In February 2024, the THCS Partnership, co-funded by the European Commission (EC), launched its second Joint Transnational Call (JTC) for Research and Innovation (R&I) proposals. This call, titled “Innovate to Prevent,” brought together 31 Funding Organisations from 22 countries, collectively committing an initial budget of approximately €35 million to support the most promising transnational research projects.
A total of 132 full proposals were submitted, requesting funding of around €140 million. Ultimately, 20 proposals were selected for funding, with an overall JTC success rate of 17.5%. These selected projects involve 25 out of the 31 participating Funding Organisations, with a total allocated budget of €25.3 million, generating €4.3 million in EC top-up, partially used to support the selected projects.
The JTC attracted wide participation, particularly from research teams based in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, and Romania. The top-performing teams came primarily from Spain, the Netherlands, France, Portugal, and Switzerland.
Health Policy and Systems Research was the most common focus, especially among selected projects, with a strong presence of Health Technology. In terms of prevention, secondary and tertiary strategies were predominant, while quaternary prevention appeared less frequently. Public Health Research and Health Technology led the field, whereas Health Economics remained underrepresented.
The composition of project partners was largely academic, with meaningful participation from healthcare providers and SMEs. In terms of research type, Implementation Research, Basic and Applied Research were the most common across both submitted and funded proposals. Conversely, Translational Research and Demonstrator Projects, both Proof and Validation of Concept, were among the least represented.
The results of JTC 2024 reflect strong engagement from the scientific community and highlight the flexibility and impact of transnational collaboration in health R&I. The selected projects are expected to deliver significant contributions to the future of health and care systems across Europe.
To learn more, consult the full deliverable now available on the THCS website: https://www.thcspartnership.eu/deliverables/deliverables.kl