PhD and postdoc symposium

How can Europe safeguard its transport infrastructure capabilities while fostering economic growth and an inclusive society? Various universities, PhD students, and postdocs are working on finding solutions for the challenges the owners of the critical nodes in our infrastructure are faced with. Are u one of them? The PhD and postdoc symposium during Technology and Research Arena (TRA) in Dublin is your chance to share your research findings and receive feedback from peers, senior researchers, and professionals! 

To strengthen collaboration between involved parties CEDR, NGInfra, and COB organized an Inaugural European PhD and postdoc symposium on next-generation infrastructure management. This symposium will be held within the TRA in Dublin, on the 15th – 17th of April 2024.

Relevant questions to be answered during the symposium are for instance (but not exhaustive):

• How can we predict the remaining life expectancy of our assets and installations?
• How can we keep our tunnels safe and futureproof with challenges such as cyberattacks, new energy carriers, and climate change?
• How do we renovate the infrastructure while in use?
• How to keep our assets reliable and safe with limited time, people, and skills?

The mission is to unite visionaries, early career researchers, experts, and asset owners in the field of transportation to shape the future of infrastructure management in Europe (road, rail, energy, data, etc.) in a dynamic world that needs to address aging assets and climbing end-user requirements. Through collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and fundamental research we aim to create a sustainable, efficient, and connected transportation system that can enhance mobility, safety, and environmental stewardship for generations to come while reflecting on the infrastructure owners’ strategic challenges.

Opportunity for early career researchers

Europe’s ambition to be a leading competitor in the global market needs to build from a next-generation transport infrastructure network, that matches simultaneous demands from its economy, society, and environment. It requires upgrading current capabilities to accommodate the end-user while refurbishing aging assets without major interference to the transport flows that carry our growth and inclusiveness. In view of the strategic challenges ahead, national infrastructure authorities acknowledge that business as usual will fall short of the required jumps in their network’s overall physical and normative performance. Viable solutions are urgently needed, but also new capabilities and skills to support the delivery of a rethought transport infrastructure system across the continent.

During this event early career researchers will have the opportunity to:

• Share their research findings and receive feedback from peers and senior researchers and professionals, including opportunities to collaborate in peer-reviewed publications
• Engage with problem owners from the public, industry, and services on the added value of their research for their innovation programs and initiatives on the future use and corresponding refurbishment and renewal needs of their networks
• Build a strong cross-disciplinary network of peers across Europe
• Explore, incubate, and co-create solutions and initiatives to address current strategic infrastructure challenge

Showcase your research

Event host CEDR gives universities, PhD students, and postdocs the opportunity to showcase their research work in tunneling to Europe’s major decision-makers. This symposium aims to showcase the value the collective research can deliver to strategic infrastructure preservation challenges of the public infrastructure authorities; engage problem owners across the sectors and its end-users and develop a talent network to support the delivery of Europe’s future infrastructure capabilities.

Wish to present your research? Submit the form below. The abstract needs to be clear about what the candidate specifically intends to present at the symposium.
>> Submit the form

This symposium aspires to be the first in a series of events that bring together relevant postdoc and PhD researchers into a community of impact.

Be there and be part of the transformation toward a smarter, greener, and more interconnected transportation ecosystem.

Practical information

Travel and accommodation

We are in the process of assessing the potential to offer cost coverings on a case-by-case basis, which will be contingent on the number of attendees.
Arrangements will be made for the participants to attend the CEDR welcoming reception on Monday, April 15^th, and to the TRA conference on Wednesday, April 17^th.

Further information will be shared in due course.

Draft program