's innovations and collaborative ecosystem.
Government agencies and regulatory bodies responsible for shaping policies related to AI adoption, safety, and ethical guidelines in the prioritised sectors.
The broader academic and research community in AI, robotics, computer science, and related application domains, benefiting from new knowledge, methodologies, and open-source contributions.
The general public who will ultimately benefit from improved healthcare services, safer transportation, and higher quality, more sustainably produced goods.
Step 2 of 2 · Build your concept
The long-term impacts your project should drive — this shapes the objectives next.
The project will significantly boost the competitiveness and global standing of the European AI community by delivering cutting-edge, challenge-driven solutions and fostering a collaborative ecosystem, positioning Europe as a leader in frontier AI technologies.
Advanced AI solutions will lead to faster, more accurate diagnostics and personalized treatment plans, improving patient care, reducing healthcare costs, and increasing the overall efficiency of health systems across Europe.
AI-powered manufacturing processes, including advanced robotics and predictive maintenance, will lead to higher operational efficiency, reduced waste, and superior product quality, strengthening Europe's industrial base and promoting sustainable practices.
Breakthroughs in AI for autonomous driving will significantly enhance vehicle safety, optimize traffic flow, and contribute to the development of next-generation mobility solutions, leading to fewer accidents and more efficient transportation systems.
By fostering indigenous AI development and deployment in strategic sectors, the project will reduce technological dependencies on non-EU sources and reinforce Europe's sovereignty and resilience in critical frontier digital technologies.