ERDERA pre-announced its call 2026 - “Resolving unsolved cases in rare genetic and non‑genetic diseases“

The aim of this funding call is to solve unrecognized rare genetic diseases and to better understand complex rare non-genetic diseases. To this end, disease-causing variants are to be found in patients who have not received a molecular diagnosis despite previous genetic testing. In addition, more diagnostic clarity is to be created for diseases whose causes are unknown or mixed.

Proposed focus areas:

• Functional confirmation of variants of uncertain significance (VUS) to better classify their significance and increase the diversity of functional genomics. This includes the validation of potential VUSs using methods such as in silico, in vitro or animal models (e.g. CRISPR-modified cells, iPSCs, organoids).
• Use of multi-omics approaches or integrative methods (e.g. transcriptomics, epigenomics) to resolve unclear or complex genetic variants.
• New tools or methods that are not yet clinically validated - such as biostatistics, advanced bioinformatics, mathematical models (e.g. variant effect predictors, AI-based annotation platforms).
• Systems biology and modeling of disease mechanisms.
• Integration of clinical, environmental, lifestyle or sensor-based data to improve diagnosis.
• Development of knowledge graphs or disease maps to establish links between symptoms and biological mechanisms.
• Use of advanced AI and modeling tools, e.g. graph ML or probabilistic causal models.

The following diseases, approaches and topics are excluded from JTC 2026

• Pre-clinical therapy development studies, which arealready a topic in the ERDERA JTC2025 .
• Interventional clinical trials designed to test the efficacy of drugs, treatments, surgeries or medical procedures - including comparisons of two treatment methods or Phase IV pharmacovigilance projects.
• Projects that focus exclusively on rare diseases from the Brain Health Partnership focus, i.e.: Alzheimer's disease and other dementias; Parkinson's disease and related disorders; prion diseases; motor neuron diseases; Huntington's disease; spinal muscular atrophy and dominant spinocerebellar ataxias.
  → However, childhood dementias/neurodegenerative diseases are eligible.
• Rare infectious diseases, rare cancers or rare severe side effects of drugs that occur during the treatment of common diseases.
  → Rare diseases with a predisposition to cancer are eligible.
  → Diseases caused by congenital disorders of the immune system/genetic susceptibility to rare infections are also eligible.

Timetable and funding conditions:

• December 10, 2025 - Publication Call
• December 16, 2025 - Webinar for applicants
• February 12, 2026 - Submission of project outlines
• July 08, 2026 - Submission of full proposals
• Collaborative projects with at least 4 partners from 3 participating countries (up to 6 + 2 partners)

Participating countries:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey

Further information:

https:// erdera.org/call/joint-transnational-call-2026/

Contact at the EPC:

© TU Dresden

Project Manager

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Mr Dr. Stefan Schuldt

ERA-Nets, BMBF Complementary measures

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European Project Center

European Project Center

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