Preparing a blind stage-1 proposal? Tips for HORIZON-HLTH-2025-03-STAYHLTH-01-two-stage
5th June 2025 at 10:49 am
The Horizon Europe 2025 Health Work Programme places a strong focus on social inclusion and healthcare innovation. To achieve this, the call topic HORIZON-HLTH-2025-03-STAYHLTH-01-two-stage for Research & Innovation Actions (RIAs) targets the improved quality of life for persons with intellectual disabilities and their families. With the stage-1 proposal submission deadline on 16 September 2025, applicants have more than three months to craft high-quality, high-impact proposals.
Fulfilling the Horizon Europe requirements of a blind proposals
This call follows a blind evaluation process in the first stage, meaning the 10-page proposals must not enable evaluators to see any identifying information. Avoid including names of organisations, acronyms or prior project references. Instead, showcase your excellence through your methodology, innovation logic and impact rationale. Use neutral language like “the consortium” or “the project team” and focus on value-based descriptions of expertise and infrastructure. Only high-scoring stage-1 proposals advance to the full proposal stage. Therefore, your stage one submission must be highly convincing in fewer pages. Prioritise 1) a crystal-clear objectives section, 2) distinct pathways to expected impacts and 3) strong relevance section to the expected outcomes and the Destination ‘Staying healthy in a rapidly changing society’. Tip: Treat the stage-one proposal like a pitch: concise, jargon-free and laser-focused on impact. Make every sentence earn its place: clarity and alignment with the call’s objectives are what evaluators remember.
Addressing the scope and expected impacts of HLTH-2025-03-STAYHLTH-01
But how can you ensure your project stands out during evaluation of blinded, anonymous proposals? The following tips might be worth considering when drafting your stage-1 proposal.
- Understand the call’s ambition: The call aims to support “explore new ways to improve the quality of life of persons with intellectual disabilities and their families and to reduce to the maximum possible the negative impact of the disability in their daily lives from different perspectives” and explicitly requests the involvement of affected individuals and their families in co-creating research. Tip: Frame your objectives around measurable life quality indicators, such as increased autonomy, improved daily living support, or access to tailored healthcare.
- Leverage multi-sector collaboration and co-creation: Successful proposals will need robust partnerships across academia, healthcare providers, policymakers and patient organisations. Engaging European Reference Networks (ERNs), especially those focused on rare diseases or disabilities, can add significant credibility and reach. Tip: Integrate co-creation activities as milestones, for example, conduct a “needs assessment workshop” with different stakeholders or establish a “End-user Board” with representation from advocacy organisations, families, and support staff.
- Co-creation with target communities: The call topic strongly encourages participatory approaches, involving persons with intellectual disabilities and their families from design to dissemination. This boosts societal relevance and long-term adoption. Tip: Include mechanisms and activities for continuous involvement, such as advisory boards, living labs and accessible feedback tools.
- Policy integration and scalability: Your impact section should reference key EU strategies. Describe how your solution can scale across Member States and align with national and EU-level social care policies. Tip: Describe how your results will align or feed into established EU Strategies such as the EU Disability Strategy 2021-2030 or the European Care Strategy.
- Embedding ethics and inclusivity: Describe clear protocols for informed consent, adapted communication methods and safeguards against exploitation. Include ethicists or legal experts in your consortium. Promote gender and social equity by highlighting how your project addresses intersectionality—gender, socioeconomic background, and ethnic diversity among persons with intellectual disabilities. Tip: Adapt consent procedures, involve legal experts (for example, bioethicists with disability research expertise) and co-design with diverse user groups. Prioritising inclusivity isn’t just ethical; it strengthens scientific validity and implementation potential.
For more information or general advice on the call topic, please consult your National Contact Point
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