JTC2026 Call 1: Neurological Mental and Sensory Disorders

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Aim and Scope of the Call (EP BrainHealth Call 1)
3. Purpose
4. Eligible countries/regions and respective funding organisations
5. Requirements
6. Eligibility
7. Application
8. Evaluation and decision
9. Funding Regulations, Responsibilities and Reporting
10. Contact details
11. Anticipated amount of funding provided by each funder
12. Timetable

1. Introduction

Maintaining brain health and facing the burden caused by brain disorders, including neurological, neurodegenerative and mental diseases alike, are paramount for all societies in Europe and beyond.

Brain disorders are a leading cause of disability and mortality globally, placing a great burden on people living with brain disorders, their families, social relations, professional and informal carers, as well as healthcare systems and national economies as a whole. In 2021, an estimated 3.4 billion individuals had a condition affecting the nervous system, corresponding to around 43% of the world’s population. This also creates enormous financial pressure on healthcare systems and economies, as the total cost of neurological diseases is estimated at around 1.7 trillion and the economic burden of mental disorders to over 600 billion Euro in Europe per year.

Furthermore, the current geopolitical and environmental crises as well as increasing economic pressure in many countries worldwide have further aggravated brain health problems, in particular for the most vulnerable.

It is thus crucial to identify the factors that influence brain health throughout life, from prenatal stages to advanced age, as well as methods to monitor them, influence them, or both. Brain health is dynamic and shaped by biological, social and environmental factors at every stage of life. Advancing the scientific knowledge about these factors may enable positive changes in brain health trajectories and lead to opportunities for prevention and recovery along the life-course.

The European Partnership for Brain Health (EP BrainHealth) gathers 54 partners from 33 countries, with the common goal of improving brain health for all by developing scientific knowledge as a foundation to promote brain health throughout the lifetime, to prevent and to cure brain diseases as well as to improve wellbeing of people living with neurological and mental disorders in Europe and beyond.

In this frame, the EP BrainHealth launches 2 calls, one in the field of neurological, mental and sensory disorders (EP BrainHealth Call 2).

2. Aim and Scope of the Call (EP BrainHealth Call 1)

The EP BrainHealth invites applications to combine a holistic approach to brain health with in-depth biological understanding. The aim of the call is to facilitate multinational, collaborative and interdisciplinary research that addresses critical translational questions. Applications for this call, should address how biological, social and environmental factors affect the trajectory of neurological, mental and sensory disorders across the lifespan.

Applications addressing predominantly neurodegenerative disorders should be submitted to the EP BrainHealth call 2, dedicated to these diseases¹. Applications addressing risk factors that are shared between mental health, neurological, mental and sensory disorders on the one hand, and neurodegenerative disorders on the other are encouraged and should be submitted to the call that best suits their project. Please note that applying with the same proposal to both EP BrainHealth calls is not allowed.

Applications must be interdisciplinary and address at least two of the three factors impacting brain health trajectories in the field of neurological, mental and sensory disorders:

1. Biological factors, e.g. genetics, epigenetics, -omics, neuroplasticity, inflammation, infection, synaptogenesis, circuits, vascular factors, sensory impairment, co-morbidities;
2. Lifestyle and social factors, e.g. exercise/activity, nutrition, sleep, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, work (income, employment), socio-economic background/status, race/ethnicity, sex and gender, education, safety, social interactions (family/friends), access to healthcare, stress, trauma, migration.
3. Environmental factors, e.g. pollution/contaminants, urbanicity, disasters, pandemics, war/conflicts, climate change, microbiota, nature.

In addition, applications must investigate at least two of the following aspects:

1. Mechanisms of action of the identified factors;
2. Early recognition, diagnosis and prognosis linked to the identified factors;
3. Prevention/treatments/interventions/technological development/care and support linked to the identified factors.

Furthermore, the following aspects are important in the context of this call:

1. Applications should investigate how factors impact brain health trajectories along the life course.
2. Outcomes benefiting the quality of life of patients and their carers are of special importance and should be explicitly defined and stated.
3. Applications focusing on disability, gender, ethical, cultural and socio-economic aspects are encouraged.
4. Approaches such as integration of multimodal data, use of accessible wearable technologies (e.g. mobile devices), artificial intelligence/digital twins and drug repurposing are particularly welcome.

Excluded are the following topics/aspects:

1. Applications focusing on cancers;
2. Applications addressing predominantly research questions in the field of the EP BrainHealth call 2.

3. Purpose

The EP BrainHealth will fund through synchronised national/regional grants ambitious, innovative, interdisciplinary and transnational research consortia. The participating funding organisations (see next section) expect to add value to their existing national/regional activities. The call will be conducted simultaneously by the respective national and regional funding organisations and coordinated centrally by the Joint Call Secretariat (BrainHealthCalls@agencerecherche.fr).

