Enhancing integrated research and healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa through digital innovation and Artificial Intelligence

General conditions 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 Eligible Conditions The conditions are described in General Annex B except for the specific conditions for the Global Health EDCTP3 JU funding as regards entities eligible for funding and consortium composition, the specific rule for countries where the coordinator may be established and the obligation to designate a scientific project leader as below. Specific conditions replacing the relevant sections in General Annex B to the Horizon Europe Work Programmes A. Entities eligible for funding This section applies to both Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA). To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding. To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries: The Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden; The Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States: Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR); Countries associated to Horizon Europe[[The list is correct at the time of adoption of this work programme. Please see the Horizon Europe List of Participating Countries on the Funding & Tenders Portal for up-to-date information on the current list and on the position for Associated Countries: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_horizon-euratom_en.pdf ]]: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada (associated to Pillar II 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness', including for the institutionalised European partnerships, and for award procedures implementing Union budget for the year 2024 and onwards), Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo[[This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.]], Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand (associated to Pillar II 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness' as from the Work Programmes 2023 onwards, including for the institutionalised European partnerships), North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Republic of Korea (Pillar II only), Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom; Until association agreements start producing legal effects either through provisional application or their entry into force, transitional arrangements apply. The transitional arrangements apply, at the time of the adoption of this Work Programme, with regard to the following countries and legal entities established in these countries, with which association negotiations are being processed or where association is imminent): Egypt, Morocco,. The following countries which are constituent states of the EDCTP Association[[The list is correct at the time of adoption of this work programme. For an update, please check the EDCTP Association website www.edctp.org.]]: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Legal entities which are established in countries not listed above (including in low-and middle-income countries that are not members of the EDCTP Association) will be eligible for funding if provided for in the specific call topic conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority. B. Consortium composition Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call conditions, for all actions, due to the policy objectives of Global Health EDCTP3, legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions under the programme provided that the consortium includes as beneficiaries: At least three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country, where legal entities are eligible to receive funding; At least one independent legal entity established in a Member State, or in an associated country to Horizon Europe that is a member of the EDCTP Association; and At least one independent legal entity established in a sub-Saharan African country that is a member of the EDCTP Association. This condition applies to both Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA). For the two CSA (2) topics under call HORIZON-JU-GH-EDCTP3-2026-03 in case the applicant consortia opt for including the EDCTP Association as coordinator, the EDCTP Association must not be counted as one of the three independent legal entities necessary to ensure the eligibility of the consortium composition. Specific cases: Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities are eligible for funding under the same conditions as beneficiaries. Associated partners — Entities not eligible for funding and therefore not able to participate as beneficiaries or affiliated entities (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions. International organisations – International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. Other international organisations are not eligible to receive funding unless their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or associated country are eligible to receive funding when provided for in the specific call conditions. Specific rules regarding legal entities that may be the coordinator of an indirect action In accordance with Article 110(2) of the Council Regulation 2021/2085 establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe[[ Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 of 19 November 2021 establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe and repealing Regulations (EC) No 219/2007, (EU) No 557/2014, (EU) No 558/2014, (EU) No 559/2014, (EU) No 560/2014, (EU) No 561/2014 and (EU) No 642/2014, p. 17–119.]], where entities established in a third country without an agreement to protect the financial interests of the Union participate with funding in an indirect action, the coordinator of the indirect action must be established in a Member State or associated country, or South Africa. Scientific project leader If the coordinator is not established in a country in SSA (please see previous paragraph), the designation of a scientific project leader established in a SSA country member of the EDCTP Association with the roles as described below is mandatory. A work package on ‘scientific project leadership’ must be included in the proposals and budget needs to be provided for this activity. The scientific project leader oversees the project scientific governance and leadership. For this purpose, proposals must include a work package where the details of scientific project leadership are laid down. The scientific project leader should indicatively perform the following tasks: During the call for proposals and selection process, coordinate meetings on and drafting of the full project proposal. Work with the coordinator and other beneficiaries on the drafting and negotiation of the consortium agreement and other legal agreements among the beneficiaries. Act as the key contact point for the Global Health EDCTP3 JU