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For years, European R&I has been obsessed with TRLs (Technology Readiness Levels). Whether developing a battery, mobility service, or digital platform, the prevalent question (for improved clarity) always was: “What is its TRL?”. Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe baked TRL into work programmes, calls and evaluations, and it became a shorthand for maturity of a technology in a given environment. That leaves a simple problem: you can have a technically perfect solution that never gets used because people do not trust it, cannot access it, or do not see it as relevant. With the creation of the Societal Readiness Level (SRL), this issue is addressed. As the first trial has started in Cluster 5, where it is treated as a contractual requierement by the EC, SRL's are no longer just a buzzword. Time for an introduction. What is SRL SRL is short for Societal (or Society) Readiness Level, and is used to describe how far a solution is adapted to and accepted by society. Innovation Fund Denmark originally formalised SRL as a nine level scale that mirrors TRL, but looks at societal adaptation rather than technical performance. SRL is defined as a way of assessing the level of societal adaptation of a project, technology, product, process, intervention or innovation. Don't confuse it with "System Readiness Level", used with Integration Readiness Level to assess complex technical systems (sometimes used in the JRC context). How SRL compares to TRL TRL and SRL are not competing labels, they answer different questions. TRL tracks the maturity of a technology, from basic principle to proven performance in an operational environment. It is strongly focused on technical performance and validation. The scale comes from the aerospace and defence world, and has been standardised by ESA, NASA and was later integrated into EU R&I. SRL tracks the maturity of societal adaptation and acceptance. It focuses on whether stakeholders have been involved, whether concerns are understood, and whether the solution fits existing practices, institutions and norms. A high TRL means the technology works reliably in its target environment. A high SRL means the technology or solution has been developed with strong stakeholder involvement, concerns have been addressed, and the context is ready enough that the solution can realistically be adopted and scaled. How to use? Where TRL is often used as a simple numeric condition in calls, for example “activities are expected to achieve TRL 5 by the end of the project”, the usage for SRL is a bit more complex. The Cluster 5 Work Programme builds a full approach around it, with explicit requirements on resources, work packages, SSH involvement, guiding questions and reporting. The Horizon Europe wording makes the relation very explicit. Societal Readiness is defined as an indicator of research and innovation results that have accounted for different societal needs and concerns and thus have higher potential for societal uptake and adaptation. So you can be at TRL 9 and SRL 1, which means you built a working solution that nobody wants or can use in practice. This issue is precisely what the European Commission wants to address. Where to use? The Horizon Europe Cluster 5 Work Programme 2025 introduced a formal Societal Readiness pilot in Climate, Energy and Mobility. Selected topics are and will be flagged as Societal Readiness pilot topics. A future example is the call "HORIZON-CL5-2027-06-D6-08: Enhancing Mobility for all: affordable, reliable, and accessible multimodal transport for inclusive rural and urban connectivity – Societal Readiness pilot". For these, consortia must: Allocate explicit resources for societal readiness activities, Integrate societal readiness across work packages or through a transversal work package, Include partners with relevant SSH expertise, Produce a first and final public report on Societal Readiness. A dedicated Coordination and Support Action, HORIZON CL5 2026 01 D2 09, will monitor and evaluate the pilot and provide recommendations to the Commission. What to expect in the future? The Cluster 5 pilot is explicitly designed as an experiment. The Work Programme text states that monitoring and evaluation of the pilot will feed into a Commission decision on whether to replicate and widen the approach. If the pilot is judged to be workable for applicants and evaluators and seen as helpful by policymakers, it is reasonable to expect an extension to other clusters and missions, especially where societal resistance is already a recognised risk, e.g. food systems, health data spaces or urban transitions.
2025-12-05 HealthThe Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking has published its Work Programme 2026, announcing €147 million to fund research and innovation projects tackling major global health challenges. The 2026 calls for proposals will open mid-January 2026 and include six topics: four research and innovation action (RIA) topics (two-stage) aimed at developing new or improved TB drugs, supporting the prevention and management of lower respiratory tract infections, ensuring better prevention, treatment and management of HIV and its co-infections and co-morbidities, and addressing the global challenge of climate and health. Deadline for short proposals is 4 March 2026 (first stage). Succesful consortia at the first stage will be invited to submit a full proposal by 17 September 2026 (second stage). two coordination and support action (CSA) call topics (single-stage) will support training and capacity-building activities in the areas of ethics, regulatory and pharmacovigilance, and enhance integrated research and healthcare through digital innovation and artificial intelligence. Deadline for submission is 31 August 2026. More information on the Global Health EDCTP3 website. An online Info Day will take place on 5 February 2026. The Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking (GH EDCTP3 JU) is a partnership between the European Union and the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Association whose members are several EU Member States and Associated countries and several African countries.
