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Call key data
New ways of reducing serious injuries and the long-term consequences of road crashes
Call number
HORIZON-CL5-2023-D6-01-12
deadlines
Opening
04.05.2023
Deadline
05.09.2023 17:00
Funding rate
100%
Call budget
€ 8,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
€ 4,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
Projects are expected to conduct research to establish a relevant system for classification of long-term or permanent disability that can be used for the development and design of future protective solutions as well as policies and requirements.
Call objectives
In addition to fatal and near-fatal injuries, personal injuries with long-term consequences continue to pose a threat to personal mobility. Particularly pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcycle riders, as well as users of new mobility devices, have a high risk to sustain personal injuries with long-term outcomes, such as brain and neck injuries. In cars, despite new collision mitigation systems, low and medium severity collisions may still cause similar permanent neurological disorders to occupants. Long-term injuries to both the upper and lower extremities are further examples, occurring among all road user types. As of today, neither any standardized nor any accepted method exists for the evaluation of solutions to reduce long-term outcomes. In addition, there is a need to include more aspects of human variability like age, sex, weight, and stature, with particular focus on long-term disability.
Several research areas, also social sciences, are required for the sake of understanding and reducing the long-term consequences fully. Cognitive capabilities could for example be impaired by physical head trauma, and there is at the same time a need for more knowledge of psychiatric impairment related to posttraumatic stress or reduced quality of life. In other words, cognitive issues and depression have to be fully recognized as potential long-term consequences of road crashes.
More research is needed to establish a relevant system for classification of long-term or permanent disability that can be used for the development and design of future protective solutions as well as policies and requirements. There is a strong need for refined knowledge of the relations between initial injury and long-term consequences of personal injury, which will demand new in-depth crash data for the reconstruction of collisions combined with long-term injury follow-up. New models for measuring long-term consequences will need a lot of real-world data to become validated. In-depth analysis of data from hospitalized patients will in this perspective also continue to be needed as well as efficient means to follow up on psychiatric impairment measurable. Hence, new efforts in accident research are required, as well as the most related social sciences (economics and psychology), further to research in biomechanics, vehicle crashworthiness, and other aspects of crash dynamics. New technologies open possibilities for gathering new types of data with higher levels of detail.
Virtual testing tools are crucial for new more efficient evaluation methods, and accordingly further development of human body models (HBM) is particularly important. The effectiveness of new systems should for instance be assessed in a wide range of crash load cases, which the current test dummies cannot support, and another possibility with the use of virtual HBM will be to evaluate integrated and adaptive safety at a significantly higher level of detail. The potential of HBM to be usable for the evaluation of long-term injuries in product development is strong and will be supported by further multidisciplinary research. Research is also needed to assess any limitations in this respect and, if applicable, examine how best to complement HBM with Anthropomorphic Test Devices and physical tools.
Virtual methods with HBM should not only be developed further for passenger car safety, but for the purpose of assessing personal protection equipment, forgiving road infrastructure (including road surfaces), and the protection of motorcycle, moped and bicycle riders, as well as pedestrians and users of new micro-mobility devices against long-term injuries. Virtual HBM need to reflect human variability, and there is a particular need to focus attention on children in all different road user roles, e.g. preteens in passenger vehicles who normally are not seated in child seats, yet often too small to be fully protected by current vehicle integrated safety systems.
New and upgraded vehicle interiors (including non-conventional seating and new interior features) of highly automated passenger cars, shuttle buses (including minibuses), and other driverless passenger vehicles, will play an important role in the efforts to raise the road safety level further regarding passenger vehicles. Persons who are standing, for instance passengers in public transport, should also be included. Market drivers (e.g. increased automation, comfort, and infotainment) will be reinforced with safety-intended development strategies when supported by relevant research and policies regarding long-term consequences.
Research within this field is expected to recommend upgrades to concerned policies, regulatory requirements, and standards. For this reason, international cooperation is recommended.
Findings, knowledge, and experience are encouraged to be shared with other fields, such as certain sport, recreation, and work activities, as well as with other transport modes, which may have similar issues regarding personal injuries with long-term consequences as road traffic, although a different incidence.
Actions should take into account the results of previous EU research projects in that domain (e.g. Seniors, VIRTUAL, SafetyCube).
Integration of relevant expertise from social sciences and humanities (SSH) and international cooperation with partners from the US and/or Australia is encouraged.
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Expected results
Research results are expected to contribute to all the following outcomes:
- Validated mechanisms of personal injuries leading to significant long-term consequences, for all road users (pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycle riders, car and bus drivers and occupants, etc.).
- Established system for classification of long-term injuries, including methods for follow-up of personal injuries for the required time after a crash.
- Validated tools and methods for the assessment of injuries leading to long-term consequences, such as upgraded virtual human body models.
- Preconditions to develop policy, regulatory, and standard requirements for the purpose of reducing serious injuries, in particular those with long-term consequences.
- A general upgrade in protection for all road users through safe and robust countermeasures and solutions.
Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan), Belarus (Беларусь), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), Morocco (المغرب), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom
eligible entities
EU Body, Education and training institution, International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
- third countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries
Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:
- at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
- at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.
Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
Specific cases:
- Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
- Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
- Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
- EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
- Joint Research Centre (‘JRC’)— Where provided for in the specific call conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.
- Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible.
other eligibility criteria
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 5-6 by the end of the project.
For the Technology Readiness Level (TRL), the following definitions apply:
- TRL 1 — Basic principles observed
- TRL 2 — Technology concept formulated
- TRL 3 — Experimental proof of concept
- TRL 4 — Technology validated in a lab
- TRL 5 — Technology validated in a relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies)
- TRL 6 — Technology demonstrated in a relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies)
- TRL 7 — System prototype demonstration in an operational environment
- TRL 8 — System complete and qualified
- TRL 9 — Actual system proven in an operational environment (competitive manufacturing in the case of key enabling technologies, or in space)
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
Additional Information
All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc.
The application form will have two parts:
- Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
- Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.
Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).
The limit for a full application (Part B) is 45 pages.
Call documents
HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 5, Destination 6HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 5, Destination 6(747kB)
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