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Online event on the funding opportunities in the EFSA 2025/26 workplan

Summary

EFSA organised a 2.5-hour online event to present its framework for scientific cooperation and partnership, as well as the particular partnership opportunities (i.e., the expected calls for grants and tenders) currently included in EFSA's draft workplan for 2025/26.

Event highlights

The event was divided into two parts:

Part 1: The partnership framework

  • Scientific cooperation in EFSA’s 2027 Strategy
  • EFSA's outsourcing tools: procurement and grant funding and administrative modalities
  • An overview of the EFSA Focal Point Network and its role in fostering collaboration

Part 2: Overview of partnership opportunities based on (a) recently launched calls, and (b) EFSA's draft 2025/26 workplan

Among the calls presented, those expected to be launched in 2025/26 fall into the following areas:

  • Food consumption data
    • Improving methods for collecting and managing data from MSs
    • Support on national dietary surveys in compliance with the EU Menu methodology
  • Capacity building
    • EU-FORA Fellowship Programme[1]
    • Scientific training facilitator subject matter expert as training tutor[2]
  • Advancing aggregate exposure to chemicals in the EU
  • Risk assessment of combined exposure to multiple chemicals
  • Omics and associated bioinformatics approaches in risk assessment
  • Novel/innovative foods
  • Animal welfare: A pathway to animal welfare quantitative risk assessment: piloting a standard data collection of animal-based measures in broiler chickens
  • Pesticides: Contribution to the risk assessment of active substances used in plant protection products
  • Plant health
    • Plant health research to reduce risk assessment uncertainties on African moths
    • Insect trapping methods for the detection of EU priority pests
    • Remote sensing for the identification of target host populations
    • Development of experimental and statistical protocols for estimating the survey parameters for designing delimiting surveys
    • Use of artificial intelligence for the identification of EU quarantine pests

Notes:

[1] The call for the fellowship cycle 2025-20206 has been published and is currently open for submission of proposals. The call text and its supporting documents, including any clarifications that have been given, are available here. The questions on the call that have been addressed during the webinar will be replied to in detail, also in writing, and they will be available as clarifications on the call page. A similar call is expected in 2025 for the fellowship cycle 2026-2027.

[2] External Subject Matter Experts are hired through the Individual Scientific Advisors (ISA scheme). Among the tasks available, EFSA can entrust to selected candidates to “Provide expert advice and support in developing training materials and/or training program and/or to deliver training courses as tutors, in scientific topics under the remit of EFSA”. A call for the identification of a Training Coordinator is expected in 2026.


The event was attended by approximately 200 participants, who showed strong interest in the information presented.

Contact

For any further questions, please contact events [at] efsa.europa.eu (events[at]efsa[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Webinar recording

NB: Information presented in the slides and video above concerning calls that are currently in EFSA's draft work programme is subject to change. Any party interested in applying for any of the opportunities presented should consult the call text as it will be published.