Activities - European Projects

ECTRI Members are currently involved in 118 transport related projects (first and second FP7 calls): 2 Networks of Excellence (NoE), 82 Collaborative projects (CP), 32 Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) and 2 Marie Curie Initial Training Networks (ITN). Additionally, ECTRI Members are invloved in 2 CIP Policy Support Programmes and 10 running COST actions. You can download the detailed report about the ECTRI members in FP7 projects.

ECTRI Members were, and are still involved for some, in 113 FP6 transport research projects, related to various thematic issues (intelligent transport systems, economy, behavioral aspects, sustainability—including energy and environment—, safety and security, system of the future and urban mobility) and to all surface transport modes. You can download the detailed report about the ECTRI members FP6 projects here.

ECTRI supports its Members in formulating and promoting research joint proposals within current Framework Programme and other programmes and calls.

ECTRI is partner of a FP7 project:

YEAR 2010
The YEAR2010 is a FP7 funded project, which started on 1 January 2009. The Young European Arena of Research 2010 is a competition for early-stage researchers who are exploring the area of surface transport within their research. The competition will give the students an opportunity to showcase their work to experts within the field, both on the web and, for the best applicants, at the Transport Research Arena conference, TRA2010 in Brussels in June 2010. Students will be asked to submit an abstract on-line under one of the TRA2010 scientific pillars, or one of the two additional pillars - Future Vision of transport, and the Interdisciplinary pillar. This collection of abstracts will be hosted online on the YEAR2010 website and will represent a showcase of European research and will be open for viewing by all those interested in the field. From these submissions, 50 finalists will be invited to attend the TRA2010 Conference in Brussels to display their work. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for each of the pillars will be presented during the conference, for an expected 1,500 delegates to observe.
YEAR2010 is led by the National University of Ireland, Dublin (UCD), and the other partners are: ECTRI, RWTH Aachen University, MOW, ZAG, and TUI.
Contact: year@ucd.ie
More on the project's website: http://year2010.fehrl.org

ECTRI supports several FP7 projects, in which ECTRI members are involved:

CLOSER
The research field and aim of the CLOSER project is connecting long and short-distance networks for efficient transport. This FP7 proposal, led by CEDEX, Spain, has been invited to negotiate with the EC in November 2008. With the coordinator CLOSER involves 8 partners, all ECTRI members: INRETS, TOI, FhG-FVV, VTT, CDV, CERTH, VGTU-TMI.
Contact: angel.aparicio@cedex.es

This FP7 project, led by VTT involves only ECTRI members: UPM, TRL, CERTH, CDV, DVS. It deals with the methodology for evaluation of projects impact in the field of transport. The aim of the project is to evaluate the contribution of the 800 EC funded transport research projects to the current key themes of the European Policies. The METRONOME project will contribute by developing a methodology for evaluation transport projects, from the perspectives of industrial competitiveness, sustainability concerns and uptake of research results in European policy developments.
Contact: anu.tuominem@vtt.fi

In the frame of FP7, ECTRI as associate partner, supports the Network of Excellence called NEARCTIS, in which 2 ECTRI members are involved (INRETS, DLR).
NEARCTIS (Network of Excellence: Advanced Road Cooperative Traffic management in the Information Society) is an academic network involving teams working on the field of traffic management and optimisation, with a particular focus on cooperative systems. Within the field of ICT for mobility, the project deals more specifically with the question of cooperative systems for road traffic optimisation, but it covers a wider scope as it appears that cooperative systems have to be integrated into the whole traffic management system. This aims to develop systems able to cope with what are the main problems at stake: safety, energy consumption, environmental impacts and congestion as an obstacle to mobility. The main objective of the project is to constitute what could be considered as a virtual research institute. This means elaborating the main elements of this reach institute: building a consistent research programme, defining a set of shared resources (data, experimental means, bibliographical databases), organising the spreading of knowledge and research results. To reach these objectives, the project will include an harmonisation of the research programme of all the partners on the various topics addressed, specification of case studies to be made in common, and the elaboration of a dissemination and training programme for researchers and professionals. A focus will be on spreading excellence towards the scientific community of the field, particularly for the European Union newcomers. Tight relationships with the international scientific community, but also with the main stakeholders of the field (traffic operators, local authorities, consultants or manufacturers) are ensured through a network of associate partners who are involved in all the main activities of the project. The project involves eight European universities and research centres and is coordinated by ERT, with INRETS as scientific coordinator. In the preparation phase of the project, about 65 organisations including ECTRI and 9 of its members (CDV, HIT, ITS, DVS, TNO, TRL, TTEF, VTI, VGTU-TMI) have shown interest to be associate partners of NEARCTIS. In this view, ECTRI is disseminating information on the NoE existence, activities and research results.
More information: http://www.nearctis.org - juliette.renaud@ert-sas.fr

In the frame of FP6, ECTRI was involved in 2 European projects : one Specific Support Action : NET-TRACK and one Coordination Action : EURFORUM

