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Résumé of the National Research Programme «Energy»

This résumé of the National Research Programme “Energy” outlines the results from the total of 103 research projects and four complementary studies, as well as the six thematic syntheses and four joint syntheses, conducted under the programme. On the basis of these findings, it goes on to draw conclusions and make recommendations.

Products of the programmes

Portrait

Against the backdrop of the «Energy Strategy 2050», in 2012 the Federal Council launched two National Research Programmes focusing on issues relating to energy. Whereas NRP 70 deals with technological issues while taking socioeconomic aspects into account, NRP 71 focuses specifically on socioeconomic and regulatory aspects of the process of transforming the energy system.

Because society and technology are closely intertwined, strictly technological solutions can only be appropriately applied if the relevant scientific aspects of the social, economic and political environment are integrated into the development and application of the selected technology, and vice versa: it will not be possible to master the technological challenges of «Energy Strategy 2050» with new business models or legislative reforms on their own. For this reason, the two National Research Programmes worked closely together and jointly publish their findings on the «NRP Energy» portal.

NRP 70 had a budget of CHF 37 million and NRP 71 had a budget of CHF 8 million.

Two programmes, one strategic direction

In 2013, the SNSF received over 350 pre-proposals. In a two-stage international evaluation process, 15 joint projects with 62 sub-projects and 7 individual projects were selected for NRP 70, and 19 individual projects for NRP 71. The main evaluation criteria were the expected contribution to the energy strategy 2050 and the scientific quality.

In addition to the overall 103 research projects, four complementary studies were incorporated in the course of the programmes. They provide practical findings that close thematic gaps in the two NRPs.

Programme sequence

Organisation

NRP 70 Steering Committee
  • Prof. em. Dr. Hans-Rudolf Schalcher, ETH Zurich (President)
  • Prof. em. Dr. Göran Andersson, ETH Zurich
  • Prof. em. Dr. René L. Flükiger, Département de Physique de la Matière Condensée (DPMC), University of Geneva
  • Prof. em. Dr. Beat Hotz-Hart, University of Zurich (member of the Steering Committee of NRP 71 who will attend meetings of the Steering Committee of NRP 70)
  • Dr. Tony Kaiser, E-Consulting, Bülach
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Kleiner, Institut für Umformtechnik und Leichtbau (IUL), University of Dortmund
  • Prof. em. Dr. Martha Lux-Steiner, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin/Freie Universität
  • Prof. Dr. Dimos Poulikakos, Director, LTNT-Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies, ETH Zurich (until 30 April 2019)
  • Dr. Jan van der Eijk, Technology and Business Innovation Consultant, Dordrecht
NRP 71 Steering Committee
  • Prof. Dr. Andreas Balthasar, Politikwissenschaftliches Seminar, Universität Luzern (President)
  • Dr. Konrad Götz, Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE), Frankfurt/Main
  • Prof. em. Dr. Beat Hotz-Hart, University of Zurich
  • Prof. Dr. Miranda Schreurs, Hochschule für Politik München (HfP), Technische Universität München
  • Prof. Dr. Petra Schweizer-Ries, Prof. of Sustainability Science, Bochum University of Applied Sciences and adj. Prof. of Environmental Psychology, Universität des Saarlandes
  • Prof. Dr. Frédéric Varone, Département de science politique et relations internationales, Université de Genève (from 1 January 2017)
  • Prof. Dr. Hannelore Weck-Hannemann, Professur für Politische Ökonomie, Institut für Finanzwissenschaft, Universität Innsbruck
Delegates of the National Research Council

NRP 70

  • Prof. Dr. Peter Chen, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry (LOC), (LOC), ETH Zurich (until 31 January 2015)
  • Prof. Dr. Dimos Poulikakos, Director, LTNT-Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies, ETH Zurich, ETH Zurich (from 1 May 2019)
  • Prof. Dr. Frank Scheffold, Departement für Physik, Universität Freiburg (1 February 2015 until 30 April 2019)

NRP 71

  • Prof. Dr. Claudia R. Binder, Laboratory for Human-Environmental Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS), EPF Lausanne (from 1 January 2017)
  • Prof. Dr. Frédéric Varone, Département de science politique et relations internationales, Université de Genève (until 31 December 2016)
Representatives of the Confederation

NRP 70

  • Dr. Sebastian Friess, Leiter Innovationspolitik, Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation (SBFI), Bern (until 30 April 2017)
  • Dr. Rolf Schmitz, Head of Energy Research Section, Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), Bern

NRP 71

  • Dr. Matthias Gysler, Deputy Head of Energy Economy Division, Head of Market Regulation, Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), Bern
Programme Manager
  • Dr. Stefan Husi, Swiss National Science Foundation, Bern
Team for Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT)
  • Dr. Andrea Leu (team leader), Senarclens, Leu + Partner AG, Zurich
  • Theres Paulsen, Network for transdisciplinary research td-net, Swiss academies for arts and sciences, Bern (until 31 December 2016)
  • Daniel Schaller, Planair AG, La Sagne (TCT Antenne Romande / from 1 January 2018)
  • Dr. Oliver Wimmer, CR Kommunikation AG, Zurich