4. Eligible countries/regions and respective funding organisations

Country/Region	Funding Organisation
Australia	National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Belgium (Wallonia-Brussels Federation)	Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique – FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS)
Belgium/Flanders	The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO)
Croatia	Ministry of Science, Education and Youth (MSEY)
Denmark	Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD)
Estonia	Estonian Research Council (ETAG)
Finland	Research Council of Finland
France	Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR)
Germany	Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR)
Germany	German Research Foundation (DFG)
Greece	GENIKI GRAMMATEIA EREVNAS KAI KAINOTOMIAS/General Secretariat for Research & Innovation (GSRI)
Hungary	NKFIH, National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH)
Ireland	Research Ireland
Iceland	Icelandic Centre for Research (Rannis)
Israel	Chief Scientist Office of the Ministry of Health (CSO-MOH)
Israel	National Technological Innovation Authority (Innovation Israel)
Italy	Ministry of Health (IT MoH)
Italy, Lombardy Region	Regional Foundation for Biomedical Research (FRRB)
Latvia	Latvian Council of Science (LCS)
Lithuania	Research council of Lithuania (LMT)
Malta	Xjenza Malta (XM)
Netherlands	The Dutch Research Council (NWO)
New Zealand	University of Otago (UO)
Norway	Research Council of Norway (RCN)
Poland	National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR)
Portugal	Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)
Republic of Moldova	National Agency for Research and Development (NARD)
Romania	Autoritatea Nationala pentru Cercetare (ANC), through UEFISCDI
Slovakia	Centrum vedecko – technických informácií Slovenskej republiky (CVTI SR)
Slovakia	Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS)
Spain	Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)*
Spain	Insituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Sweden	Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE)
Switzerland	Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
Taiwan	National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)
Türkiye	Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu (TUBITAK)

5. Requirements

5.1. General

Proposals should have novel ideas and ambitious aims combined with well-structured work plans and clearly defined objectives deliverable within three years. Approaches should be integrative, combining relevant scientific approaches (e.g. clinical, epidemiological, experimental) and involve state-of-the-art methodologies and techniques. The potential use of existing cohorts and data sets should be maximised. Proposals must be hypothesis-driven and should have a strong emphasis on reliable and rigorous methodology.

5.2. Collaboration, interdisciplinarity and translationality

Each consortium should have the critical mass to achieve the identified scientific goals and should specify the benefit of working together. Applicants should demonstrate that they have the expertise and range of skills required to conduct the research project or that appropriate collaborations are in place. Leveraging expertise from fields outside brain health research, which can introduce innovative approaches, is encouraged. The added value to ongoing activities and the expected impact on research, medical applications, improved patient well-being, health related outcomes and benefits for society should be explicitly stated. If a proposal is complementary to research already funded or submitted to other funding initiatives, it must be stated how EP BrainHealth funding can supplement the ongoing activities. Double funding is not permitted.
The EP BrainHealth particularly wishes to promote interdisciplinary work and translational research proposals that combine basic and clinical approaches. The involvement of clinical research groups is strongly encouraged. The consortia should submit novel, ambitious ideas that can only be achieved through complementary collaboration between partners. Research proposals should cover at least one of the following areas in the field of brain health:

1. Fundamental research.
2. Clinical and/or practice-oriented research.

The translational value for human disease must be addressed explicitly in the proposals. If used, the choice of the animal model must be justified in the context of human pathology.

5.3. Patient and Public Involvement (PPI)

Most patient-related research would be impossible without the active involvement of patients. Thus, EP BrainHealth is convinced that PPI should be an integrated part of the implementation of its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda. Proposals to be funded under this call will therefore need to adequately involve patients, relevant patient organisations, carers and the public, whenever appropriate. Consortia are expected to make every reasonable effort to include approaches that involve these groups, where appropriate, at each stage of the research process. The inclusion of non-research organisation as partners in the consortium is encouraged (e.g. patient organisations, professional practice, social organisations).

The EP BrainHealth is supporting this approach by providing funding to organisations representing patients or citizens to participate as partners in proposals submitted to this call². Those organisations could support designing the research project, preparing the application, ensuring that research questions are relevant from the patients’ and citizens’ point of view, conducting research and/or disseminating the research results. In the full proposal, the PPI approach of the consortium will have to be described in detail in a dedicated questionnaire. The quality of the approach will be evaluated and considered for the funding decision. For this, patient representatives will assess patient engagement aspects, feasibility, and relevance of full proposals from a patient perspective.

