SWEET — SWiss Energy research for the Energy Transition

SWEETER Call 1 — Industrial Processes

Funds two Swiss SWEETER challenge themes for high-temperature industry transitions and reuse of energy system components through consortium projects.

SWEETER Call 1-2026 is a competitive call issued by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE/BFE) under its SWEET (SWiss Energy research for the Energy Transition) programme, which funds solution-oriented research aligned with Switzerland's Energy Strategy 2050. The call targets two industrial-process research challenges: optimising high-temperature industrial processes and transitioning them away from fossil fuels, and improving the reuse, repurposing, remanufacturing, and recycling of energy system components. The entire CHF 12 million budget funds a single winning multi-partner consortium, not a portfolio of smaller awards.

The call has a two-stage structure. The intent-to-apply deadline was May 12, 2026; the pre-proposal submission deadline is June 30, 2026. The top two ranked pre-proposals advance to a full-proposal stage, and each receives CHF 25,000 in dedicated preparation support. The winning consortium is funded across two consecutive three-year phases totalling six years, with a mandatory intermediate evaluation gate between phases. Consortia of multiple partners are required — single-organisation submissions are not accepted. A structural policy change from earlier SWEET calls makes companies and non-academic organisations not only eligible to lead the consortium but strongly encouraged to do so by BFE. Academic institutions may also lead. All applicants must be based in Switzerland.

Evaluation focuses on scientific and technical merit, solution orientation, stakeholder diversity within the consortium, and alignment with the two stated research challenges. Organisations working on industrial decarbonisation, heat process optimisation, or circular economy approaches to energy hardware — particularly those capable of leading cross-sector partnerships — are the intended applicants. The SWEETER instrument complements the SWEET programme's broader portfolio, which includes the SWEET and SWEETREC instruments targeting other parts of the energy transition.