The Senate of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) established the Priority Programme “A contribution to the realization of the energy transition: Optimization of thermochemical energy conversion processes for the flexible utilization of hydrogen-based renewable fuels using additive manufacturing” (SPP 2419). The programme is designed to run for six years. The present call invites proposals for the second three-year funding period.

The use of carbon-free chemical energy carriers such as hydrogen and ammonia in high-temperature thermochemical processes is essential for the transformation of the energy system toward carbon neutral energy conversion. These fuels offer significant advantages. They avoid greenhouse gas emissions, they can be produced with good efficiency from renewable electricity and they are flexible in their use. Potentials of thermochemical energy conversion also arise when hydrogen is mixed with natural gas, as hydrogen can be successively added to the existing natural gas infrastructure, enabling a low-risk transition to a carbon-free energy economy. Here, the term “hydrogen-containing fuels“ refers to fuel mixtures of hydrogen, ammonia and hydrocarbons with high hydrogen or ammonia content.

Compared to conventional fuels, hydrogen and ammonia have fundamentally different combustion properties, which are reflected, for example, in different burning rates, flammability limits, ignition energies and pollutant formation characteristics. The advancement of hydrogen-containing fuel technology is important in all sectors, including, for instance, power generation in gas turbines and the supply of process heat with industrial burners. It requires the joint optimisation of thermal efficiencies and pollutant emissions, while considering stability, fuel flexibility and safety. This optimisation should be achieved in this Priority Programme by a combination of simulation-based design with innovative manufacturing processes, e.g. additive manufacturing, which offer new degrees of freedom in materials and geometric shaping. For this integrated approach, however, many of the relevant fundamental aspects are not yet sufficiently well understood.

Accordingly, this Priority Programme takes a novel interdisciplinary approach linking the core competences of combustion science and additive manufacturing (AM). The hypothesis of the SPP is that only a comprehensive understanding of combustion fundamentals as well as the integration of modern 3D manufacturing processes through simulation-based design can enable the simultaneous improvement of flexibility, efficiency and emissions in thermochemical energy conversion processes. 

For structuring the relevant research fields, it is important to establish the necessary interrelationships among combustion science and AM, but also to address fundamental questions within the individual disciplines. For thermochemical energy conversion, the relevant processes occur on length and time scales spanning several orders of magnitude that require careful consideration of laboratory and system scales. For AM, burner design (e.g. topology optimisation), sensor integration and materials are important. 

AM can make an important contribution in all areas of combustion to be investigated. On the laboratory scale, specially developed burners can be manufactured for experimental investigation, e.g. of flame dynamics, which enable more in-depth knowledge through sensor integration or built-in gas sampling channels. In addition, AM can be used to transfer knowledge from the laboratory scale to the system scale to facilitate the development of fuel-flexible and scalable industrial burners and gas turbines. For this, fundamental issues must be solved. Examples include digital materials with locally manipulable properties (e.g. shape memory effects), thin-walled structures (e.g. channel geometries with locally changeable cross-sections), tailored surface roughness, multi-physical topology optimisation, component-integrated and/or printed sensor technology, and the use of high-temperature-resistant materials in AM.

The overarching aims of the Priority Programme are to develop the domain-specific knowledge and methods, to create an interdisciplinary research field between combustion science and manufacturing, and to demonstrate the approach both computationally and experimentally. The specific goals of the Priority Programme include the advancement of methods, since the design of highly complex AM-manufactured burner concepts and appropriately adapted operating strategies requires an integrated process combining predictive simulation, AM and experimental analysis.