5.4. Responsible research and innovations (ethics, data sharing, sex/gender and equity)

Understanding sex and gender differences in the pathogenesis and management of brain health is essential for the development of targeted and personalised treatment strategies. Therefore, the consideration of sex/gender differences in the studies is mandatory. An explicit justification is required if only one sex/gender is considered. In the case of human studies, gender effects must be considered where appropriate³.
To promote equity, diversity and inclusion in the proposals submitted to this call, applicants are strongly encouraged to consider further diversity aspects of the target groups (e.g. age, ethnicity, cultural, geographic area, social, economic and educational background) when relevant. It should be explained how this is appropriately addressed in the projects.
Only projects that fulfil the legal and ethical international/European Union (EU) regulations (including ethical standards and guidelines in Horizon Europe) as well as national and institutional regulations and standards will be funded. All proposed activities, including those undertaken in countries/territories outside the EU, must comply with relevant EU regulations. Ethical approval(s) and/or a positive vote(s) must be obtained from the relevant national or local ethics committee(s) prior to the start of respective studies⁴. Ethical clearance documents may be requested by the EP BrainHealth. All procedures involving human beings must conform to the Helsinki Declaration.
The EP BrainHealth strives to fund sound reproducible scientific outputs and expects methodological rigour in the experimental approaches proposed. Ethical and responsible aspects of research will be evaluated by an Ethics Board in the full proposal stage and considered for the funding decision.
Funding recipients must ensure that all outcomes (publications, etc.) of EP BrainHealth projects include a proper acknowledgement of EP BrainHealth and the respective funding partner organisations. All the publications resulting from funded projects must be published in adherence to the EC Open Science Policy and specific rules of the funding agencies.
Applicants should identify, manage and mitigate risks associated with dual-use and science security.

5.5. Early career researcher

Training of early career researchers (ECRs) and mobility (e.g. lab rotations and visits) within the consortia are encouraged if justified in terms of the training opportunities provided to the individual with relevance to the field, in the context of the proposed workplan.
Involvement of promising ECRs⁵ as consortium partners is highly encouraged and will be part of the evaluation criteria. Please note that there may be restrictions according to the specific regulations of each funding organisation.

5.6. Use of European Infrastructures

To increase impact at the European level, the use of European Research Infrastructure Networks as valuable resources and platforms for knowledge exchange, is strongly encouraged. Examples include (amongst others):

• BBMRI-ERIC (Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure)
• EATRIS-ERIC (European infrastructure for translational medicine)
• ECRIN (European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network)
• EBRAINS (focused on data and tools for brain-related research)
• INFRAFRONTIER (focused on modelling of human diseases) with the European Mouse Mutant Archive (EMMA)
• ELIXIR (focused on data sharing)

Information can be found via the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures in Europe – ESFRI. Data, tools and resources being generated within the research projects should be made widely available, considering national and international legal and ethical requirements. Consortia are strongly advised to predefine arrangements between partners to deal with data and resources sharing across countries as early as possible (i.e., even at the pre-proposal submission stage). See also 9.3 for further details on data requirements within this call.

6. Eligibility

6.1. Institutions

Joint transnational research proposals can be funded for a period of up to three years. Proposals may be submitted by research groups working in universities or other higher education institutions, non-university public or private research organisations, hospitals, foundations and other health and social care settings, as well as commercial companies, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and organisations representing patients. Collaborations with companies from outside the traditional medical sector (e.g. computing, artificial intelligence) are welcome. With regard to the research setting and collaborations with companies, specific regulations of individual funding organisations, as well as the EU State aid regulations, must be considered when creating the consortium.

The eligibility of the aforementioned institutions, together with details of eligible costs (e.g. personnel, material, consumables, travel money, investments), are subject to the administrative requirements of individual funding organisations and will therefore differ. Clarification must be obtained from the individual funding organisations (see contact details below). It is strongly recommended to carefully read the funder-specific regulations regarding eligibility and funding and to contact the respective funding organisations, since additional national/regional procedures might be mandatory.

