Solutions for a Sustainable Planet
Submission deadline 9 October 2026 (17:00 CEST).
Please note the modification to the eligibility criteria for the Proposal Development Projects, which are marked in red below and in the guidelines.
Solutions for a Sustainable Planet
The call welcomes interdisciplinary projects developing practical solutions to major sustainability challenges. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, pathways to net zero; pollution prevention and remediation; sustainable materials, data, AI and built environments; and the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems. Innovative approaches addressing other emerging sustainability priorities, with the potential for scalable environmental, societal or economic impact, are equally encouraged.
Successful proposals should:
- address a strategic challenge or pursue a strategic opportunity with the potential for significant institutional impact;
- bring together expertise from multiple Schools, Institutes, Centers and/or Vice Presidencies, with interdisciplinarity at the heart of the initiative;
- establish capabilities, platforms, or collaborations that will endure beyond the initial 12 to 24-month funding period;
What
The Strategic Initiative Solutions for a Sustainable Planet will support two categories of projects:
- Research projects: Launching a new strategic project or scaling up, expanding or maturing an already running project
- Duration: 12 to 24 months
- Expected funding: CHF 500 -1000k per project.
- Proposal Development projects: Project planning, grant writing, and consortium building for applying to large-scale EU funding and/or private donor funding.
- Maximum project duration: 12 months.
- Expected funding: CHF 200-400k per project.
Who can apply
- The call for proposals is open to the EPFL community as follows:
- Projects must be hosted by an EPFL laboratory.
- Each proposal must designate a main applicant responsible for the scientific and financial management of the project.
- The main applicant as well as co-applicants must be EPFL faculty members (Prof. tit., MER, PATT, PA or PO).
- EPFL Heads of relevant units or Centers are also eligible to apply.
- The main applicant and co-applicants, forming a consortium, must be employed by EPFL for the entire duration of the project.
- The number of proposals submitted as main applicant / co-applicants is restricted to 1 Research project maximum and 1 Proposal Development project maximum.
- For Research Projects, proposals should be submitted by consortia of multiple labs (min. 4), involving at least two Schools/College.
- For Proposal Development projects proposals should be submitted by consortia consisting of only 2 labs, involving ideally 2 Schools/College.
- Projects are encouraged to involve third parties but only EPFL will be funded.
Funding
Eligible direct costs include and are limited to the following:
- Personnel costs: Salaries and social charges for staff directly involved in the project, including doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and other employees (e.g. technical assistants).
- Project specific equipment and materials required for the project.
- Research expenses (including VAT): This includes consumables, direct costs of infrastructure use, open research data costs, open access publication fees, subcontracting expenses as well as travel, conference, and workshop costs directly related to the project.
How to apply
Please explore the Application toolkit and read carefully the application guidelines.
All required documents must be submitted on the online submission platform.
All documents must be submitted in English.
Deadline
The submission deadline for the proposal is on 9 October 2026 (17:00 CEST).
Evaluation
Applications that meet the formal requirements and that are within the scope of the call will be reviewed by external experts for excellence, implementation and impact, and then evaluated for strategic value and potential for fundraising by an internal evaluation panel.