ECTRI has developed the NET-TRACK project (NETworking Transport ReseArch Resources, Competencies and Knowledge within the new boundaries of European Research Area), which began in October 2005 and will last 2 years. The aim of this project was to contribute to the realisation of the European Research Area (ERA) in the field of surface transport by involving leading research institutes from New Member States (NMS), Acceding Countries (AC) and Western Balkan Countries (WBC) in current European research efforts, notably in research management and in soft research infrastructures issues. Workshops on each issue were organized in June 2006 and June 2007. http://www.ectri.org/nettrack - More information : caroline.almeras@ectri.org

ECTRI was involved with 6 other partners (UITP (Coordinator), TUD, CERTU, ASSTRA, POLIS, EMTA) in the EURFORUM project, a Coordination Action funded by the EC under its 6th FP. The objective of EURFORUM was to create a forum at the European level, effectively representing stakeholders of European research on urban mobility, including representatives of local authorities, public transport associations, research bodies, etc. It focussed on a better and more innovative coordination of research serving urban mobility of people and goods. This forum provides re-commendations for the coordination of European research on urban mobility issues in order to:
- help structure the supply side of European research in this field;
- pave the way to make Europe a real competitive global player in the field of urban mobility;
- reduce the overall cost of urban mobility;
-increase the attractiveness of public transport, walking and cycling, while encouraging a more rational use of motorised traffic.
EURFORUM covered all private and public transport modes and focussed both on technology-oriented and on policy-oriented research. The project paid special attention to urban mobility challenges in the New Member States. EURFORUM’s Strategic Research Agenda addressed research issues in the particular field of urban transport considering all transport modes and focusing on intermodality for both passenger and freight transport. Technology-oriented as well as policy-oriented research was considered. The focus was directed on urban issues, including the transport between an agglomeration and its surroundings. EURFORUM’s SRA relied on the conviction that holistic and interdisciplinary research is the most adequate approach to solve the problems identified in the area of urban transport. http://www.eurforum.net More information : laurent.franckx@uitp.com

In the frame of FP6 ECTRI particularly supported 3 Networks of Excellence in which some ECTRI members are participating: Humanist, EURNEX and APSN, a Coordination Action: TRANSFORUM, and a Specific Support Action: EUROACCESS. After the end of FP6, all 3 Networks of Excellence became Virtual Centres of Excellence (VCE). ECTRI developed some close cooperation with this VCE's, based on the signature of the 'Lyon Declaration' in December 2008.

The goal of the HUMANIST NoE was to promote a Human centred desing approach and also to federate research in its scientific domain, by creating a European Virtual Centre. The creation of the virtual centre was an answer to the scattering of research capacities in Europe . This has been done by setting up strong connections between partners inside the NoE. The relationship with Universities and Academic World outside the NoE were not set aside, and were enhanced through training programmes and welcoming young researchers.

Outputs from NoE were also be targeted toward other relevant stakeholders such as National and European public authorities, Standardisation Bodies, National and European RTD Projects. Diffusion and transfer of knowledge, in addition to common partnerships between NoE and these entities ensured flow of information in order to disseminate the concept of Human centred design outside the Network. Such a diffusion of information ensured the effectiveness of the expected impacts. http://www.noehumanist.org/

The HUMANIST NoE involved 22 partners including, HIT, CDV, DTF, INRETS (coordinator), TNO, TØI, TRL, UPM, VTT and VTI.

Since the end of the project in 2008, HUMANIST became a "Virtual Centre of Excellence". More information at http://www.humanist-vce.eu/

EURNEX - the European Rail Research Network of Excellence - was created in January 2004 and aimed to integrate a fragmented research landscape, promote the railways contribution to sustainable development and improve the competitiveness and economic stability of the European rail sector. EURNEX included 63 universities and research centres from 18 EU Member States and Russia, as well as key railway associations, such as UIC, UITP, and UNIFE. http://www.eurnex.net/

The EURNEX NoE involved 70 partners including CERTH/HIT, DLR, DTF, FHG, INRETS, UPM, VTI and VTT.

Since October 2007, Eurnex became an association as Virtual Centre of Excellence.

The aim of APSN - Advanced Passive Safety Network - was to mobilise the European scientific & business expertise in Vehicle Passive Safety to accelerate improvements in road safety in order to reduce the annual road victims for the European Union. APSN joint technical and scientific objective was to enhance the level of road safety at affordable costs for the individual user as well as for the European society. APSN members’ expertise varies from vehicle, body parts and restraint system manufacturers, computer modelling and softwares companies to international research and educational organisations like universities, crash testing and biomechanical research institutes. The Network counted more than 50 different organisations from about 20 different countries. http://www.passivesafety.com/

The APSN NoE involved 53 partners including FHG, INRETS, TNO (Coordinator) and TRL.

