Latest News from the Transport Research & Innovation Knowledge Centre

In this Issue:

• NEWS FROM THE TRKC
   
• NEWS FROM THE EU INSTITUTIONS
  
  

  Horizon 2020 - the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation

  TRA 2012 – European Conference on Transport Research

  The Marco Polo call for applications is open until 16 January 2012

  DG Research and Innovation issues a new publication on ‘Linking Research and Standardisation’

  Major improvements to DG Research and Innovation/Transport website

• NEWS FROM THE TRANSPORT RESEARCH AND INNOVATION COMMUNITY
  
  

  EU railways safety data for 2010 are now available

  Agreement between JRC and Academies of Sciences of the Danube region Member States

  EERP mid-term review shows EU funding essential to kick-start investment

  The ESPOSA project: a big boost for small airplanes research in Central and Eastern Europe

  The MADES project: a new model-based software development framework for complex real-time aerospace and defence systems

News from the TRKC

Dear Reader,

This is the last issue of the TRKC newsletter for this year. We will be back in 2012 with regular news, announcements of interesting initiatives and events, as well as a number of dedicated thematic publications on research and innovation in transport.

In addition, 2012 will be a special year for TRKC since a new and improved system will be launched in Spring!

We hope you will find this newsletter  interesting and pleasant to read.

The TRKC project team wishes you all the best for the Christmas break!

News from the EU Institutions

Horizon 2020 - the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation

On 30 November 2011, the European Commission launched the new Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020.

Running from 2014 to 2020 with an €80 billion budget, the new, integrated funding system will cover all funding currently provided through the Framework Programme for Research and Technical Development, the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). These different types of funding will be brought together in a coherent and flexible manner, with a single set of rules.

Horizon 2020 will focus funds on three key objectives. It will support the EU’s position as a world leader in science with a dedicated budget of €24.6 billion. It will help secure industrial leadership in innovation with a budget of €17.9 billion. Finally, €31.7 billion will go to six key themes, among which ‘Smart, green and integrated transport’.

In the field of transport, the work programme foresees research and innovation activities that will contribute to meeting the targets and objectives set for 2050 in the White Paper ‘Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area‘. Activities will aim at drastically reducing transport emissions and lower its dependence on fossil fuels, and at optimising transport performance and efficiency to reduce fatalities. Also, actions are expected to develop the next generation of innovative transport means, including smart control systems and efficient production processes. Finally, activities will target the development and implementation of European research and innovation policies for transport, prospective studies and technology foresight, in order to understand user behaviour, social acceptance, impact of policy measures, mobility patterns and trends and their implications.

By the end of 2013, the Parliament and Council will be called to adopt Horizon 2020 through a legislative act.

To learn more about the Programme Horizon 2020, a dedicated website is available here

Download the full text of the Programme

TRA 2012 – European Conference on Transport Research

The fourth European Transport Research Arena (TRA2012) will take place in Athens, Greece, on 23-26 April 2012. TRA2012 not only aims at presenting the latest achievements of European research, but above all at being the venue where the technological developments needed for the next decades are discussed and debated. This year the scope of the conference has been extended to all modes of surface transport: road, rail and waterborne. For all information related to the conference, the programme and exhibition stands facilities, please consult the TRA 2012 website: http://www.traconference.eu/

The Marco Polo call for applications is open until 16 January 2012

The applications for the Marco Polo Programme have been simplified and the European Commission has provided a dedicated website where to find all the necessary documents and guidance to help potential applicants. A helpdesk is also available. The documents include, among other things, a checklist and a calculator for working out the volume of freight shifted off the road by the potential projects. All information and guidance is available here

DG Research and Innovation issues a new publication on ‘Linking research and standardisation’

In many EU calls for research and innovation projects, standardisation is identified as a key activity, deliverable or targeted outcome of future projects. On 15 November 2011, the CEN and CENELEC committees for standardisation published a handbook to guide researchers through the standardisation process and provide support in linking standardisation with research. The publication can be downloaded here

Major improvements to DG Research and Innovation/Transport website

DG Research and Innovation has been working to improve the website that deals with transport research. The website displays latest news on upcoming calls as well as policy and results of ongoing research.  To view it, click here

News from the Transport Research and Innovation Community

EU railways Safety Data for 2010 are now available

The European Railway Agency has published the EU railway safety data for 2010. The data in the EU-27 were first collected in 2006, and the analysis for 2010 shows a general positive trend with fewer accidents, fatalities and injuries on European railways.