Specific objectives include:

• hierarchical design optimisation of AM-manufactured fuel-flexible burners based on computational and experimental investigations of flame behaviour;
• development and application of automatic optimisation methodologies for combustion devices in an industrial framework with fuel flexibility for hydrogen-based fuels up to 100 percent  hydrogen or hydrogen/ammonia mixtures;
• establishment of high-temperature resistant 3D-printed burner concepts on a laboratory scale using multi-material processes and new concepts for temperature control of high-temperature-resistant materials (e.g. nickel-based superalloys, refractory metals);
• demonstration of new AM-enabled burner concepts on the laboratory scale;
• automation and further development of sensor-integrated measurement technology;
• computer-aided upscaling of thermochemical-energy conversion plants for the energy transition;
• development of hierarchical simulation methods for turbulent combustion of hydrogen-based fuels;
• establishment of comprehensive, well-documented and publicly available data sets for system-scale standard configurations with AM-manufactured burners (gas turbine, industrial burner);
• model validation for laboratory and system-scale configurations;
• computational and experimental material design for AM manufacturing of combustion-relevant components (mixing, combustion, analysis).

The purpose of the Priority Programme is to connect different disciplines. Hence, there should be preference for collaborative proposals in which complementary expertise is directly linked. To support the necessary interdisciplinary approach, it is desirable that a project consists of three parts and includes one experimental and one theory/simulation/modelling subproject from the combustion field, and additionally one AM subproject. 

Proposal Submission

Proposals must be written in English and submitted to the DFG by 31 March 2026. Proposals are to be submitted solely via the elan portal(externer Link), the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system, in order to ensure proposal-related data is recorded and documents are securely transmitted.

Applicants who already receive funding under this Priority Programme and intend to submit a proposal for the renewal of their existing project need to use “Proposal Submission – Proposal Overview/Renewal Proposal” in elan. Here, the currently funded project is visible and should be selected for submission of the renewal proposal.

If you wish to submit a proposal for a new project within the existing Priority Programme, please go to Proposal Submission – New Project – Priority Programmes and select “SPP 2419” from the current list of calls.

If this is the first time you are submitting a proposal to the DFG, please note that you must register in elan before you can submit your proposal. You must do so by 24 March 2026. Select “SPP 2419” during the registration process. You will normally receive confirmation of your registration by the next working day.

When preparing your proposal, please note the Guidelines Priority Programme (DFG form 50.05(interner Link), section B “Individual Projects within Existing Priority Programmes”) and the Proposal Preparation Instructions – Project Proposals (DFG form 54.01(interner Link)). These forms are available on the DFG website and through the elan portal.

The review colloquium for the Priority Programme will be held in mid-June 2026 in Aachen.

Equity and Diversity

The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness. With regard to the subject-specific focus of this call, the DFG encourages female researchers in particular to submit proposals.

Good Research Practice

According to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, DFG funding may only be awarded to research institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practice(externer Link) in their own regulations. The management of your institution is responsible for implementing the guidelines in a legally binding manner. In order to avoid delays in the disbursement of funding, please verify implementation within your institution in good time. For information regarding the implementation, please refer to the Research Integrity Portal(externer Link). If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Research Integrity team(externer Link) at the DFG Head Office. 

Further Information

More information on the Priority Programme is available here(interner Link).

When submitting a proposal, please use the elan portal(externer Link) and refer to the Guidelines Priority Programme (DFG form 50.05(interner Link), section B “Individual Projects within Existing Priority Programmes”), and the Proposal Preparation Instructions – Project Proposals (DFG form 54.01(interner Link)). The FAQ about preparing a proposal(interner Link) may also be helpful.

For enquiries about the scientific aims of the Priority Programme, please contact the Priority Programme coordinator:

Professor Dr.-Ing. Heinz Pitsch, RWTH Aachen University, Fakultät für Maschinenwesen, Institut für Technische Verbrennung, phone +49 241 8094607, h.pitsch@itv.rwth-aachen.de(externer Link)

Contact Persons at the DFG Head Office:

Programme contact: Dr. Simon Jörres, Tel. +49 228 885-2971, simon.joerres@dfg.de(externer Link)

Administrative contact: Anja Kleefuß, Tel. +49 228 885-2293, anja.kleefuss@dfg.de(externer Link)

Privacy Policy

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