After the end of the project in 2008, APSN became the ISN (Integrated Safety Network) Virtual Centre of Excellence.

The TRANSFORUM - Scientific Forum on Transport Forecast Validation and Policy Assessement project concerned a co-ordination action that intended to create a virtual transport research forum for online discussion. This project aimed at facilitating the work of researchers, policy makers and stakeholders brought together in order to check transport policy tools developed by FP- and national research against factors like scientific consistency, transparency and appropriateness to fit policy makers, users' and stakeholders' needs. http://www.transforum-eu.net/

The TRANSFORUM CA involved 9 patners including AVV (Coordinator) CDV, CERTH/HIT, INRETS, TNO, TRL, UPM and VTT.

ECTRI has favoured the preparation and is supporting the EUROACCESS project, a Specific Support Action (SSA) funded by the EC under the 6th FP. The objective of this project is to contribute to the development of the EU policy on the accessibility of the transport systems in the 27 member states, and 1 EFTA country, in order to promote social integration and active participation in society of people with disabilities. This project began on 1st January 2007 and will last 24 months with a budget of 425,000€. The consortium is composed of ERT, INRETS (Scientific Coordinator), CERTU, Ann Frye Ltd, Lunds University, TIS.pt and TØI. http://www.euro-access.org/ - More information: Claude Marin-Lamellet, INRETS

In the frame of COST programmes, some ECTRI members participate to the following projects:

1. EST - COST action n°356 «Towards the definition of a measurable environmentally sustainable transport» This action consists of designing harmonised and scientifically sound methods to build better environmental indices (or indicators)  by using existing European indices, and to build methods to be applied to the decision-making process of the transport sector in the different European countries.
This action includes the following ECTRI partners: INRETS, France (coordinator), DLR, DTU, KTI, POLITO, TØI, TRL, UPM and VTI.

2. PROHELM - COST action n° 357 «Accident Prevention Options with Motorcycle Helmets». The main objective of this action is to increase knowledge on how motorcycle helmets could be improved to help facilitate the avoidance of accidents.
This action includes the following ECTRI partner: INRETS.

3. PQN - COST action n°358 «Pedestrians’ Quality Need». The main objective of this action is to provide an essential contribution to systems knowledge of pedestrians’ quality needs and the requirements derived from those needs, thus simulating structural and functional interventions, policy making and regulation to support walking condition throughout the EU and other involved countries.
This action includes the following ECTRI partners: DVS, The Netherlands (coordinator), CDV, INRETS, TNO, TØI and VTT.

4. TU0603 “ Bus with a high level of services”. The main objective of this Action is to better understand all the trends to improve sustainable mobility in urban areas throughout Europe and to promote a useful way to enhance the bus image.This action includes the following ECTRI partners: CEDEX and INRETS.

5. TU0702 «Real-time Monitoring, Surveillance and Control of Road Networks under Adverse Weather Conditions». The main objective of this action is to understand better the impacts of weather on freeways/motorways as well as on urban networks highway operations and to develop, promote and implement strategies and tools to mitigate those impacts. This action includes the following ECTRI partners: INRETS, France (coordinator) and AIT.

6. TU0801. “Semantic enrichment of 3D city models for sustainable urban development”
The main objectives of the Action is
(1) create an integrative platform based on semantically enriched 3D city models,
(2) use an ontology-based methodology that could be reused
(3) assess the usability of the integrated platform for planning and decision-making.
This action includes the following ECTRI partner: TTI.

7. SHANTI – Cost action n° TU0804 «Survey Harmonisation with New Technologies Improvement».The main objective of the Action is to provide guidelines for harmonizing national travel surveys across Europe. This harmonization aims at improving their comparability without preventing longitudinal analyses with previous surveys at country level and therefore should increase data quality at national level. The Action will build bridges between European countries as well as among researchers, enhancing research and disseminating recommendations throughout European society.
This action includes the following ECTRI partners: INRETS, France (coordinator), CDV, DLR, DTU, POLITO, TØI, TTI, VTT and UPM.

8.  TU0902 “Integrated Assessment Technologies to Support the Sustainable Development of Urban Areas”. The main objective of the Action is to develop better representations of the urban systems interactions and dynamics as well as new configurations of urban areas so that they consume fewer resources, emit less pollution, are more resilient to the impacts of climate change and are more sustainable in general.
This action includes the following ECTRI partners: LET and TTI.

9. TU0903 «Methods and tools for supporting the use, calibration and validation of traffic simulation models». The main objective of the Action is to develop, implement and promote the use of methods and procedures for supporting the use of traffic simulation models, especially on the topics of model calibration and validation.
This action includes the following ECTRI partners: CENIT, DLR, INRETS and TTI.

10. HPMST – Cost Action n° 542 “High performance energy storages for mobiles and stationary applications”. This Action focuses on the development of high performance energy storage systems and their implementation in mobile and stationary applications in transportation and energy technologies. This action includes the following ECTRI partner: INRETS.