2025-12-05 HealthThe European Rare Diseases Research Alliance (ERDERA) will launch its 2026 joint transnational call 'Resolving unsolved cases in rare genetic and non-genetic diseases' on 10 December 2025. The goal of this call is to solve Undiagnosed Rare Genetic diseases and to address complex, multifactorial Rare Non-Genetic diseases by identifying causative variants in patients with no molecular diagnosis after prior genetic or genomic testing and providing diagnostic clarity for conditions of unknown or mixed pathogenesis.Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) plans to participate in this call. More information on available funding for researchers based in Flanders and on how to apply will be published on FWO's website once the call is launched. Deadline for the submission of pre-proposals is 12 February 2026. Questions on available funding by FWO? Contact europe@fwo.be.More information on the call, its conditions and how to apply will be made available soon on the ERDERA dedicated webpage. Interested in applying? Join the information webinar on 16 December 2025 here.
2025-12-05 HealthOn 10 December, the European Partnership for Personalised Medicine (EP PerMed) will launch its Twinning Call, aiming to accelerate the implementation of personalised medicine (PM) solutions or approaches from one country to another through structured peer-to-peer exchanges.What is Twinning?A Twinning partnership connects a Twinning Donor—an organisation with an innovative PM solution or approach—with a Twinning Receiver seeking to adopt and implement that solution.The call offers up to €50,000 for activities that enable this exchange and strengthen capabilities on both sides. Twinning projects should run for 6 to 12 months.The Twinning Partnerships are aimed in particular at local, regional and national health and care providers legally registered in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe associated country that wish to adopt PM solutions that are transferable from one provider to another.Currently, an Early Matchmaking phase is underway to help potential Twinning Donors and Receivers connect, share ideas, and start shaping proposals. Join the Matchmaking Platform here (open until 26 February 2026). On 17 December, EP PerMed is organising an info webinar on the upcoming call. Register here.On 15 January, EP PerMed is organising an online Matchmaking event where Twinning Donors and Receiver organisations can present their succesful PM approaches or needs in the form of a pitch. Register here.More information on the Twinning call can be found on the EP PerMed website.
2025-12-02 Horizon Europe Digital Europe EDFRecently, the European Commission has launched 'EU funding & me', a new mobile app aiming to make EU funding simpler, smarter, and closer to people. The app is designed to provide the information of the EU Funding & Tenders portal in a personalised, mobile-friendly format. The new app aims to offer the following services to users: Navigate quickly to EU funding opportunities Check the latest EU funding news and events Save searches, subscribe to topics, and get personalised alerts Receive real-time notifications Integrate seamlessly with tools like calendars and share with one click Check the real-time status of users’ proposals and projects Exchange direct messages between project coordinators and project officers Provide feedback directly to improve the app You can download the app here: EU Funding & Tenders Portal . (Note that it is newly released & some glitches may still occur.)
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Health AI Continent Deployment: Best use of technologies
The Miricle project, ‘Mine Risk Clearance for Europe’, obtained funding under the European Defence Industrial Development programme call ‘Underwater control contributing to resilience at sea’. The main objective of the project was to achieve a European and sovereign capacity in future mine warfare and create a path for the next generation ‘made in Europe’ countermeasure solutions. In order to realise this objective, Miricle addressed various stages: studies, design, prototyping and testing. These stages inter alia included the successful testing of an XL Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, a protototyped mine disposal system and multiple innovative systems to detect buried mines. Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), was one of the five Belgian partners in the consortium. Within the project, VLIZ was able to forward its research on the acoustic imaging of the seabed to spatially map and visualize buried structures and objects - in this case buried mines - in the highest possible detail. VLIZ also led the work on ‘Port and Offshore Testing’, building on the expertise of the institute in the field of marine operations and technology.
