Dec 16, 2025

New ERA4Health Call “Prevent-OO: Understanding and Preventing Overweight and Obesity“!

This call supports the transnational collaboration of multidisciplinary scientists from different countries who work together across borders and benefit from complementary expertise and data sets. Funding is provided for research that improves the understanding of the causes of obesity, overweight and their secondary diseases using a mechanistic approach. It also supports studies that aim to develop public health strategies for the prevention of overweight and obesity by focusing on critical transitional phases in the life course that are characterized by biological or socio-ecological changes.

The aim of this call is to support research that:

1. improves the understanding of the causes of obesity, overweight and their complications through a mechanistic approach.

1a. Investigate biological mechanisms, including chronobiological, genetic and/or epigenetic mechanisms, underlying the development and progression of overweight and obesity and related diseases. Secondary influencing factors such as living environment, lifestyle or mental state should also be considered where relevant.

1b. Investigate how overweight and obesity contribute to the development of clinical sequelae and/or how they influence the mechanism of action of therapeutics against other diseases or disorders.

2. focus on prevention and public health strategies for critical life course transitions.

2a. Investigation and consideration of previously neglected influencing factors and their interactions in the development and progression of overweight and obesity in transitional phases of life.

2b. Development of new instruments or preventive strategies to prevent the development and progression of overweight and obesity in transitional phases of life. Physiological, pathophysiological, psychological and behavioral influences as well as the socio-economic status of citizens/patients should be taken into account.
It is important that the application includes an assessment of the economic impact of the proposed instruments or strategies on the healthcare system and provides recommendations for policy makers to develop new regulations and guidelines for the prevention of overweight and obesity.

Excluded from funding:

- Phase 3 and 4 clinical studies
- Studies that focus exclusively on target groups aged 12 to 25 years

Timetable and funding conditions:

January 21, 2026 - submission of project outline
June 11, 2026- Submission of full application
Collaborative projects with at least 3 partners from 3 participating countries, max. 5 - 7 partners
Collaborators with self-financing possible
Max. 350,000 - 400,000 EUR German funding per project

Participating countries:

Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Egypt, Spain, France, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Taiwan, Turkey

For further information please contact

https://era4health.eu/calls/preventoo2026.php

Contact at the EPC: