Less competition than usual in the first Horizon Europe Health calls
14th October 2021 at 4:51 pm
On 21 September 2021, a total of 591 proposals were submitted for 24 different single-stage calls within the first Health cluster deadline of Horizon Europe. Although some calls, such as the one on clinical validation of AI tools for treatment and care, were expectedly strongly oversubscribed, the chances of success look generally higher than usual. None of the success rates are expected to be under 5%, contrary to what was witnessed in the last Horizon 2020 Health deadlines.
We can only speculate about the reasons for this lower level of competition. One of the reasons may be the timing of the deadline. With a deadline in September, applicants are required to work on their proposal during summer holidays when human resources might be rare. Another reason may be the scope of the calls. In fact, apart from a few exceptions, the scope of this round seemed to be narrower than in the past. Most calls were targeting specific themes and conditions such as cancer, mental illnesses and environmental exposures.
You can find below the Horizon Europe Health calls’ estimated success rates, which are calculated by dividing the number of projects to be funded according to the Health cluster Work Programme by the number of submissions.
| Health calls | Call identifier | Project funding estimation | Number of submissions | Number of projects to be funded | Estimated success rates |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-STAYHLTH-01-02 | Towards a molecular and neurological understanding of mental health and mental illness (RIA) | EUR 10 M | 45 | 6 | 13.33% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-STAYHLTH-01-03 | Healthy Citizens 2.0 – Supporting digital empowerment and health literacy of citizens (CSA) | EUR 3 M | 17 | 1 | 5.88% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-STAYHLTH-01-04 | A roadmap for personalised prevention (CSA) | EUR 3 M | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-STAYHLTH-01-05 | Mobilising a network of National Contact Points (NCPs) for the Health Cluster (CSA) | EUR 3 M | 1 | 1 | 0-100% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-ENVHLTH-02-01 | Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and health (RIA) | EUR 8 M | 12 | 4 | 33.33% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-ENVHLTH-02-02 | Indoor air quality and health (RIA) | EUR 8 M | 52 | 5 | 9.61% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-ENVHLTH-02-03 | Health impacts of climate change costs and benefits of action and inaction (RIA) | EUR 10 M | 19 | 6 | 31.57% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-ENVHLTH-03-01 | European partnership for the assessment of risks from chemicals (PARC) (COFUND) | EUR 200 M | 1 | 1 | 0-100% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-DISEASE-04-01 | Improved supportive, palliative, survivorship and end-of-life care of cancer patients (RIA) | EUR 6 M | 37 | 8 | 21.62% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-DISEASE-04-02 | Building a European innovation platform for the repurposing of medicinal products (RIA) | EUR 25 M | 13 | 2 | 15.3% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-DISEASE-04-03 | Innovative approaches to enhance poverty – related diseases research in sub-Saharan Africa (RIA) | EUR 8 M | 58 | 5 | 8.62% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-DISEASE-04-04 | Clinical validation of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for treatment and care (RIA) | EUR 6 M | 112 | 10 | 8.92% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-DISEASE-04-05 | A roadmap towards the creation of the European partnership on One Health antimicrobial resistance (OH AMR) (CSA) | EUR 1 M | 1 | 1 | 0-100% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-DISEASE-04-06 | Building a European partnership for pandemic preparedness (RIA) | EUR 2 M | 3 | 1 | 33.33% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-DISEASE-04-07 | Personalised medicine and infectious diseases: understanding the individual host response to viruses (RIA) | EUR 7 M | 29 | 9 | 31.03% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-CARE-05-01 | Enhancing quality of care and patient safety (RIA) | EUR 5 M | 41 | 5 | 12.19% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-CARE-05-02 | Data-driven decision-support tools for better health care delivery and policy-making with a focus on cancer (RIA) | EUR 10 M | 42 | 4 | 9.52% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-CARE-05-04 | Health care innovation procurement network (CSA) | EUR 5 M | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-TOOL-06-01 | Smart medical devices and their surgical implantation for use in resource-constrained settings (IA) | EUR 6 M | 7 | 4 | 57.14% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-TOOL-06-02 | Next generation advanced therapies to treat highly prevalent and high burden diseases with unmet medical needs (RIA) | EUR 6 M | 31 | 10 | 32.26% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-TOOL-06-03 | Innovative tools for use and re-use of health data (RIA) | EUR 8 M | 46 | 4 | 8.70% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-IND-07-01 | Green pharmaceuticals (RIA) | EUR 8 M | 12 | 5 | 41.66% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-IND-07-02 | Development, procurement and responsible management of new antimicrobials (CSA) | EUR 2 M | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| HORIZON-HLTH-2021-IND-07-03 | Promoting a trusted mHealth label in Europe (CSA) | EUR 2 M | 2 | 1 | 50% |
We will keep you updated on the final statistics once the results for the Health calls are published. As stated in the Funding & Tenders portal, the results are expected to be communicated on the 28th of January 2022 at the earliest.
Health projects and accelopment
We have long-standing experience in actively supporting grant applications in health-related fields. Our track record in the new Horizon Europe programme could not start earlier, as we supported the now funded COVend proposal for the very first Horizon Europe deadline, an emergency call to fight the coronavirus and its variants.
We are currently involved in four ongoing Health projects in Horizon 2020: AI-Mind, VANGUARD, EXIMIOUS and EURO SHOCK (all Research and Innovation Actions) and the COVID-19 focused Innovation Action ENVISION. Additionally, we are a partner organisation in five newly started/-ing health-related Horizon 2020 Innovative Training Networks, namely AGePOP, CAPSTONE, CONSENSE and InPharma. Thanks to our expertise in more than 50 FP7 and Horizon 2020 projects, we assist Coordinators with administration and management tasks and support the dissemination and exploitation of projects’ results.
For more information about our proposal preparation services for Health projects, please contact Jeanette Müller.
Interested in further health-related funding opportunities? Please contact Marco Cavallaro, our expert in EU funding programmes.
Marco Cavallaro
Research & Innovation Project Manager
