The first SWEETER call for proposals has been launched. To strengthen the involvement of representatives from practical fields, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy has made several adjustments for this call. Among the most important changes are:
- The expected impact of a consortium on driving economic and societal change is now planned using an impact model, specifically designed to engage partners from practical fields.
- Companies and other non-academic organisations are now eligible to lead SWEETER consortia and are strongly encouraged to take on this role.
- Consortia invited to prepare full proposals will receive dedicated financial support of CHF 25’000, once the full proposal is submitted.
The guiding theme of the call is “Energy- and resource-efficient industrial processes”. Industrial processes present a challenge to achieving the goals of the Energy Strategy 2050 and the Long-Term Climate Strategy. Industrial process heat is particularly important here, as it accounts for more than 55% of the industrial sector’s total final energy consumption. Furthermore, almost 50% of this heat is still generated from fossil fuels, contributing approximately for 15% of national CO2 emissions. A key challenge lies in the high temperature requirements: in around 70% of industrial processes, these are 150°C or above. Currently, there are only limited mature alternatives to fossil fuels capable of achieving these temperatures.
These challenges are addressed in the first of two research challenges: The first focuses on how high-temperature processes as well as other industrial processes that lack viable commercial solutions and still require research and innovation can be optimised and transitioned away from fossil energy carriers.
The second addresses the reuse, repurpose, remanufacturing and recycling of components that are expected to play an important role in the future energy system, such as photovoltaic modules, batteries, heat pumps and electrolysers. It takes their importance into account and aims to use materials as efficiently as possible, recover valuable substances and reduce environmental impact.
Consortia may submit the pre-proposal until 30 June 2026, provided that their intent to apply for this call is communicated to the SWEET Office by 12 May 2026. The two consortia with the highest-rated pre-proposals will be invited to prepare a full proposal and will receive financial support for this. Ultimately, at most one consortium will be selected for funding. The budget for the call for proposals, amounting to just under CHF 12 million, will be allocated for two three-year periods with an intermediate evaluation.
The “Call Guideline” with all the associated documents is available for download under “Documents”.