6.2. Research partners

Consortia may consist of research partners, who are eligible for research funding from the funding organisations participating in this joint call, cf. organisations listed under section 4 (“regular partners”), as well as non-funded external collaborators (“partner on own funds”).
Regular partners are represented by a single leader of individual research groups (typically a principal investigator or an early career group leader) within research institutions. No co-leads are possible.
In addition, external collaborators (i.e., partners who are not eligible for funding from their national/regional funding organisations or from countries/regions that are not involved in this call) may participate in the proposals only if a) their participation clearly provides an added value to the consortium, and b) they have secured a budget for their part in the project. External collaborators must secure their own funding. They must state in the proposal if these funds are already secured or how they plan to obtain funding. At full proposal stage, a letter of intent

6.3. Transnationality

Only transnational projects will be funded. Each consortium submitting a proposal must involve a minimum of three research partners eligible for funding by organisations listed in this call text (section 4). The eligible research partners must be from at least three different participating countries and including at least two EU Member States or Associated Countries⁶. The total number of research partners in a consortium is limited to six, including partners participating at their own expenses. For reasons of transnational balance, no more than two partners from the same country are allowed to join a proposal. Gender balance among the partners of a consortium is encouraged.
Involved patient organisations are not considered for minimal or maximal consortium size or transnational balance requirements.
The EP BrainHealth strives to strengthen a global Brain Research Ecosystem by including as many partner countries as possible in its funding scheme. Therefore, consortia including at least one research partner from countries that are to date underrepresented in this funding scheme (Croatia, Malta, Moldova, Slovakia, Slovenia, Türkiye) may increase the total number of partners to seven.
Each consortium should have the critical mass to achieve ambitious scientific goals and should clearly demonstrate added value from working together.

6.4. Coordination

Each consortium must nominate a coordinator, who represents the consortium externally and is responsible for its internal management (e.g. the application procedure, coordination of consortium agreement drafting, Data Management Plan, reporting, internal consortium communication). The consortium coordinator must be eligible for funding from one of the organisations listed in this call text.

6.5. Clinical Research

Clinical studies are eligible at least up to the point of proof of concept. Eligibility and funding requirements for clinical trials vary between the partner countries. Clarification may be obtained from the individual funding organisations. Multimodal and multicentre clinical studies are highly encouraged. The EP BrainHealth will not fund the establishment of large cohorts, but the use of existing cohorts, biobanks/brain banks and exploitation of existing datasets is encouraged. Appropriate access to relevant, well-characterised patient populations or suitable biomaterial collections must be demonstrated. The proposal should describe plans to make data available for the research and clinical communities. It is recommended that the appropriate

6.6. Animal Models

The use of existing animal models and the usage of infrastructures (see section 5.6) offering access to existing models is encouraged. The development of new animal or cell models is allowed if clearly justified and only if appropriate alternative models are not available. This should be clearly explained in the proposal.

7. Application

More detailed information on the evaluation and decision-making process can be obtained from the accompanying procedures document (section 3).
The application process will be in two stages: pre-proposals and full-proposals. At both stages, one joint proposal document shall be prepared by the consortium (in English) and submitted by the coordinator to the EP BrainHealth Joint Call Secretariat (link to submission platform). The individual research partners in a consortium will be funded by the respective national/regional funding organisation(s). Eligibility criteria are the matter of individual partner funding organisations and additional national/regional regulations, requirements and processes may apply (link to national Annexes). In case of any questions concerning the proposal submission, please contact the Joint Call Secretariat.

7.1. Electronic proposal submission/evaluation tool

For proposal submission by the applicants and proposal distribution among the funding organisations, the electronic submission and evaluation system (“PT Outline”, provided by the German EP BrainHealth partner DLR Project Management Agency) will be used. Applicants will be able to register themselves to allow proposal submission. The electronic submission and evaluation system will also be used to collect written statements from the independent Review Panel members.

7.2. Pre-proposal submission

Pre-proposals must be submitted by the coordinator in electronic format no later than 14:00:00h C.E.T. on 10.03.2026, via the electronic submission system. No other means of submission will be accepted. The pre-proposal template is available on the website. Adherence to this template is mandatory. All fields must be completed using DIN-A4; font: Arial, 10pt; single-spaced, page limits. Please note that some funding organisations might request an additional mandatory submission on their own national/regional platform (see national Annexes).

7.3. Revision of proposals

The information given in the pre-proposal is binding. Thus, any fundamental changes between the pre- and full proposal stages concerning the composition of the consortium, objectives of the project or requested budget must be communicated with detailed justifications to the Joint Call Secretariat and approved by the respective funding organisations.
Changes between pre- and full proposals are only allowed in exceptional cases. The following modifications are permitted in the preparation of a full proposal:

• Adding or replacing regular partners. This should normally be restricted to one regular partner and the following cases:
  • Where a regular partner from the pre-proposal has been declared non-eligible, withdrew participation, or where the modification is derived and justified from the pre-proposal evaluation. Alternatively, non-eligible partners can continue participating by engaging other sources of funding available. This rule can only be applied to one single partner, excluding the coordinator of the consortium.
  • Where the aim is to include a regular partner from an underrepresented country). Further information will be provided directly to the coordinator prior to the full proposal stage.
• Including or excluding external collaborators (partner on own funds).
• Changing the work plan and/or the budget where it is either derived from the pre-proposal evaluation or the modification of the consortium (as outlined above).
• Changes to the budget of individual regular partners require approval by the respective funding organisation.