The report can be download at this link

Agreement between JRC and Academies of Sciences of the Danube region Member States

The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) has signed an agreement for closer cooperation with the Academies of Sciences of the Danube region Member States. The signatories are the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS), the Romanian Academy (RA) and the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS).

The agreement, which comes in the context of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, was signed at the Fifth edition of the World Science Forum, organised by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in partnership with UNESCO, ICSU, and AAAS.

The letter announces the launch of a Scientific Cooperation Initiative ‘Science for the Danube Strategy’. Cooperation activities are envisaged in broad areas of mutual interest such as environmental information systems, modelling, sustainable management of natural resources and environmental risks.

The strategy addresses several main objectives, the first being Connecting the Region with ‘Improving Mobility and Multimodality – Inland waterways’ as a priority area. The strategy is jointly coordinated by Austria and Romania, with the involvement of a wide network of key players and stakeholders from the 14 countries of the Danube Region. The kick-off of the 5 thematic Working groups on inland waterways in the Danube region took place on October 27-28, 2011 in Budapest.

Working Groups will be open to all parties interested in a specific thematic cluster. In particular, the involvement of experts from the private sector is welcomed in order to discuss and analyse ongoing and planned projects and project ideas which are consistent with the targets of the Danube Region Strategy and which are geared to the development of inland navigation in the Danube region.

For more information, click here

 EERP mid-term review shows EU funding essential to kick-start investment

European Union funding for infrastructure projects has proved to be crucial for the launch or implementation of 90% of the projects covered by the European Economic Recovery Plan (EERP), according to a new report. The mid-term review of Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) investment into EERP concluded that the funding has been vital for attracting further investment from the private sector and public authorities. This review was carried out to assess the progress of individual EERP funded projects and to measure the extent to which the Plan meets its objective of contributing to boosting the European economy and speeding up transport construction in Member States.

The mid-term review was based on an analysis of annual progress reports submitted by beneficiaries to the TEN-T Executive Agency. This analysis was complemented by qualitative information gathered through interviews and questionnaires from representatives of Member States involved in the projects. The TEN-T Executive Agency coordinated the exercise, with the support of an independent expert who prepared the final report.

For more information, click here

The ESPOSA Project : A Big Boost for Small Airplanes research in Central and Eastern Europe

The ESPOSA (Efficient Systems and Propulsion for Small Aircraft) project was launched on 11 October 2011 at the Innovation Summit in Warsaw by Director András Siegler of the Transport Directorate of DG Research and Innovation.

Considering that small aircrafts could be an attractive form of regional transport in areas that lack extensive transport infrastructure, the ESPOSA project is expected to boost the aeronautics industry of the Eastern and Central European EU-12 Member States by improving obsolete engine technology for aircraft carrying up to 19 passengers, while remaining safe, affordable and environmentally acceptable.

The consortium of 39 partners is led by the Czech company PBS Velká Bíteš. The major part of RTD activities will be performed by 19 partners from the EU-12 countries, while the pan-European scope of the project is to stress the added value of European cooperation in sharing knowledge and facilities with colleagues from the EU-15, and international partners like the Ukraine and Russia. For more information, click here

The MADES Project: A new Model-based Software Development Framework for Complex Real-time Aerospace and Defence Systems

Together with leading European real-time technology developers, industrial manufacturers and research organisations from France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, the European Commission will be involved in the ‘Model-based methods and tools for avionics and surveillance embedded systems’ (MADES) project until July 2012. The project has been co-funded by the EC under the ‘Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)’ Theme of the FP7.

The long-term goal of the MADES project is to develop new model-based verification and simulation methods, along with new model-based code generation methods and tools. The MADES tools will provide developers with the ability to reuse existing software components, ensure consistency of complex systems, and exploit advanced multicore hardware platforms more easily.

The MADES project applies a comprehensive approach in researching new tools and technologies that support design, validation, simulation, and code generation, while providing better support for component reuse. New annotation and verification methods are also being developed to ensure overall system consistency.

For more information : http://www.mades-project.org