Actions should address the activities of both Part A and Part B:
Part A: The action will prepare and provide support to the Transport Research Arena conference (TRA) to be organised in 2026 gathering transport stakeholders for discussing political, industrial and research issues on a European and global level.Proposals are expected to demonstrate the financial and organisational support of the national authorities' and a preliminary economic plan covering the additional funding needs. In order to ensure high political and strategic relevance, preference will be given to proposals involving Member States holding the Presidency of the European Union in year 2025, 2026 or 2027.
In line with previous TRA biannual conferences, the event should address the technological and industrial developments of the transport sector (road, rail, waterborne, aviation sectors and cross-modal aspects) providing a high level, future oriented perspective coming from politics, the industry and the research community, in response to Europe’s social needs and expectations.
In collaboration with the relevant actors, such as the European Commission services, the different European Technology Platforms (ERTRAC for road, ERRAC for rail, WATERBORNE TP for waterborne, ALICE for logistics and ACARE for aeronautics and ECTP for construction), the Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR), the European Transport Research Alliance (ETRA), relevant transport-related European partnerships, such as 2ZERO, CCAM, EU-Rail, ZEWT and Clean Aviation and the previous TRA conference organisers in order to maintain continuity, the action will define the overall planning of the conference, structure the technical and political sessions of the event, contribute to select the appropriate location for the venue and offer operational IT tools for the registration of participants, the handling of speakers’ contributions, contribute to the organisation of logistics, etc. Support to the organisation of demonstration activities should also be foreseen.
Specific attention should be put on a broad and balanced participation i.e. students, young researchers, women, a large number of countries' representatives, etc.
Part B: The proposal is expected to also organise two competitions for transport research and innovation awards covering all transport modes and cross-cutting issues (technological, socioeconomic and behavioural aspects) in line with the EU policy objectives for climate-neutral and environmentally friendly mobility:
- A competition for students and young researchers with the goal of stimulating the interest among young researchers/students in the field of transport;
- A competition for senior researchers in the field of innovative transport concepts based on results from EU-funded projects only.
Skill Level: Beginner