Other justifications may be accepted on a case-by-case basis after examination by the Joint Call Secretariat (JCS) and approval of the Call Steering Committee (CSC).
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that changes applied during the revision are in line with the eligibility criteria of the call. Full proposals that do not meet the conditions for revision or the call’s eligibility criteria may be rejected without review. Applicants are strongly advised to consult the Joint Call Secretariat and/or the respective funding organisations before submission.

7.4. Full-proposal submission

Full proposals will be accepted only from those consortia explicitly invited to submit them by the Joint Call Secretariat. They must be submitted by the coordinator in electronic format via the electronic submission system no later than 30.06.2026 (14:00:00 CEST). No other means of submission will be accepted. The Joint Call Secretariat will provide further information regarding the submission and a full proposal template to the eligible consortia. Adhering to this template is mandatory. Content of the full proposal: link to template. Please note that some funding organisations might request an additional mandatory submission on their own national/regional platform (see national Annexes).

8. Evaluation and decision

More detailed information on the evaluation and decision-making process can be obtained from the accompanying procedures document (section 4).

8.1. Formal check of pre- and full proposals

The JCS will check the proposals to ensure that they meet the call’s formal criteria (e.g. date of submission; number of participating partners and countries/regions; inclusion of all necessary information according to the respective templates in English). In case certain formal criteria are not met (e.g. like page limits, font size, missing budget table or checklist), the project coordinators will be contacted and given the opportunity to resubmit a revised proposal within 48 hours. Proposals that do not meet the formal criteria after one opportunity to resubmit, can be rejected from the call process without further review.
In parallel, the JCS will provide online access to the proposals to the national/regional funding organisations, which will perform a formal eligibility check for compliance with their respective regulations.
Pre-proposals that do not meet the common formal criteria or specific national/regional eligibility may be rejected without review. Proposals passing this step will be forwarded to the peer review for evaluation.

8.2. Evaluation criteria

The pre- and full-proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

Excellence

• Quality of the research approach and methodology, quality of the experimental design and data analysis
• Novelty of the research concept/hypotheses
• Competence and experience of participating research partners in the field(s) of the proposal (previous work in the field, specific technical expertise)

Impact

• Potential impact of the expected results on clinical and/or other health-related applications in the short, medium and long-term
• Inclusion of early career researchers (ECRs)
• Description translational value and the societal relevance of the proposed research
• Potential of outcomes to benefit the quality of life of patients and their carers
• Adequate PPI i.e. involvement of patients or their representatives, patient organisations, carers and/or the public and consideration of relevant ethical aspects

Quality and efficiency of the implementation

• Feasibility of the work plan, including appropriateness of the allocation of tasks, coordination of the consortium, integration of tasks and activities, resources, time frame and related risk analysis
• Quality and added value of collaborative and interdisciplinary interactions within the consortium

8.3. Evaluation and decision on pre-proposals

Eligible pre-proposals will be reviewed using the above-mentioned evaluation criteria via a written (remote) peer review process. Each pre-proposal will preferably be reviewed by at least three reviewers. Based on the scores in the written reviews, a ranking list will be established according to which the Call Steering Committee will decide on full-proposal invitations. The Joint Call Secretariat will inform each coordinator about the outcome of the evaluation and the coordinators of the selected proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal before 30.06.2026 (14:00:00 CEST).

8.4. Evaluation and decision on full proposals

An international interdisciplinary Peer Review Panel will evaluate the eligible full proposals based on the above-mentioned evaluation criteria and establish a ranking list based on the reviewers’ assessment at the panel meeting.
Additionally, expert patient reviewers will assess the patient-relevant aspects of the full proposals and an Ethics board will give recommendations on the ethical aspects of the full proposals. A short list of proposals will be identified as recommended for funding based on the ranking list. The Call Steering Committee will determine the projects to be funded, considering the national budgets’ availability.

9. Funding Regulations, Responsibilities and Reporting

9.1. Funding procedure

Successful research groups will be funded directly by the respective funding organisations.
Funding is expected to start by early to mid-2027. A common starting date for all consortium members is recommended. Projects should be designed to be achievable during a maximum funding period of three years.
Funding will be administered according to the terms and conditions of the responsible funding organisations, considering all other applicable regulations and legal requirements.

