Proposals must be submitted via the SECURED Open Call portal on the SECURED project website. Submissions must include a comprehensive project plan detailing how the privacy-enhancing technologies will be applied in real-world healthcare scenarios.

Applicants need to submit:

1. Proposal form (PDF format)
2. Project description
3. Budget and cost breakdown
4. Ethics and security considerations. A Declaration of Honour must also be signed and submitted to affirm compliance with the Open Call’s rules.

Yes, participants can only submit up to two proposals, but only one can be accepted for funding. Additionally, individuals or entities with conflicts of interest related to the SECURED project are not eligible to apply.

The Open Call will fund projects that implement and test privacy-enhancing technologies in healthcare. These include:

• Secure Multiparty Computation (SMPC)
• Homomorphic Encryption (HE)
• Advanced Anonymization (AA)
• Synthetic Data Generation (SDG) The projects should validate these technologies in real-world healthcare scenarios

The evaluation will take place in two stages:

1. Eligibility check: Ensures the proposal meets basic eligibility criteria (e.g., submission before the deadline, from eligible countries, alignment with SECURED objectives).
2. External expert evaluation: Independent experts will score the proposal based on criteria such as alignment with SECURED’s mission, innovation, feasibility, impact and resources.

Projects must address ethical and security considerations, especially since they deal with sensitive healthcare data. Key areas include:

• Compliance with GDPR: All projects must follow the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for data handling.
• Ethical self-assessment: Applicants must identify potential ethical issues and submit an ethics self-assessment. This could include securing ethics committee approval and ensuring appropriate consent procedures for data collection and analysis​.

All funded projects are required to present their results at the final SECURED showcase event. This event will include representatives from the SECURED consortium, external evaluators and other relevant stakeholders. The goal is to demonstrate the successful implementation of privacy-enhancing technologies in healthcare.

If a proposal is not selected for immediate funding but meets the eligibility and evaluation criteria, it may be placed on a reserve list. Proposals on this list may be reconsidered for funding if other projects fail to proceed​.

Both individuals and organizations (e.g., SMEs, academic institutions) can apply. However, individual applications must meet specific requirements, and certain roles (e.g., project coordinator) are restricted to organizations due to the administrative and financial responsibilities involved​.

Funding is released in three stages, based on achieving milestones:

• Planning phase (30%): Payment after submitting and approving the detailed project plan.
• Implementation phase (40%): Payment after successful execution and a mid-term review.
• Evaluation and reporting phase (30%): Payment after the final report submission and participation in the showcase event​

A consortium is a group of partners collaborating on a project. In consortium-based applications, one partner acts as the coordinator, ensuring compliance with all legal, reporting and financial obligations. A strong consortium should include experts from different fields, ensuring a diverse skill set to meet the project’s objectives​.

The main sections of the proposal (excluding the cover page and specific sections like the ethics review) must not exceed 10 pages. The minimum font size is 11 points, and all proposals should follow the guidelines provided in the template to ensure completeness and readability.

Incomplete proposals or those submitted after the deadline (31 October 2024, 17:00 CET) will not be considered for evaluation. Proposals must meet all submission requirements, including the format, required fields and documentation.

Yes, you can submit up to two proposals. However, only one proposal will be eligible for funding if both are evaluated positively​.

After the submission deadline on 31 October 2024, proposals will be evaluated, and applicants will be notified by 30 November 2024. Selected projects will then move forward to the contract preparation and negotiation phase​.

During the project lifecycle, participants will be required to submit:

• Project Plan: A detailed plan outlining the scope of the project, timeline, and resource allocation (due after the Planning phase).
• Mid-term Progress Report: A report outlining the progress made during the Implementation phase, including challenges faced and any adjustments to the plan.
• Final Report: A comprehensive report that documents the project outcomes, technical evaluations, and the impact on privacy-preserving AI in healthcare​.

While there is no strict requirement on the number of team members, the proposal should include a well-structured and capable team with expertise aligned to the project’s goals. The consortium must demonstrate that it has the capacity to execute the proposed work​.

Participants are encouraged to communicate any significant challenges or delays to the SECURED project management. The mid-term review provides an opportunity to address challenges with the SECURED consortium and to receive technical or administrative support​.

The Declaration of Honour confirms that the applicant complies with the SECURED Open Call’s rules, including eligibility criteria, absence of conflicts of interest and commitment to fulfilling the obligations of the project. It must be signed by the legal representative of the applicant entity​.

Each project will have three key milestones that coincide with the funding stages:

• Planning Phase (1 month): Submission and approval of the detailed project plan.
• Implementation Phase (3 months): Progress review and mid-term report submission.
• Evaluation and Reporting Phase (1 month): Final report submission and participation in the final showcase​.

The budget should clearly outline the costs required for personnel, technology, and other resources necessary for the project’s completion. The breakdown must align with the project’s scope and timeline. The maximum funding per project is €26,000, with an additional €1,500 for travel expenses.

Selected participants will be required to sign a sub-grant agreement with the SECURED consortium. This agreement details the obligations, including adherence to the project timelines, reporting requirements, financial responsibilities and compliance with legal and ethical guidelines​.

The applicants will retain ownership of any intellectual property generated during the project. However, the SECURED consortium may request access to project outcomes for further development of the SECURED tools and for dissemination purposes. Participants must acknowledge SECURED and the EU in their outputs, and open-source licensing is encouraged, although not mandatory​.

Your proposal should clearly outline how SECURED technologies, such as SMPC, HE, AA, and SDG, will be integrated into your healthcare data analytics solution. This involves addressing the technical challenges your project will face and demonstrating how the SECURED services will be used to overcome these​.

GDPR compliance is essential for any project involving personal data. Participants must ensure that all personal data is processed lawfully and securely, and that proper consent and data protection measures are in place. The project must also include privacy safeguards and risk mitigation plans.

Detailed technical integration is not required at the application stage. Instead, the proposal should outline how SECURED technologies—such as Secure Multiparty Computation (SMPC), Homomorphic Encryption (HE), Anonymization (AA), and Synthetic Data Generation (SDG)—will be incorporated within your healthcare data analytics solution. Focus on the high-level technical challenges and how SECURED services will be applied to address these, rather than providing exhaustive technical specifications.

The technical information is provided only to Open Call participants, so no additional documents are publicly available for download beyond Annex 2. However, using the information in the FAQs and Annex 2, your proposal should emphasize conceptual alignment with SECURED’s privacy-preserving goals and illustrate the anticipated use of their services to address relevant challenges.

Your proposal should clearly state how SECURED technologies will be applied to overcome the technical challenges faced in your healthcare data analytics solution. Focus on the conceptual approach to privacy-preserving data handling, specifically addressing how these SECURED services will help achieve these objectives, while recognizing potential integration challenges.

Applicants may choose multiple SECURED services (e.g., both SMPC and HE) but must specify one as the primary focus of the proposal. The primary service should receive the most attention, detailing its anticipated use in alignment with your project’s goals. Secondary services can be mentioned briefly to illustrate their complementary role without requiring an in-depth technical description for each.

No, only the primary SECURED service requires a detailed focus. Secondary services can be mentioned to show how they may complement the main technology, but an exhaustive focus on each service is unnecessary.

For additional inquiries, please contact us through the following channels:

• • Email: secured-open-call@list.uva.nl
  • Website: https://secured-project.eu
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