Mobility

The mobility research programme is based on the Energy Strategy 2050 and the federal council’s climate targets. The defossilisation of the transport sector – the largest CO2 emitter in Switzerland – is one of the major challenges. In the mobility research programme, approaches to reducing energy consumption and emissions overall are examined, be it by avoiding traffic in general, switching to environmentally friendly means of transport or through technical improvements. The focus is on analyses and perspectives of the transport system and new mobility concepts, which are significantly influenced by digitization, new drive technologies and energy sources, societal change, new forms of working and the “shared economy”.

Research prorities 2025–2028

Energy supply, conversion

Optimal use/integration of renewable energy sources
Flexible and efficient system integration of mobility
Charging infrastructure, bidirectional charging, use of flexibility and storage
Requirements for grid expansion – grid convergence
Sustainability of raw materials and resources for mobility, circular economy
Increased efficiency of the drive and the energy distribution/storage
Increased efficiency of auxiliary units and other components, aerodynamics and weight reduction
Sustainable, biogenic and synthetic fuels: production, use

Mobility system: concepts, analyses

Influence of new technologies and offerings on the overall system
Modeling/optimization of the overall system, taking into account the availability of various energy sources and other recources
Increasing the attractiveness of sustainaible means of transport: active mobility and public transport, and prioritizing them in spatial planning
Efficient logistics: new concepts, intermodal and multimodal freight transport
Holistic and comprehensive assessment of the transportation system, as well as various transport and energy sources, both techno-economically and in terms of sustainability and social acceptance

People, market and politics

Understanding individual mobility needs, mobility behavior and choice of transport tools
Interaction with changing mobility options and expansion of infrastructure (rebound effects)

Application procedure

National research funding is based on thematic calls for proposals (see “Documents” below). Moreover, applications for financial support can be submitted at any time, provided they are not thematically covered by the current call. Potential applicants should contact the head of the programme in advance.

Projects primarily focused on a specific technical component of the drive system or the supply or storage of energy may be better suited for the corresponding research programmes (bioenergy, fuel cells, electricity technologies, combustion-based energy systems, hydrogen).