What is the Health Cluster of 2025 about?

The 2025 programme focuses on using data across borders, patient-centric technologies, next-generation medical devices and diagnostics, antimicrobial resistance, cancer interception, neurodegeneration, and resilient health systems. Suggestions that integrate enabling technology (microfluidics, AI, advanced materials, bioprocessing) with clinically significant outcomes are generally interesting.

What are the types of action and the rates of funds?

There exist three key instruments that are used in the areas:

-Research and Innovation Actions (RIA): 100 percent of all direct expenses and 25 percent flat-rate indirects.

-Innovation Actions (IA): the majority of beneficiaries (70%), non-profits (100%), and indirects (25%).

-Coordination and Support Actions (CSA): 100% and 25% indirects.

It is also typical to find RIAs at TRL 3-5, and IAs progressing to TRL 5-7 by the end of the projects, according to the wording of the topic.

What are the common project sizes and project durations?

RIA budgets would fall within 4-8M Impact in 36-48 months. The IAs tend to be larger, 6-12 million EUR in 36-48 months, typically, when there are clinical validation, multicentre, or regulatory activities. CSAs are less fat (1-3 million EUR, 24-36 months). Like usual, refer to the topic section of the anticipated EU contribution and explain exceptions.

So many partners to have, and which?

The legal minimum number of independent entities is three, out of three different Member States/Associated Countries, although the competitive Health consortia typically include 7-15 beneficiaries. The combination that denotes credibility is: clinical and patient cohort clinical partners, robust methods lab, SME hardware/automation or software, data governance specialists, health-economics/LCA, and (when devices are to be used) manufacturing or regulatory expertise. Maintain the staff lean and lean; big and unoriented consortia lose points during Implementation.

What are the evaluation criteria, and what is actually used to determine the score?

The standard triad:

-Excellence: above state-of-the-art and falsifiable hypotheses; good clinical/technical methodology; good statistics.

-Impact: definite channels of adoption, determined health results, and persuasive exploitation/regulatory approaches.

-Implementation: quality and efficiency. The logic of work plans, risk management, partner fit, and resources to match tasks.

The issue of data sharing, reproducibility, and patient involvement are not window dressing in the case of 2025 Health topics, but rather points of inspection.

What TRL improvement should we guarantee (and achieve)?

For diagnostic devices or lab platforms, begin at TRL 3-4 (proof of concept) and reach TRL 5-6 (validated prototype in the relevant environment) in the years 36-42. In the case of software-only decision support, anticipate the needs of a clinical-grade validation, cybersecurity, and interoperability in the real world. For therapeutics or complex biologics, the focus is typically on robust preclinical packages with defined regulatory next steps rather than on phase-2 studies.

What KPIs are fast-acting Health reviewers?

Have quantifiable, clinically/ operationally significant goals. Examples:

-Diagnostic: sensitivity/specificity ≥90/95 on independent cohorts; LoD in clinically relevant range; turnaround less than 30 minutes of point-of-care; usability scores ≥30 operators.

-Device/process: intra-assay variability CV <10% between sites; throughput ≥100 samples/day; uptime ≥95% cost/test reduction ≥30% vs. comparator.

-Clinical/health-system: time-to-result decreased by ≥50%; events decreased by≥20%; quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) increased with a believable cost-effectiveness ratio.

-Data: Compliance with FAIR, external validation within at least one independent dataset, calibration/drift monitoring of the model within ≥6 months.

What are the areas of value added with microfluidics and lab-on-chip?

Three levers are least used by consortia:

-Miniaturization of discovery and assays. High-throughput: costs of reagents are reduced 10-100 times, and discoveries can be made in days rather than months.

-Intensification and integration of processes: on-chip sample preparation, multiplexed detection, and constant-flow control, which enhance sensitivity and reduce time-to-answer.

-Translational prototyping cartridge-based prototypes that combine lab chemistry and clinical workflows.

What do you think are the pitfalls to evade in 2025 Health?

Several repeat offenders:

-Unclear claims of AI to health, where there is a weak external validation and no monitoring of the post-deployment.

-Projects of devices whose manufacturing or sterilization path is not credible.

-Clinical outcomes that were not consistent with payer logic or standard of care.

-Exceeding expectations on multicentre recruitment without site feasibility information.

-The promises of data sharing that cannot pass muster under GDPR.

-Risk registers that show or list hazards but do not include triggers, owners, or mitigation budgets.