Health Care
Inpatient and outpatient care, plus clinical assistance tasks.
Call for proposals · Funding year 2026/2027
NEURA Research Programme
From the Lab. Into the Real World.
Funding, platform access and application partners to take your Physical AI research to pilot readiness on MiPA, in health care, retail and hospitality.
Up to €10Mtotal funding expected for this call
Up to €500kper project, based on actual need
12–18 monthsproject duration
30 Oct 2026submission deadline, 24:00 CET
Why this programme
Many promising Physical AI approaches never reach productive use. What they lack is access to real application environments, data infrastructure and piloting partners.
The NEURA Research Programme gives selected teams exactly that: an industrial robotics platform, foundation models, data infrastructure and application partners. The goal is to take existing research results to pilot readiness, and to pool research forces across Germany and Europe on one platform.
Objective 1 · Use cases and skills
Three Segments.
Real Application Partners.
Transfer your technology into the segments where NEURA already has access to application partners. Basic skills like grasping specific objects, complex skills like opening doors, or the integration of existing skills into MiPA all qualify.
Retail
Product availability, shelf replenishment and customer interaction in brick-and-mortar stores.
Hospitality
Service and guest interaction in hotels and restaurants.
Objective 2 · Use-case-independent capabilities
Address Capabilities That Decide
Real-World Readiness
These dimensions form the technical evaluation framework for every proposal. A clear, substantial contribution to a single dimension is enough. Your proposal can address one objective or both.
Time-to-Skill
Learn new skills from a few demonstrations instead of extensive training datasets.
Transfer Learning
Carry learned skills over to new configurations, objects and deployment environments.
Dexterous Manipulation
Handle previously unknown objects and tasks with fine-motor precision.
Human Interaction
Clarify ambiguous or incomplete instructions, and still carry them out reliably.
Long-Term Autonomy
Operate independently and resist disruption over extended periods without constant supervision.
Execution Speed
Run learned capabilities fast enough for productive, economic use.
What selected projects get
Platform. Test Environment.
Toolchain.
Three NEURA contributions for the development, training and piloting of your
capabilities.
Each one is described in detail in the annexes of the call.
Required · Annex 1
MiPA Platform
Mobile dual-arm service robot with an open software API. The hardware and software basis for developing, integrating and testing your capability. Provided under a monthly leasing model.
Annex 2
NEURA Gym Services
Real-world test environment to integrate, train and evaluate capabilities on the target system. Collect data remotely with MiPA and feed it into the NEURA Gym data pipelines.
Annex 3
Neuraverse
Simulation and exchange platform: digital twin, integrated data recorder, training and qualification, plus a marketplace to publish your own skills and models.
MiPA Research at a glance
2 × 7-DoFlightweight arms
3.0 kgpayload per arm
1 kHzlow-level control
NVIDIA Jetson Thoronboard compute
ROS 2 + Python SDKtwo control levels
Isaac Sim + Gazebosimulation models included
Good to know: the costs of NEURA's contributions, in particular the MiPA leasing rate and NEURA Gym Services, are covered from the granted funding and must be included in your work and cost plan. Full details in the call.
Eligibility
Who Can Apply.
What Your Project Needs.
Eligible applicants
- Universities and higher education institutions
- Publicly funded research institutes
- Startups
- Established in Germany, another EU Member State, the United Kingdom or Switzerland
- Joint projects and associated application partners are welcome, and viewed favourably in the evaluation
Project requirements
- Implemented on the NEURA platform MiPA
- Clear focus on at least one segment: Health Care, Retail or Hospitality
- A realistic path to TRL 6–7 within the funding period, enabling a pilot with an application partner
- No minimum TRL at application. Early-stage research is eligible
- Not eligible: basic research without a concrete application and piloting focus
Selection criteria
How Proposals Are Evaluated
The NEURA Research Board assesses every proposal against four main criteria.
Degree of Innovation
Novelty and differentiation of your technology or training method compared to the state of the art.
Physical AI Capabilities
A substantial contribution to at least one segment and one or more capability dimensions.
Technology Readiness
Maturity at project start, plus a specific and plausible development path to TRL 6–7.
Piloting Track Record
Demonstrated experience piloting robotic systems in real-world application environments.
How to apply
Apply in Three Steps
Download the call
Read the full call for proposals and the three technical annexes on MiPA, NEURA Gym and Neuraverse.
Prepare your proposal
Max. six pages in English or German, plus CVs and letters of intent. Include a work and cost plan: up to €500,000 over 12–18 months.
Submit by 30 October
Send your proposal as a single PDF to [email protected] before 24:00 CET.
Key dates
30 Oct 2026Submission deadline, 24:00 CET
By 20 Nov 2026Review and selection by the NEURA Research Board
From 1 Dec 2026Start of the first funded projects
Project start is subject to a separate cooperation agreement with NEURA.
Stay in the loop
Get a deadline reminder and news about the NEURA Research Programme.
Questions About the Call
More questions? Write to the Programme Office
[email protected]
Who can apply?
Universities, higher education institutions, publicly funded research institutes and startups established in Germany, another EU Member State, the United Kingdom or Switzerland.
Do we need to buy a MiPA?
No. MiPA is provided under a monthly leasing model. The leasing rate is paid from the granted funding and is set out in Annex 1 of the call.
Is there a minimum TRL to apply?
No. Early-stage research is eligible. What counts is a credible path to TRL 6–7 within the funding period.
Can we apply as a consortium?
Yes. Joint projects with several eligible institutions, and cooperations with application partners from the target segments, are welcome and viewed favourably.
What must the proposal include?
Max. six pages in English or German, plus CVs and letters of intent. The call lists all required elements, including the work and cost plan.
Is my proposal treated confidentially?
Proposals are handled with due care and only shared with people involved in the evaluation. Do not include information you consider confidential. NEURA assumes no confidentiality obligation.
Submit Your Proposal
Proposals close on 30 October 2026, 24:00 CET.
Download the call and start your proposal today.