European partnership on animal health and welfare

Overview

Funding for research and innovation projects focused on improving animal health and welfare in livestock and aquaculture production systems. Targets proposals addressing either animal welfare (e.g., welfare assessment technologies, humane slaughter methods) or prevention and control of infectious diseases (e.g., vaccines, therapeutics, disease resilience).

Who Can Apply

Consortia of research organizations, universities, industry partners (e.g., agri-food companies, technology providers), and other relevant stakeholders. Industrial involvement is mandatory for certain Prevention & Control actions (OO7-2, OO7-3) and strongly encouraged for others.

Funding Details

Details on grant amounts, total budget, funding rates, or co-funding requirements are not specified.

What Is Funded

Animal Welfare:

• Development of technologies for on-farm, transport, and slaughter-line welfare assessment (e.g., sensor-based tools, animal-based measures).
• Research into positive welfare indicators (behavioral, endocrine, neurological).
• Innovations in humane stunning, killing, and transport systems for livestock and fish.
• Socio-economic assessments of welfare improvements (e.g., trade-offs with environmental or economic impacts).

Prevention & Control:

• Development of vaccines, therapeutics, and delivery systems to reduce antimicrobial use.
• Tools for differentiating infected and vaccinated animals (DIVA), pathogen detection, and transmission dynamics.
• Research into disease resilience through feeding, breeding, and biological factors.
• Socio-economic analyses of disease mitigation and welfare integration.

Technology / Maturity Requirements

• For Prevention & Control action OO7-3, proposals must demonstrate immunogenicity and efficacy in target species at TRL 3-4 (proof of concept in a representative animal model).
• Other actions do not specify TRL requirements but emphasize applied research and industry collaboration.

Key Dates

• Open date: 2026-01-25
• Deadline: 2026-03-29T22:00:00Z

Application Process (High-Level)

Details on the application process (e.g., single/multi-stage, portal) are not specified.

Geographic Scope & Language

• Eligible countries: EU Member States and associated countries (exact list not provided).
• Language: English.