Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) | SWEET (SWiss Energy research for the Energy Transition) Call 1-2024
Event details
| Date | 16.04.2024 › 03.07.2024 |
| Hour | › 12:00 |
| Category | Call for proposal |
| Event Language | English |
SWEET (SWiss Energy research for the Energy Transition) is a funding programme of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). The purpose is to fund interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and innovation activities with a focus on Switzerland’s energy strategy 2050 and the country’s climate policy goals. The programme targets solution-oriented research and innovation in the natural sciences and engineering as well as in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) in the domains of energy efficiency, renewable energy production and consumption, storage, networks, society and energy, and security and safety of critical energy infrastructures.
The guiding theme for the 1st call 2024 is Addressing Hard-To-Abate Emissions to Reach the Net-Zero Target of Switzerland.
The research questions centre on:
1. It is led by 1 Swiss host institution.
2. It consists of at least 5 applicants from different legal entities.
3. It consists of at least:
a. 1 member institution from Swiss universities or institutes of the ETH domain (ETH Zurich, EPF Lausanne, Empa, Eawag, PSI and WSL),
b. 1 member institution from Swiss universities of applied sciences,
c. 2 member institutions from Swiss industry/private sector.
In addition, a consortium should:
1. Consist of applicants and cooperation partners that span the innovation system and thereby enable an interdisciplinary or a transdisciplinary approach commensurate with the research challenge.
2. Consist of applicants and cooperation partners that deliver complementary and significant contributions to the consortium’s work programme and receive an adequate share of the potential financial award.
3. Be gender-balanced and reflect Switzerland’s diversity in terms of languages and regions.
Federal departments and their administrative units are prohibited from receiving SWEET funding. As a result, employees of federal departments and their administrative units may not participate in SWEET consortia.
Eligible costs:
1) INTERNAL COSTS: Internal costs are personnel costs. The maximum contribution of SWEET funding to internal costs must follow specified hourly rates. VAT cannot be included.
2) EXTERNAL COSTS: Equipment (devices & consumables), External services (subcontracts), expenses (travel, conference, gold open-access, licenses, etc.). The maximum contribution of SWEET funding to equipment purchases must correspond to the actual use of the equipment in SWEET projects. The remainder can be declared as own contribution. VAT can be included.
!Overhead, depreciation and interest on capital costs CANNOT be covered by SWEET funding!
To ensure that the overall funding is sufficient for the work programme of the consortium, members and collaboration partners supplement the requested SWEET funding, each according to its abilities, with own and third-party contributions.
Submission and deadline:
SWEET Call 1-2024 is being organized as a two-step process:
The guiding theme for the 1st call 2024 is Addressing Hard-To-Abate Emissions to Reach the Net-Zero Target of Switzerland.
The research questions centre on:
- How can alternative societal, economic, and technical measures reduce the hard-to-abate emissions and thereby lower the contributions of CCS and CDR that are currently foreseen to reach the Swiss net-zero target?
- What are robust pathways for building and operating a Swiss carbon capture, use, and transport, storage (CCUTS) infrastructure?
- How can the sustainable potential of Swiss biomass best contribute to the net-zero target as a substitute for GHG-intensive materials, a source of renewable energy, and a source of negative emissions?
- How will your consortium make a concrete contribution to the targeted scaling phase between 2030 and 2050 through the further development of existing and novel processes and concepts along the entire CCS and CDR value chain (capture, transport, use, and storage) by increasing their efficiency, reducing their costs, reducing their environmental impacts, and addressing their public perception and social acceptance?
1. It is led by 1 Swiss host institution.
2. It consists of at least 5 applicants from different legal entities.
3. It consists of at least:
a. 1 member institution from Swiss universities or institutes of the ETH domain (ETH Zurich, EPF Lausanne, Empa, Eawag, PSI and WSL),
b. 1 member institution from Swiss universities of applied sciences,
c. 2 member institutions from Swiss industry/private sector.
In addition, a consortium should:
1. Consist of applicants and cooperation partners that span the innovation system and thereby enable an interdisciplinary or a transdisciplinary approach commensurate with the research challenge.
2. Consist of applicants and cooperation partners that deliver complementary and significant contributions to the consortium’s work programme and receive an adequate share of the potential financial award.
3. Be gender-balanced and reflect Switzerland’s diversity in terms of languages and regions.
Federal departments and their administrative units are prohibited from receiving SWEET funding. As a result, employees of federal departments and their administrative units may not participate in SWEET consortia.
Eligible costs:
1) INTERNAL COSTS: Internal costs are personnel costs. The maximum contribution of SWEET funding to internal costs must follow specified hourly rates. VAT cannot be included.
2) EXTERNAL COSTS: Equipment (devices & consumables), External services (subcontracts), expenses (travel, conference, gold open-access, licenses, etc.). The maximum contribution of SWEET funding to equipment purchases must correspond to the actual use of the equipment in SWEET projects. The remainder can be declared as own contribution. VAT can be included.
!Overhead, depreciation and interest on capital costs CANNOT be covered by SWEET funding!
To ensure that the overall funding is sufficient for the work programme of the consortium, members and collaboration partners supplement the requested SWEET funding, each according to its abilities, with own and third-party contributions.
Submission and deadline:
SWEET Call 1-2024 is being organized as a two-step process:
- All interested consortia should submit a pre-proposal no later than 3 July 2024 (no later than at 12:00 noon CEST). Consortia that intend to submit a pre-proposal must inform the SFOE by sending a notification of intent to submit to [email protected] no later than 8 May 2024. The notification must be prepared in English using the templateby SFOE. Please contact the EPFL Research Office in parallel. Letters of Interest of Applicants or Cooperation Partners, as well as a Letter of Commitment of the Host Institution are requested by SFOE: please contact the EPFL Research Office at [email protected] before 14 June 2024.
- A short-list of the highest-ranking consortia will be invited to submit full proposals in October 2024 with a submission deadline in February 2025.
Practical information
- General public
- Free