The PERIFORMANCE consortium is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of the “Open Call for Bottom-Up Stakeholder Engagement in Cancer Research & Care Initiatives”, a key milestone of the project, which aims to support innovative and pioneering “engagement strategies” in the context of cancer research, cancer care, and cancer survivor support networks.
Why this call matters
PERIFORMANCE promotes active and meaningful public engagement to strengthen the impact, ethics, and equity of the EU Cancer Mission. The project seeks to ensure that scientific progress and technological innovations in cancer are aligned with societal values, fairness, and public trust — particularly in relation to cancer research outcomes, advanced technologies and research infrastructures – including the EU AI Act and the European Health Data Space (EHDS). In this sense, PERIFORMANCE explores how these developments shape cancer research and care, ensuring that knowledge and technological advancement are accompanied by transparency, equity, accountability, access and citizen involvement, across all communities.
For this, moving beyond traditional models of science communication, PERIFORMANCE focuses on engagement with multiple stakeholders, such as patients/research participants, research and healthcare professionals, industry, and policymakers, in innovative ways, including not only key actors in the cancer research ecosystem, but also those traditionally excluded.
The overarching goal is to ensure that new scientific advances and technological innovations to fight cancer are scalable, sustainable, and adapted to regional needs, reflecting Europe’s diversity. This means considering the structures, strengths, and vulnerabilities of different local and regional ecosystems to foster more equitable and impactful engagement practices across European cancer research and care landscape.
Scope of the Open Call
Through this call, PERIFORMANCE seeks proposals for the design and implementation of local or regional bottom-up engagement activities across Europe. Particular attention will be given to initiatives contributing to:
- Meaningful stakeholder engagement and co-creation in cancer research and care ecosystems
- Deep and reflexive participation models, involving new and diverse actors, with special focus on improved participation of vulnerable and underrepresented groups
- Greater awareness of the societal value of biobanks in cancer research
- Enhanced societal trust, transparency, and public understanding of AI and health data use and EHDS-enabled research
- Strengthened governance, ethics, and citizen involvement in health data governance and data sharing practices
- Patient empowerment and participation
Selected initiatives will implement context-sensitive engagement exercises tailored to local needs, while contributing to broader European objectives.
Strategic Objectives
Work Package 4 (WP4), in which this call is organised, plays a central role in operationalising and validating the project’s core components. This Open Call represents a major step in translating PERIFORMANCE’s conceptual framework into real-world implementation. This Open Call supports high-impact, collaborative ideas aligned with PERIFORMANCE’s scientific and societal goals:
- Enhancing stakeholder engagement practices
Deepen understanding of the complexity of cancer research ecosystems and ensure innovation aligns with societal needs and values. - Assessing emerging technologies and regulatory frameworks
Analyse how innovations — including those under the EU AI Act and EHDS — affect cancer prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, and equitable access to care. - Promoting locally grounded innovation
Develop and apply improved engagement models integrating ethical and social analysis, particularly within the context of AI and European Health Data Spaces.
Further details regarding eligibility criteria, scope, timeline, and application procedures will be published soon.
Apply and become part of a growing European community working to advance ethical, inclusive, and socially robust innovation in cancer research and care.
