Personalised Medicine for Cardiovascular, Metabolic, and Kidney Diseases

The European Partnership for Personalised Medicine, EP PerMed, supported by the European Union under Horizon Europe, provides a transnational platform to support research and innovation in personalised medicine, and to accelerate implementation into healthcare systems for the benefit of patients and society as defined by the Partnership’s Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda.

EP PerMed is now launching its third joint transnational call (JTC2026) for proposals on “Personalised Medicine for CARdiovascular, MEtabolic, and kidNey diseases (CARMEN2026)”. In total, 39 funding organisations across 28 countries are participating in this call with an available budget of ~€38 million.

EP PerMed funding organisations have agreed to jointly fund multinational innovative research projects in personalised medicine (PM), which should bring together academic, clinical/public health and private research teams, thus enhancing the competitiveness in Europe in this field.

The call will follow a two-stage process, i.e. a pre-proposal phase followed by an invited full-proposal phase.

he overall objectives of the JTC2026 will be to:

Support research projects in human health on personalised medicine strategies for cardiovascular, metabolic, and kidney diseases that address one or more of the following aspects:

• Development and validation of innovative personalised therapeutic approaches through testing in relevant pre-clinical models.
• Identification and validation of molecular markers/signatures or cutting-edge technologies to monitor treatment response in order to tailor treatment pathways.
• Identification and validation of stratifying biomarkers or diagnostic technologies for early disease risk prediction and prevention of disease worsening or comorbidities.

Encourage and enable interdisciplinary collaborations, i.e., multi-actor research by engaging a range of relevant disciplines such as pre-clinical and clinical research, bioinformatics/health informatics/data research, ELSA research, implementation research, and health economics research connected to the proposed topic, including end-user perspective analysis to support translation into clinical practice.

• Promote cross-sectoral collaborations, by including the private sector (e.g., SMEs, start-ups, industry), as well as regulatory/HTA agencies and patient organisations.

Please review the Call Text for full details on the aims of the call and aspects to be considered during the preparation of proposals.

Projects must address cardiovascular, metabolic, or kidney diseases as the primary cause of illness. They can focus on one disease or explore these conditions in combination.

Research focussing only on drug-induced cardiac, metabolic or kidney toxicity  is out of scope.

Projects funded under this call are furthermore required to include a dedicated work package focussing on the question of the translation or implementation of the research outcomes into clinical practice.

While clinical studies (exploratory/proof-of-concept/ early-stage or sub-studies) may be funded under this call, larger clinical trials are out of scope.

Please note clinical trials and investigations are not eligible for funding by Research Ireland for the Irish-based applicant. Where clinical studies are proposed within the workplan of a proposal, study sites and the delineation of activities among proposal partners should be made clear.

Please review the Call Text for full details on the scope of the call and aspects to be considered during the preparation of proposals.

Awarded projects will have a duration of up to 36 months. For applicants based in Ireland, Research Ireland will provide the following funding for projects:

• Up to a maximum of €330,000 direct costs* per award for Irish applicants as Partner on transnational proposals.
• Up to a maximum of €405,000 direct costs* per award for Irish applicants as Coordinator on transnational proposals.

*The maximum total award, including overhead contribution, will be €430,000, for a partner and €530,000 for applicants who take on the role of coordinator.

Only an academic partner or coordinator based in an eligible Irish Host Research body may apply for Research Ireland funding.

The Irish-based applicant requesting Research Ireland funding must:

• hold a PhD or equivalent qualification for at least 3 years by the pre-proposal deadline. The official date is defined as the day, month and year that the degree was conferred i.e., the month and year printed on the official PhD certificate.

AND

• be a member of the academic staff of an eligible Research Body (permanent or with an active contract that covers the period of the grant)

OR

• be a contract researcher with a contract that covers the period of the grant, who is recognised by the eligible Research Body as an independent investigator and will have an independent office and research space for which he/she will be fully responsible for at least the duration of the Research Ireland grant

OR

• be an individual who will be recognised by the eligible Research Body upon receipt of the grant as an academic staff or as a contract researcher as defined above. The applicant does not necessarily need to be employed by the Research Body at the time of the application submission.

AND

• be an author on at least three international peer-reviewed articles. Only original research publications, and not review articles or other secondary research literature, are acceptable.

Applicants must also meet the primary eligibility and consortium requirements of the EP PerMed JTC 2026 as defined in the Call Text: EP PerMed Joint transnational call 2026

In addition:

• Research Ireland will only accept one application per applicant.

All requested costs must be comprehensively justified. Please include detailed descriptions and cost itemisation in the proposal.

1. Salary-related costs for research personnel. Please use current Research Ireland Team Member Salary Scales. The Irish partner cannot request their own salary or buy-out.
2. Equipment costs up to a maximum value of €10K
3. Travel costs with consideration for Research Ireland’s Guidance for Sustainable Travel Policy  
4. Direct running costs (materials and consumables)
5. Dissemination and knowledge exchange costs    
6. Subcontracting costs may be considered an eligible budget category however strong justification for subcontracting must be provided and pre-approved directly with Research Ireland in advance of pre-proposal submission.

Unless otherwise stated, all rules regarding listed eligible costs apply as defined within Research Ireland’s grant budget policy. Please refer to this policy closely in the development of the budget request.

Research Ireland will not provide a contribution towards the salary of the applicant, international co-applicants or collaborators.

All additional ineligible costs apply as described in Research Ireland’s grant budget policy.

Website: www.eppermed.eu  

Call Website: www.eppermed.eu/funding-projects/calls/jtc2026/

Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda for Personalised Medicine: www.eppermed.eu/publications-resources/ep-permed-publications/strategic-research-innovation-agenda-for-personalised-medicine/

Please give a brief notification of your intent to submit a pre-proposal through email to eu-cofund@researchireland.ie before the submission deadline. Within the notification, please include the following information:

• List of project partners
• Irish Host institution*
• Total budget request to Research Ireland
• Whether you intend to apply as a coordinating or non-coordinating partner

 *Please note it is also the responsibility of the applicant to notify the Research Office of their Host Institution of their intention to submit a pre-proposal.

The completed pre-proposal must be submitted directly on the EP PerMed submission platform.

An information day took place on Tuesday 16th December 2025 (9:00-11:00 GMT).

Recording can be viewed here: EP PerMed JTC2026 Information Day Webinar Recording