regarding all scientific action governance issues, steer and provide oversight in the development of the scientific actions, without prejudice to the tasks entrusted directly to the coordinator as per the Model Grant Agreement. Support and collaborate with the coordinator on its monitoring activities and the adoption of appropriate internal measures, to ensure that beneficiaries are fulfilling their obligations regarding budget, timeline, deliverables, and scientific quality. Review the action’s deliverables and reports before their submission by the coordinator. Lead the work packages(s) related to the tasks of scientific project leadership. Annex 1 to the grant agreement and the consortium agreement should address the relationship of the scientific project leader with the coordinator regarding their respective tasks, for example sharing of the information received from or sent to Global Health EDCTP3 on all issues of interest for the proper scientific management of the action. The applicant consortia may opt for including in their proposal the EDCTP Association as coordinator. In such a case, the eligible costs of the EDCTP Association in the actions funded under this topic will not be reimbursed by the JU and may be used as a basis for in-kind contributions to operational activities (IKOP). The in-kind contribution of the EDCTP Association will cover the coordination activities of the project. In case applicant consortia decides to include the Association as coordinator, they should contact the EDCTP Association in order to inform the Association on their decision and obtain the estimated amount of the Association’s contribution as well as any other relevant information. The EDCTP Association will timely provide the information to all potential applicants. The EDCTP Association must not be counted as one of the three independent legal entities necessary to ensure the eligibility of the consortium composition, as requested in the Call conditions, "Specific conditions to Global Health EDCTP3 JU - B. Consortium composition". 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 are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes Specific conditions related to Scores and weighting Replacing the scores and weighting section in General Annex D to the Horizon Europe Work Programmes as regards second stage of two-stage evaluations, for Research and Innovation Actions (RIA). Evaluation scores will be awarded for the criteria, and not for the different aspects listed in the table. For full applications, each criterion will be scored out of 5. The threshold for individual criteria 1 (Excellence) and 2 (Impact) will be 4 and for criterion 3 (Quality and Efficiency of the implementation) will be 3. The overall threshold, applying to the sum of the three individual scores, will be 12. Proposals that pass the individual threshold and the overall threshold will be considered for funding, within the limits of the available call budget. Other proposals will be rejected. Nota bene: for the CSAs and the first stage of the two-stage evaluation of RIAs, the scores and weighting as indicated in Annex D of the General Annexes of the Horizon Europe work programme 2023/2025 apply. 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 Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf ]]. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions JU right to object to transfer/exclusive licensing Global Health EDCTP3 may, up to four (4) years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5 of the Model Grant Agreement. In addition, in accordance with Article 24(3) of Council Regulation 2021/2085 establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe[[ Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 of 19 November 2021 establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe and repealing Regulations (EC) No 219/2007, (EU) No 557/2014, (EU) No 558/2014, (EU) No 559/2014, (EU) No 560/2014, (EU) No 561/2014 and (EU) No 642/2014, p. 17.]] and the Model Grant Agreement, the right to object applies also to participants that have not received funding from the JU. Information sharing regarding the proposals and the evaluation results Applicants should be aware that the following information regarding their proposals may be shared with the members of the JU Committee of the EDCTP Association: Following eligibility check of the applications: aggregated country level data i.e. number of applicants, funding requested, organisation type; For successful proposals, following Global Health EDCTP3 Governing Board decision on the call evaluation results: number; acronym; title; duration; role; country; legal name; PIC; legal type; total cost; requested JU contribution; Regarding project information following Grant Agreement (GA) signature: signature date of the GA; number, acronym, title, and duration of projects; role, country, legal name, PIC, legal type, URL, total cost, requested JU contribution, FC received, FC given, and IKOP of participants; Under specific conditions and following Global Health EDCTP3 Governing Board approval of the request of EDCTP Association, for proposals on the reserve list and unsuccessful proposals: number; acronym; title; duration; role; country; legal name; PIC; legal type; total cost; requested JU contribution. Access to information and involvement of contributing partners Evaluation To promote transparency and accountability, Global Health EDCTP3 may invite any contributing partners providing financial contributions under a certain topic to propose one representative as observer to participate in the evaluation process under confidentiality safeguards. This possibility does not apply to contributing partners that are part of a consortium submitting a proposal under the relevant topic. Documents and information By applying under any topic, participants consent that the JU reserves the right to share information and documents relevant to their application and where applicable their grant agreement and its implementation with contributing partners as identified and providing financial contributions under the relevant topic. This information and documentation will only be shared under confidentiality safeguards for policy and monitoring purposes. They include: Project proposals; Project results; Project reports; Project deliverables; Audit reports. Global Health EDCTP3 may consult the relevant contributing partners for the purpose of assessing the project reports and deliverables. Other requirements For all projects under this topic, if the coordinator is not from a country in SSA, the designation of a scientific project leader with the roles as described in the introduction is mandatory. A work package on ‘scientific project leadership’ must be included in the proposals and budget needs to be provided for this activity. Annual Work Programme 2026 Global Health EDCTP3 Calls for proposals