CET Partnership Joint Call 2026 (planned)

Transnational cooperative R&D projects in the areas of Industrial Research or Experimental Development are eligible for funding.
This call is conducted transnationally and organized as a two-stage procedure. In the first stage, pre-proposals must be submitted. This step is mandatory. If the evaluation of the pre-proposal is successful, applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal. 

IMPORTANT: In addition to the transnational application process, Austrian partners are also required to submit a national application via the FFG eCall system.
The transnational pre-proposal must be submitted by October 8, 2026, 2:00 p.m. via the transnational submission system, and the additionally required national pre-proposal by October 12, 2026, 12:00 p.m. in the eCall. 

The Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP) organizes its individual call focuses (Call Modules) into seven Transition Initiatives (TRIs), which share common goals. Austrian applicants can address all ten call modules across all TRIs in this call:

• CM2026-01 Integrated energy system resilience in a changing environment 
• CM2026-02 Energy system flexibility in a high renewable energy sources (RES) scenario: energy generation, storage and system 
• CM2026-03A Advanced renewable energy (RE) technologies for power production (ROA) 
• CM2026-03B Advanced renewable energy (RE) technologies for power production (IOA) 
• CM2026-04 Industrial carbon management
  Note! Content restriction for Austrian project partners: Applications involving Austria must comply with legal framework conditions regarding the total volume for geological carbon dioxide storage. Only technically unavoidable residual emissions reduced to a technical minimum can be compensated by technical sinks in CCUS projects. 
• CM2026-05 Hydrogen and renewable fuels
  Note! Content restriction for Austrian project partners: Only climate-neutral hydrogen as defined in the Austrian Hydrogen Strategy may be used. Austrian project partners must demonstrate a connection to mobility applications (development and use of hydrogen and fuel cells). According to the Austrian national hydrogen strategy, submissions must address applications in the transport sector where electrification is difficult to achieve (e.g., aviation, heavy road and rail vehicles, shipping). Please provide a corresponding statement in the first stage via eCall (additional attachments). 
• CM2026-06 Stationary battery technologies and systems for climate-neutral industry and built environment 
• CM2026-07 Heating and cooling technologies 
• CM2026-08 Integrated regional energy systems 
• CM2026-09 Integrated industrial energy systems 
• CM2026-10 Clean energy integration in the built environment

Further information on the individual call modules can be found in the transnational call text.
Additionally, the individual TRI managers provide advice on their respective call modules. Their contact information is listed directly in the call text under "Contact".
Please note, however, that not all call modules are eligible for funding in every country. Detailed information is available in the transnational call text and in the filterable overview.

Actors from around 30 countries are invited to submit their projects through a two-stage procedure.
From the Austrian side, Austrian companies, research and knowledge dissemination institutions, municipalities, and other legally independent entities can be funded in this transnational call.
The economic performance, including creditworthiness and liquidity, of companies is reviewed by FFG internal experts. Undertakings in difficulty are not eligible for funding.
The transnational matchmaking platform supports you in finding projects, existing consortia, and project partners.

Depending on the type and size of the organization as well as the requested research category, funding ranges between 35% and 85% of the project costs. Further information can be found in the instruments and cost guidelines (see download center).
The maximum funding for Austrian participants in a cooperative R&D project is EUR 2,000,000, and the minimum funding is EUR 100,000 in total.
For the call module CM2026-05, EUR 2 million is available, while EUR 6 million is available for the other call modules.
The funds are provided by the Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI). Additionally, a budget from the European Commission within the European Partnership may be available for successful Austrian applicants. However, the allocation of this budget among the participating countries will only be determined after the project selection process is completed.

Submitted projects must comply with the cooperation requirements and conditions of the respective instrument guidelines (see download center) as well as those of the transnational call. Among others, the national criteria include the following conditions: 

• In cooperative R&D projects, the transnational consortium must include at least one funded company. 
• All Austrian partners in a project must choose the same research category (Industrial Research or Experimental Development) in their application.  
• The project duration must not exceed 36 months. 
• The maximum funding for Austrian participants in a cooperative R&D project is EUR 2,000,000, and the minimum funding is EUR 100,000.

In addition to the advisory services provided by the FFG and the transnational call secretariat, numerous information events on national and transnational levels offer the opportunity to ask questions: 

• May 26: Call Launch Event (transnational) 
• June 23: Information event CET Partnership Joint Call 2026 – Webinar for applicants from Austria (national) 
• September 9: Joint Call 2026 Q&A event (transnational) 
• September 10: Information event CET Partnership Joint Call 2026 – Q&A for Austrian applicants(national)

Further transnational matchmaking and information events can also be found on the partnership’s event website.

In addition to the transnational submission via the transnational submission system, a national submission via eCall is also required. 

In the first stage, you need for the national submission: 

• An online form (rough cost plan, brief description of your role in the project, Austrian project partners, financial statements, etc.) in eCall, 
• The pre-proposal, as submitted transnationally, as a mandatory attachment, 
• A statement regarding the thematic restriction in CM2026-05 in eCall as an additional attachment.

The transnational pre-proposal must be submitted no later than October 8, 2026, 2:00 p.m., via the transnational submission system, and the additionally required national pre-proposal no later than October 12, 2026, 12:00 p.m. in eCall. 

In the second stage, you need for the national submission: 

• An online form (detailed work plan, detailed cost plan, Austrian project partners, financial statements, explanation regarding the requested research category, etc.) in eCall, 
• The full proposal, as submitted transnationally, as a mandatory attachment.

The transnational full proposal must be submitted no later than March 11, 2027, 2:00 p.m., via the transnational submission system, and the additionally required national full proposal no later than March 15, 2027, 12:00 p.m. CET in eCall.

The evaluation results of the first stage will be available in January 2027, and those of the second stage in June 2027. The funding decision is expected in July/August 2027. Projects must start by December 15, 2027. 

For all call modules, the management of FFG makes the national funding decision based on the funding recommendation of the transnational evaluation panel.
The call is based on the guideline of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) for the support of research, technology, development, and innovation to address societal challenges (FFG Challenge Guideline).