9.2. Responsibilities

Within a joint proposal, each research partner will be the contact person for the respective national/regional funding organisation.
After the evaluation and selection procedures are completed, each funded consortium is required to draft a Consortium Agreement (CA) and a Data Management Plan (DMP). The CA will determine a common project start date, manage the delivery of project activities, finances and intellectual property rights (IPR), and avoid disputes that might be detrimental to the completion of the project. The coordinators of funded projects together with the relevant funding organisations shall make every effort to seek a common start date for all research groups in a consortium. The coordinator must provide the DMP and the CA signed by all parties to the EP BrainHealth monitoring secretariat (neuron@aei.gob.es) within the 1st year of the project’s runtime. The documents will be made available to the involved funders. Please note that some funding organisations may require the submission of a DMP, CA, and/or ethical approval at an earlier time point. Please read carefully the funder-specific information section. Ethics approval and/or a positive vote must be obtained from the relevant national or local ethics committee(s) prior to the start of respective studies.

9.3. Reporting Requirements

On behalf of the research consortium, the project coordinator will be required to submit to the monitoring secretariat a midterm progress report on the project, as well as a final report at the end of the project. Additionally, the other project partners (PIs) may be required to submit reports separately to their national/regional funding organisations. In that case, reporting guidance will be communicated by the relevant funding organisation.
The deadline for submitting final reports is two months after the end of the project. The formal end date of the project is the latest run-time in the consortium unless the consortium decides otherwise. It is the task of the coordinators and the monitoring secretariat to monitor the formal end date for project completion. This is required because research groups in the consortium may have different start times. Coordinators will receive the report template in due course from the monitoring secretariat.
The coordinators will be asked to present a progress report during a midterm and an online final symposium. Attendance is mandatory for all coordinators. Students and postdoctoral researchers working on the projects are welcome to join the symposium together with their PIs. Accordingly, travel expenses to attend the symposium should be encumbered in the proposed budget plans.
Funding recipients must ensure that all outcomes (publications, etc.) of transnational EP BrainHealth projects include proper acknowledgement of the EP BrainHealth and respective funding partner organisations⁷, and that they are in line with the relevant publication requirements.

9.4. Project runtime extensions

Project runtime extensions can be requested only in well-justified cases and should be submitted to national funding bodies’ contact points and the monitoring secretariat.

9.5. General Data Protection Regulation

Applicants are informed that their personal data submitted in their application to the call are processed by the Call Steering Committee (funders participating in the call) in accordance with article 6.1 (e) and (c) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (2016/679)⁸, and for the purposes of:

• processing and evaluating the application where processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
• administering any subsequent funding award;
• managing the funding organisation’s relationship with them;
• analysing and evaluating the call;
• providing aggregate data to national and European surveys and analyses on the funded projects.

The Call Steering Committee will not share personal data with third parties other than parties necessary for the execution of the joint transnational call and parties required by national laws. The funding organisations outside of the European Union who are not subject to GDPR will comply with GDPR on the basis of an adequacy decision or on the basis of standard data protection clauses adopted by the commission in accordance with the examination procedure or pursuant to Article 49 of the GDPR in relation to the above activities including evaluators, auditors and the European Commission (or its agencies).

10. Contact details

It is highly recommended to contact the respective national contact person before submitting a proposal:

