Any citizen, organisation, institution or policymaker can submit a research topic during our annual call. Topics must be submitted through an online form, that can be consulted in Word via this link.
The call for our 2027 annual programme is now closed.
To be informed about our next calls for topic proposals, please register here
Scope
KCE’s regular studies fall into three main areas:
- the development or implementation of guidelines (Evidence-Based Practice) for the diagnosis, prevention, treatment and follow-up of diseases;
- the assessment of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of new healthcare interventions, and of organisational, legal and other considerations (Health Technology Assessment or HTA);
- the assessment of the organisation and financing of healthcare (Health Services Research or HSR).
Your proposal has to relate to one of those areas.
Non-eligible topics include:
- Studies relating to health in general. Studies on the causes, the frequency or the impact of diseases on other domains such as the labour market fall outside KCE’s remit. Our studies focus solely on healthcare.
- Topics recently studied by KCE or which are already being studied by KCE or by another public institution.
- Clinical studies like e.g. randomised controlled trials (RCTs), for which we refer you to the KCE Trials programme.
- Studies you wish to carry out yourself and for which you would like to obtain funding. KCE studies are carried out by KCE’s internal research teams, sometimes with an external partner.
Assessment criteria
The elements taken into account to assess topic proposals are:
- The relevance for healthcare policy and urgency for decision-making: can the research (help) improve healthcare policy? Are policy initiatives already ongoing or planned to address the issue, or will such initiatives need to be taken? Is there any urgency of the output of the research questions? Is there a deadline or specific timing for any policy decisions that may follow the recommendations of this study?
- Opportunities for improvement: can a KCE report help resolve the issue? What are possible barriers?
- Feasibility: can KCE provide the right answers to the submitted questions? Is there already evidence about the topic? Is data available, or can it be obtained within a reasonable timeframe?
A clear problem statement (especially context, scope and severity of the issue) is necessary to allow us to assess the proposal.
Shortlist
Each topic proposal is assessed on each of the criteria by several experts and by KCE’s management team; all assessments are then discussed by our senior experts and managers during a consensus meeting. The best proposals are shortlisted and submitted to the KCE Board for approval in October.
If a proposal is not selected for the shortlist, KCE will inform the submitter in November.
Final selection
During this next phase, KCE experts refine the shortlisted proposals and thoroughly assess their feasibility based on data from literature or other sources. If necessary, they might also contact experts outside KCE.
The senior experts and the KCE management team then discuss all proposals during another consensus meeting, and sort the proposals into three groups:
- The most relevant and important projects, which are selected for the annual programme.
- The projects that are also considered relevant and important, but have a lower priority. These will be carried out only if sufficient resources (in terms of time or staff) become available.
- The projects that are excluded because a more thorough assessment led to the conclusion they were not feasible or not opportune.
The final selection is submitted to the KCE Board for approval in December.
The submitters of these remaining projects will be informed of the final selection in January.
