As part of EU research and innovation framework program Horizon Europe/EURATOM, the European research partnership PIANOFORTE aims to improve knowledge and promote innovation in the field of radiation protection on behalf of better protection of the public, patients, workers and the environment in all scenarios of exposure to ionizing radiation.

At the Annual General Meeting held online mid-January 2023, IRSN and its partners approved the research priorities for this first call for proposals. Coordinated by IRSN, the PIANOFORTE partnership brings together 58 partners representing 22 countries of the European Union as well as the United Kingdom and Norway. It mobilizes public partners but also the six European radiation protection research platforms. With a view to contributing to priority European policies such as the Europe Beating Cancer Plan or the Green Deal for Growth, the PIANOFORTE partnership promotes multidisciplinary research and innovation activities in a collaborative approach bringing together scientists, authorities and all stakeholders, including civil society. Research projects with a focus on clearly identified priorities will be selected through calls for proposals to be organized between 2023 and 2025.

At the Annual General Meeting in mid-January 2023, the partners selected three topics for the first call for proposals: the development of a knowledge base for a better understanding of the disease pathogenesis of ionizing radiation-induced cancer; individualized diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for optimization of benefit-risk ratios and the development of risk assessment and risk management approaches and technological capabilities to cope with scenarios arising from threats due to war or armed conflict situations or natural disasters. This call for proposals will be launched accordingly in the first half of 2023, with subsequent ones to follow.