Country/Region	Funding Organisation	Contact details
Australia	National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)	NHMRC’s international team: international@nhmrc.gov.au
Belgium (Wallonia-Brussels Federation)	Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique – FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS)	Dr. Maxime Bonsir Maxime.bonsir@frs-fnrs.be +32 2 504 92 36 Dr. Florence Quist Florence.quist@frs-fnrs.be +32 2 504 93 51
Belgium/Flanders	The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO)	Kristien Peeters +32 (0)2 550 15 95 Toon Monbaliu +32 (0)2 550 15 70 europe@fwo.be
Croatia	Ministry of Science, Education and Youth (MSEY)	Mr. Mateo Ante Bosnić mateoante.bosnic@mzom.hr +38514594166
Denmark	Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD)	Katrine Boeriis, Katrine.boeriis@innofond.dk +45 6190 5092 General contact: Internationale@innofond.dk
Estonia	Estonian Research Council (ETAG)	Mr. Argo Soon Mrs. Margit Suuroja
Finland	Research Council of Finland	Annika Raitala annika.raitala@aka.fi +358 295 33 5097 Marko Uutela marko.uutela@aka.fi +358 295 33 5113
France	Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR)	Gaëlle Dutour Provenzano +33 (0)175774941 Anthony Petit +33 (0)173548141 Catherine Marquer BrainHealthCalls@agencerecherche.fr
Germany	Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR)	Dr. Vera Mönter-Telgen Dr. Sabrina Voß BrainHealth-Calls@dlr.de +49 228 3821 2555
Germany	German Research Foundation (DFG)	Dr. Anke Ley Anke.ley@dfg.de +49 (228) 885-3197
Greece	GENIKI GRAMMATEIA EREVNAS KAI KAINOTOMIAS/General Secretariat for Research & Innovation (GSRI)	Foteini KARAGKOUNI f.karagkouni@gsrt.gr +30 213 1300132
Hungary	NKFIH, National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH)	Zsuzsanna Kürti +36 1 795 9500 ncp@nkfih.gov.hu
Ireland	Research Ireland	Dr Emma McGrath emma.mcgrath@researchireland.ie +353 86 1991351
Iceland	Icelandic Centre for Research (Rannis)	Helga Snævarr Kristjansdottir Helga.s.kristjansdottir@rannis.is +354 515 5800
Israel	Chief Scientist Office of the Ministry of Health (CSO-MOH)	Liron Even-Faitelson Liron.ef@moh.gov.il +972-2-5082168
Israel	National Technological Innovation Authority (Innovation Israel)	Sarah CHICHE sarah.c@innovationisrael.org.il +972 3 5118122 Nati BLOCH DAMTI nati.b@innovationisrael.org.il +972 54 3339792
Italy	Ministry of Health (IT MoH)	Grazia Papagni g.papagni@sanita.it +390659942928
Italy, Lombardy Region	Regional Foundation for Biomedical Research (FRRB)	Giulia Maria Rossignolo giuliamaria.rossignolo@frrb.it +39 02 6765 0159
Latvia	Latvian Council of Science (LCS)	Maija Bundule E‐mail: Maija.Bundule@lzp.gov.lv Tel: +371- 26514481 Uldis Berkis E-mail: ldis.Berkis@lzp.gov.lv Tel.: +371-29472349
Lithuania	Research council of Lithuania (LMT)	Saulius Marcinkonis saulius.marcinkonis@lmt.lt
Malta	Xjenza Malta (XM)	kaylen.borg.1@gov.mt +356 2360 2134 cc’d: eusubmissions.xjenzamalta@gov.mt
Netherlands	The Dutch Research Council (NWO)	Melanie Neijts 0031 70 349 40 33 Madelief Zwaan 0031 70 344 05 72 brainhealth@nwo.nl
New Zealand	University of Otago (UO)	Professor Rachael Taylor NZ Health NCP +64 21 479 556 Cluster1NCP@mbie.govt.nz
Norway	Research Council of Norway (RCN)	Jostein Holmgren +47 96646834 johol@rcn.no
Poland	National Centre for Research & Development (NCBR)	Jolanta Drożdż Jolanta.drozdz@ncbr.gov.pl Tel. +48 509 216 759
Portugal	Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)	Marta Abrantes Marta.abrantes@fct.pt [+351] 213911596 Luisa Peixoto Luisa.peixoto@fct.pt [+351] 213 911 532
Republic of Moldova	National Agency for Research and Development (NARD)	Mrs. Natalia Bolocan Email: natalia.bolocan@ancd.gov.md Phone number: +373 69068281 Ms. Iana Tihon Email: iana.tihon@ancd.gov.md Phone number: +373 60606760
Romania	Autoritatea Nationala pentru Cercetare (ANC), through UEFISCDI	Mihaela Manole mihaela.manole@uefiscdi.ro Phone +40-21.302.38.63 Nicoleta Dumitrache nicoleta.dumitrache@uefiscdi.ro Phone +40-21.302.38.86
Slovakia	Centrum vedecko – technických informácií Slovenskej republiky (CVTI SR)	Magdaléna Švorcová +421 917 733 493 magdalena.svorcova@cvtisr.sk Erika Jankajová +421 904 859 228 Erika.jankajova@cvtisr.sk
Slovakia	Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS)	Katarina Bibova katarina.bibova@urad.sav.sk 00421 2 57510136
Spain	Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)	Silvia Lorrio neuron@aei.gob.es
Spain	Insituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)	Cándida Sánchez Barco cbarco@isciii.es
Sweden	Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE)	Aiga Giangiacomo aiga.giangiacomo@forte.se +46856205180 Nadja Fagrell Trygg Nadja.fagrelltrygg@forte.se +46 (0)730243488
Switzerland	Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)	Clémence Le Cornec & Francis Parlange brainhealth@snf.ch +41 31 308 23 85
Taiwan	National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)	Dr. Ching-Mei Tang Email: cmtom@nstc.gov.tw Tel: +886-2-2737-7557
Türkiye	Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu (TUBITAK)	Recep Emrah ÇEVIK emrah.cevik@tubitak.gov.tr +90 0312 298 1214

