Swiss applied research university specializing in integrated renewable heating, cooling, and solar energy systems for buildings.
OST (Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences) specializes in applied energy research, with deep focus on renewable heating and cooling systems for buildings. They develop and test integrated energy solutions — combining solar thermal collectors, heat pumps, biomass systems, and photovoltaics into working building-level installations. Their work extends to hydrogen injection in gas grids and prefabricated near-zero energy building (NZEB) renovation systems, bridging laboratory research with real-world deployment in the built environment.
Core contributor across TRI-HP (heat pumps + solar + ice slurry), Hybrid-BioVGE (ejector cooling with solar/biomass), PENTAGON (district-level energy conversion), and SophiA (off-grid energy for healthcare facilities).
Solar thermal appears as a keyword across TRI-HP, Hybrid-BioVGE, and feeds into the broader renewable energy systems work in PLURAL.
HIGGS focused on H2 injection into high-pressure gas grids; STOREandGO addressed large-scale power-to-gas storage concepts.
PLURAL developed plug-and-use lightweight renovation systems with off-site prefabrication, adaptive control, and predictive monitoring for near-zero energy buildings.
SophiA (2021-2025) applies OST's renewable energy expertise to sustainable off-grid solutions for pharmacies and hospitals in Africa — a new application domain for the group.
OST's early H2020 work (2015-2018) was broadly distributed — participating in energy storage (STOREandGO), district energy flexibility (PENTAGON), and even a social sciences project on youth participation (PARTISPACE). From 2019 onward, their focus sharpened decisively toward integrated renewable heating/cooling for buildings, with heat pumps, solar thermal, and building renovation dominating. The most recent projects (2020-2025) show a branching pattern: hydrogen grid integration, smart building renovation, and a notable move toward global impact with off-grid energy for African healthcare.
OST is converging on smart, integrated renewable energy systems for buildings while beginning to export that expertise to off-grid contexts in developing regions.
OST operates predominantly as a project participant (7 of 8 projects), stepping into the coordinator role once for TRI-HP — their largest funded project at EUR 1.12M. With 96 unique partners across 23 countries, they maintain a broad European network rather than relying on a small circle of repeat collaborators. This profile suggests a technically valued partner that consortia actively recruit for their applied energy engineering capabilities.
OST has built a wide collaborative network of 96 unique partners spanning 23 countries, indicating strong pan-European reach well beyond the Swiss research community. Their partner diversity suggests they are a sought-after contributor rather than an organization that builds consortia around itself.
As a Swiss University of Applied Sciences, OST bridges the gap between fundamental research and practical engineering — their projects consistently focus on real installations and system integration rather than theoretical work. Their combination of solar thermal, heat pump, and building renovation expertise in a single group is uncommon and makes them a strong partner for projects that need to demonstrate working prototypes. Switzerland's position outside the EU but deeply embedded in European research networks gives them access to both Horizon funding and Swiss industrial partners.
