Deadline: January 15, 2026
The UNITE Call 1 for Joint Interregional Projects under the UNITE initiative invites high-impact collaborative proposals addressing key innovation challenges in digital healthcare.
The UNITE Call 1 targets two core Innovation Challenges within European healthcare systems: Digital Innovations Advancing More Personalised and Human-Centric Remote Care and Advancing European Health Data Spaces. The focus is on digital solutions advancing more personalised and human-centric remote care, and advancing European Health Data Spaces. The objectives are to promote integrated application of emerging technologies, implement Predictive, Preventive, Personalised, and Participatory (P4) principles, enhance data interoperability, and strengthen European cooperation in the digital health sector.
Through this call, UNITE seeks innovative joint interregional projects that contribute to solving shared healthcare challenges across Europe by leveraging digital transformation. The call encourages collaboration between technology providers, research entities, and healthcare end-users to co-develop and validate solutions that address real-world needs. Selected projects will run from 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2027, with a total call budget of EUR 4,000,000. The maximum funding per project is EUR 1,000,000, while individual organisations may receive up to EUR 600,000, including all UNITE calls in which they participate.
Applicants must be legally established in one or more of the seven UNITE partner regions—Region Zealand (Denmark), Northern Netherlands (Netherlands), Central Macedonia (Greece), Lombardy (Italy), Extremadura (Spain), Scotland (United Kingdom), and Romania (national scope). Each consortium must include at least three organisations from three different UNITE regions and must represent the full digital health value chain, including at least one solution provider, one research entity, and one end-user organisation. Furthermore, each consortium must involve at least one partner from a Strong Innovator region (such as Zealand, Northern Netherlands, or Scotland) and one from a Moderate or Emerging Innovator region (such as Central Macedonia, Romania, Lombardy, or Extremadura).
Under the Digital Innovations Advancing More Personalised and Human-Centric Remote Care challenge, proposals should focus on human-centric, data-driven healthcare solutions using P4 medicine approaches. These include integrating telecare technologies, AI-driven diagnostics, and smart home health monitoring systems to enhance accessibility, patient empowerment, and care efficiency. The challenge encourages applications of machine learning, cloud computing, and IoT technologies in developing smart, connected, and sustainable care solutions.
The Advancing European Health Data Spaces challenge aims to support the development of interoperable, secure, and accessible health data systems aligned with the upcoming European Health Data Space (EHDS) regulation. It promotes the use of real-world data and interoperability among hospitals, research institutions, and innovators to drive data-based healthcare improvement and innovation. This challenge also focuses on building interregional health data collaborations and supports initiatives using personal health records, hospital datasets, and AI to enhance clinical decision-making and public health insights.
All proposals will undergo a rigorous multi-stage evaluation process, including eligibility checks, external expert review, strategic regional alignment assessments, and final approval by the UNITE General Assembly. Evaluation will focus on excellence, impact, quality, efficiency of implementation, and alignment with regional priorities.
Funding will be administered through Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) Agreements and distributed regionally following satisfactory project milestones and deliverables. Projects are expected to demonstrate measurable impact, sustainability, and potential for scaling at national and European levels.
For more information, visit EC.