11. Anticipated amount of funding provided by each funder

Country/Region	Funding Organisation	Anticipated amount of funding (for max. 3 years project runtime)	Anticipated number of fundable research groups
Australia	National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)	1116220 (2000000 AUD$)	4
Belgium (Wallonia-Brussels Federation)	Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique – FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS)	300000	1
Belgium/Flanders	The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO)	700000	2-3
Croatia	Ministry of Science, Education and Youth (MSEY)	250000	1-2
Denmark	Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD)	500000	1-3
Estonia	Estonian Research Council (ETAG)	150000 € (300000 € for coordinators)	1
Finland	Research Council of Finland (AKA)	750000	2-4
France	Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR)	3000000	9-11
Germany	Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR)	3000000	8-16
Germany	German Research Foundation (DFG)	817400	2-3
Greece	GENIKI GRAMMATEIA EREVNAS KAI KAINOTOMIAS/General Secretariat for Research & Innovation (GSRI)	500000	2-3
Hungary	NKFIH, National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH)	500000	2-3
Ireland	Research Ireland	500000	tbc
Iceland	Icelandic Centre for Research (Rannis)	300000	1
Israel	Chief Scientist Office of the Ministry of Health (CSO-MOH)	320000	2
Israel	National Technological Innovation Authority (Innovation Israel)	500000	2
Italy	Ministry of Health (IT MoH)	700000	2
Italy, Lombardy Region	Regional Foundation for Biomedical Research (FRRB)	750000	2
Latvia	Latvian Council of Science (LCS)	300000	1
Lithuania	Research council of Lithuania (LMT)	200000	1
Malta	Xjenza Malta (XM)	500000	1-2
Netherlands	The Dutch Research Council (NWO)	2000000	5
New Zealand	University of Otago (UO)	52000 (100000 NZ$)	1
Norway	Research Council of Norway (RCN)	650000	2
Poland	National Centre for Research & Development (NCBR)	1500000	4-7
Portugal	Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)	250000	2
Republic of Moldova	National Agency for Research and Development (NARD)	50000	1
Romania	Autoritatea Nationala pentru Cercetare (ANC), through UEFISCDI	500000	2
Slovakia	Centrum vedecko – technických informácií Slovenskej republiky (CVTI SR)	600000	2-4
Slovakia	Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS)	240000	2
Spain	Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)	650000	2-3
Spain	Insituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)	450000	1-2
Sweden	Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE)	1334369 (15000000 SEK)	4-5
Switzerland	Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)	1068490 (1000000 CHF)	2-4
Taiwan	National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)	810000	2-3
Türkiye	Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu (TUBITAK)	300000	1-2

12. Timetable

8th of December 2025	Pre-Announcement
8th of January 2026	Launch
10th of March 2026	Pre-proposal deadline 14:00 CET
End of May 2026	Formal invitation to submit a full proposal
30th of June, 2026	Submission deadline of full proposals 14:00 CEST
September, 2026	Peer Review Panel meeting to assess the full proposals
November 2026	Final funding decision by the CSC and start of national administrative procedures
Early – Mid 2027	Start of funding

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¹ The EP BrainHealth call 2 focuses on Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative dementias, Parkinson’s disease (PD) and PD-related disorders, prion disease, motor neuron diseases, Huntington’s disease, spinocerebellar ataxia and spinal muscular atrophy.

² Only in case of non-eligibility of patient organisations for national funding (see national annexe), additional funding via EU funding may be possible. In this case, see annexe for patient organisations for further information.

³ In order to improve the quality of the proposals in terms of sex and gender considerations, applicants are encouraged to visit the following link and complete the modules: https://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/49347.html

⁴ Requirements for ethical approvals may vary between the partner countries. Please refer to the funder-specific information or contact the individual funding organisations.

⁵ Up to 7 years of experience since completion of PhD or medical specialisation diploma at the date of the launch of this call and a scientific track record showing great promise. Allowed maximum extension: 18 months documented maternity/paternity leave for each child born (an official document must be submitted only upon explicit request), duration of long-term illness or national service, duration of clinical training with a maximum of 4 years). Please check the funder specific regulations for the national/regional eligibility criteria that apply.

⁶ https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_horizon-euratom_en.pdf

⁷ Proper EP BrainHealth acknowledgement to be used: This is a European Partnership for BrainHealth (EP BrainHealth) project. The project is supported through the following funding organisations under the aegis of the EP BrainHealth (list of national/regional organisations who are funding project, by country, in alphabetical order) e.g. France, Agence Nationale de la Recherche; United Kingdom, Medical Research Council. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No XXX.

⁸ Last name, first name of the researchers, date of birth, professional contact information, degree(s), position (current and previous), fields of activity, place of work, organisation, address(es), curriculum vitae, ORCID number, name and reference of projects, pre-and full proposals (scientific document, administrative and financial appendix).