Why should your hospital consider applying for Horizon Europe funding in 2027?

1. Horizon Europe 

Horizon Europe is the EU’s framework programme for Research and Innovation. It has a total budget of €95,5 billion over 7 years (2021-2027). It’s divided into 3 pillars. The second one “Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness” pillar is organized into thematic clusters such as health, climate, digital technologies, and security, bringing together universities, industry, public authorities, and other stakeholders across countries. The goal is to generate impactful solutions through collaborative projects—like resilient health systems and advanced digital tools—that support EU policy priorities, enhance competitiveness, and deliver tangible benefits for citizens and the economy. 

• Cluster 1: Health  

• Total budget (2021-2027): €8,2 billion 

• Focus: prevention, diagnosis, treatment, health systems transformation, and digital health  

• Objective: more effective, equitable, and sustainable healthcare systems  

• EU Mission on Cancer  

• Budget (2021-2027): €2 billion  

• Focus: real-world implementation, patient outcomes, and health system transformation  

• Objective: improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life, saving >3 million lives by 2030  

All the calls can be found on the Funding and Tenders Portal (HORIZON-HLTH-2027-01 and HORIZON-MISS-2027-02-CANCER). 

👉 Both instruments require multidisciplinary consortia, where hospitals are key partners. 

2. Example of a Mission Cancer call

HORIZON-MISS-2027-02-CANCER-02 – “Clinical research by Comprehensive Cancer Infrastructures for the benefit of patients with common cancers”  

What this call typically supports: 

• Multi-country clinical studies coordinated by cancer centres  

• Integration of biomarkers, genomics, and real-world evidence  

• Evaluation of diagnostic and treatment pathways  

• Strengthening Comprehensive Cancer Infrastructures1 (CCIs) across Europe  

👉 This is a hospital-centred call, designed around real clinical environments. 

1 National or regional infrastructures that provide resources and services to support, improve and integrate cancer care, research, training of care professionals and education for cancer patients, survivors and their families/carers of any age group. Hence, comprehensive cancer infrastructures could consist of any combination, number or type of -public or private- cancer centre, hospital, university medical centre, research department or institute, company, public health facility, etc. 

3. Role of hospitals in a consortium

Hospitals are not just end-users—they are core implementation and validation actors. 

For example, RIVER-EU, which focuses on improving vaccine uptake among underserved populations. In this project, the academic hospital University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) acts as the project coordinator and leads a major work package. Their total budget is around 600K€. As a university hospital, UMCG contributes not only scientific expertise but also access to patients, public health data, clinical researchers, and implementation sites for testing interventions in real-world healthcare settings. 

In the example above of a 2027 call, hospitals typically act as: 

🏥 Clinical implementation hubs 

• Patient recruitment and management  

• Execution of clinical protocols  

• Delivery of standard-of-care comparisons  

📊 Real-world data providers 

• Longitudinal clinical datasets  

• Electronic health records integration  

• Outcome tracking (survival, QoL, toxicity)  

🧪 Translational research partners 

• Validation of biomarkers and diagnostics  

• Testing of AI decision-support tools  

• Integration of precision medicine approaches  

🌍 System-level demonstrators 

• Pilot implementation in real healthcare workflows  

• Evaluation of scalability across health systems 

👉 In Horizon Europe, this positions hospitals as “translation hubs” between research and practice. 

4. 4. How participation benefits hospitals

« In a context of declining commercial support, academic research and European collaborations are essential not only to maintain visibility but also to stay at the forefront of innovation and evolving research methodologies, and a vital platform for cross-sector exchange and scientific excellence.” Prof. Jean-Pascal Machiels, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc Medical Director. 

Participation is not only scientific—it is strategic development. 

1. 1. Clinical excellence & innovation

• Early access to cutting-edge therapies and technologies  

• Integration of AI, personalised medicine, digital health  

2. 2. Organisational development

• Strengthens research infrastructure and clinical trial capacity  

• Builds international partnerships  

3. 3. Financial & resource benefits

• EU funding covers staff, infrastructure, and operational costs  

• Enables investments otherwise not possible  

4. 4. Reputation & positioning

• Positions hospital as a European reference centre  

• Attracts talent, partnerships, and further funding  

5. 5. Patient impact

• Faster access to innovative treatments  

• Improved care pathways and outcomes  

We understand that not all hospitals have staff to support on grants applications but NCP Brussels can support you. We help you understand call topics or find the appropriate call, do proofreading, offer support to find partners and answer legal and financial questions. 

We invite you to add to your agenda the Cluster Health Horizon Europe Brokerage Event 2027 on 24-25 November (online) to find partners and listen to pitches.  

The Health NCP Network (HNN3.0) also created a useful guide on 2026 calls across Horizon Europe (not only Cluster 1 or Mission Cancer): “Health Research and Innovation Funding Opportunities across Horizon Europe with Deadlines Sept-Dec 2026”. 

5. 5. Key message

Hospitals are indispensable partners in Horizon Europe Health and Mission Cancer projects because they: 

• Bridge research and real-world care  

• Enable clinical validation and adoption  

• Drive impact on patients and health systems  

👉 Horizon Europe should not be seen only as a research grant opportunity. It can be a strategic tool to support your hospital’s long-term transformation, innovation capacity, international positioning, and financial sustainability. Next to Horizon Europe, other EU funding programmes exist such as EU4Health that is dedicated to the deployment of solutions in hospitals. 

 Contact your Health NCPs Emilie Fonck and Marie-Elisabeth Colin now to schedule a call and start your journey in EU projects. 

 This article was generated by ChatGPT and proofread, enhanced and validated by Emilie Fonck.