CFPs: Improving the Quality of Life of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families

Deadline: 16-Sep-2025

The European Commission (EC) is seeking proposals to improve the Quality of Life of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families.

Scope

• The scope of this topic is set by the definitions provided by ‘The international classification of diseases’ – World Health Organization (WHO) ICD11 under ‘6A00: Disorders of intellectual development’ and under ‘20: Developmental anomalies’ including disorders of intellectual development, such as ‘LD40: Complete trisomies of the autosomes’ and ‘LD90: Conditions with disorders of intellectual development as a relevant clinical feature’. Moreover, the three types of autism with disorders of intellectual development under ‘6A02: Autism spectrum disorder’ are also within the scope of this topic.
• The focus of this topic is human-centred on the persons with long-term intellectual disabilities and their formal and informal carers, including families. The life expectancy of persons with intellectual disabilities has increased in the last 20 years, which makes it even more important to analyse the role of their families acting as informal carers (e.g. ageing parents).
• The objective of this topic is to explore new ways to improve the quality of life of persons with intellectual disabilities and their families and to reduce to the maximum possible the negative impact of the disability in their daily lives from different perspectives, such as medical, technological, digital or others. A key element to improve their quality of life is to prevent the worsening of the disability or conditions originating it. Thus, research needs to look from different perspectives into finding the causes of the disease(s) originating the disability and/or reducing as much as possible its level of severity.

Research Actions Areas

• Research actions under this topic should address several of the following areas:
  • To properly diagnose as early as possible the disease(s) causing the intellectual disability or conditions worsening them, especially in the case of children, and paying attention to sex and gender-related differences and diagnostic biases.
  • Deliver the necessary medical treatments, diagnoses, medicines, protocols, technologies, digital solutions, habilitation and/or rehabilitation services, etc. that can help preventing the worsening of the intellectual disability, reversing it or reducing its severity, while supporting the empowerment of the person with intellectual disabilities. Any health technology or medical intervention developed for human use must comply with the relevant regulatory requirements and be based on sound scientific evidence to ensure safety and efficacy.
  • Tackle comorbidities or other disabilities that persons with intellectual disabilities may suffer from, with awareness of sex and gender-related differences.
  • Provide evidence-based approaches for transitional care for young adults with intellectual disabilities, addressing also sex and gender-specific challenges and needs, the transition from paediatric to adult care being perceived as complex to navigate.
  • Promote the empowerment among persons with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers, and whenever possible remove barriers persons with intellectual disabilities face for their participation in society. If applicable, with the support of assistive technologies and digital solutions, ensure optimal autonomy of persons with intellectual disabilities, facilitate and improve the treatment of persons with intellectual disabilities, and help also the family members and close carers to better support persons with intellectual disabilities. Such technologies must adhere to the relevant standards and be grounded in scientific evidence.
  • Propose innovative solutions for high quality, accessible – including cognitively accessible – and affordable care services, to allow carers of persons with intellectual disabilities to better balance their work and family lives. The role of informal/unpaid carers, especially family members, is of key importance for persons with intellectual disabilities. For many persons with intellectual disabilities, the lack of care services and insufficient support for families and personal assistance undermines their quality of life and their rights and possibility to live as independently as possible.
  • Develop innovative integrated care strategies – strengthening patient-centred care – to improve the Quality of Life of persons with intellectual disabilities of any age, and their families, paying special attention to persons with intellectual disabilities with the highest vulnerability because of their high dependency on carers (formal and/or informal), multiple disabilities and need of adapted and special care (medical, social, educational and psychological dimensions).
  • Develop guidelines in order to provide adequate support and training for caregivers, formal and informal, especially for those providing care for persons with intellectual disabilities and/or living with them, and also addressing the issue of prevention of and protection from violence since persons with intellectual disabilities are both vulnerable to violence and abuse and can be violent towards care givers and family members.

Funding Information

• The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:
  • public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
  • cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (low value grant).

Eligible Activities

• The following activities are generally eligible for grants under Horizon Europe:
  • Research and innovation actions (RIA): Activities that aim primarily to establish new knowledge or to explore the feasibility of a new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution. This may include basic and applied research, technology development and integration, testing, demonstration and validation of a small-scale prototype in a laboratory or simulated environment.
  • Innovation actions (IA): Activities that aim directly to produce plans and arrangements or designs for new, altered or improved products, processes or services. These activities may include prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication.
  • Coordination and support actions (CSA): Activities that contribute to the objectives of Horizon Europe. This excludes research and innovation (R&I) activities, except those carried out under the ‘Widening participation and spreading excellence’ component of the programme (part of ‘Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area’).
  • Programme co-fund actions (CoFund): A programme of activities established or implemented by legal entities managing or funding R&I programmes, other than EU funding bodies.

Expected Outcomes

• This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination “Staying healthy in a rapidly changing society”. To that end, proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed at, tailored towards and contributing to several of the following expected outcomes:
  • Persons with intellectual disabilities and their families enjoy an improved quality of life, are empowered and have more independence through the support of innovative research.
  • The scientific community develops innovative solutions – medical, technological, digital or others – to reverse and/or reduce the severity level of the intellectual disability as soon as possible, especially in children, improving the health and autonomy of persons with intellectual disabilities and relieving their careers.
  • Policymakers, health and care services, patient organisations, funders, the scientific community, and other relevant bodies are informed of the research advances and best practices addressing the health and needs of persons with intellectual disabilities and help reduce the impact of those disabilities on individuals, their families and society.

Eligibility Criteria

• Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call/topic.
• A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
• Specific cases: 
  • Affiliated entities: Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
  • Associated partners: Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any specific call/topic conditions. Entities without legal personality
  • Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
  • EU bodies: Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
• To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
  • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
  • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States:
    • Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe:
    • Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

For more information, visit EC.