The ERA4Health Partnership has launched a survey aimed at identifying specific challenges faced by researchers in translating health research results into practical applications across the European Union and beyond. The survey focuses on four specific fields: 

• Nutrition & Lifestyle-related Diseases,
• Cardiovascular Diseases,
• Nanomedicine, and
• Public Health and Prevention.

The insights gathered will be crucial in understanding and prospectively overcoming the roadblocks researchers encounter in their specific field during market uptake and policy implementation.

Survey on the ERA4Health website

The European Commission is seeking members of the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). They are looking for both medical professionals who are members of a professional healthcare association and patient organizations to be represented on the committee. A mandate in the Committee covers all aspects of risk management in the use of medicinal products for humans, including the identification, assessment, minimization and communication of the risk of adverse reactions. The members are appointed for a period of three years. The submission deadline ends on September 15, 2024.

European Commission website

The European Artificial Intelligence Office (AI Office) is conducting a public consultation on trustworthy, universal AI models under the European Artificial Intelligence Regulation ("AI Act"). All interested stakeholders are invited to express their views on the topics covered in the first Code of Practice, which will set out the rules for universal AI models. The consultation is open until September 10, 2024.

In addition to the consultation, the AI ​​Office is calling for expressions of interest to participate in the development of the first general-purpose AI Code of Practice between September 2024 and April 2025. Expressions of interest in participating in the working groups can be submitted until August 25, 2024.

AI Office website

The ERA4Health partnership is conducting a public survey to harmonize contracts for multinational clinical trials. The aim of the survey is to collect information about existing contract templates in order to gain an overview of national characteristics and a comprehensive understanding of the problems in dealing with and negotiating contracts. The survey is open to academic sponsors, trial sites, clinical research organizations and other stakeholders involved in the development of national procedures for the harmonization of clinical trial contracts. 
The survey is open until September 30, 2024.

Survey on the ERA4Health website

The Brain Health partnership is the tenth partnership to be established in the health cluster according to Horizon Europe's Strategic Plan 2025-2027. A coordination and support project is already being funded to prepare for this. This is conducting a public survey on its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA).
The SRIA represents the vision, mission, goals and scientific priorities and the implementation plan of the future "Brain Health Partnership". Researchers, stakeholders, political decision-makers, patient groups and all interested parties are invited to provide feedback on the SRIA. 
The survey is open until August 14, 2024. 

Survey on the BrainHealth website

The European Commission published the Indicative Audit Programme (IAP) for EU funding programmes like Horizon Europe. This document is designed as a guide for financial audits in EU grants and gives general guidance and the types of procedures that are to be followed for the most common types of grants and cost categories.

Indicative Audit Programme

On July 3, 2024, the European Commission and Canada signed the Association Agreement to Pillar II of Horizon Europe, which comes into force. Canadian institutions can now receive funding and coordinate projects as part of Horizon Europe's Pillar II tenders, including the Health Cluster and the Cancer Mission, as standard.

Canada joins Horizon Europe programme

Background: Associated states are not member states of the European Union, but contribute to the European framework program Horizon Europe. This means that institutions in the associated countries are not only eligible to participate but also to receive funding, can coordinate joint projects and contribute to meeting the minimum requirements for a consortium.

On June 16 2024 the European Artificial Intelligence Office (AI Office) was established within the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technologies (DG Connect) of the European Commission. The AI ​​Office was decided as part of the package of measures launched by the European Commission to support European start-ups and small and medium-sized companies in the development of trustworthy artificial intelligence. The package of measures followed the political agreement reached in December 2023 on the European Regulation on Artificial Intelligence ("AI Act").
The AI ​​Office will support the development and use of trustworthy AI and protect against risks. It will play a key role in the implementation of the new European Regulation on AI by supporting the governance bodies in the Member States in their tasks. It will also ensure a European approach to AI at the international level.

AI office on the European Commission website

The European Commission has published the 2023 annual report on the European Union's activities in the field of research and innovation and on the monitoring of Horizon Europe.
The report shows the research-related support measures for Ukraine and the measures to increase the internal security of the European Union. Horizon Europe provides, among other things, information about the status of the association, statistics on calls for tenders and success rates. The success rate for proposals in the health cluster is 21.8%.

Full report on the European Commission website