Support to the organisation and dissemination of the Transport Research Arena (TRA) conference

Expected Outcome:Project’s results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Successful organisation of the Transport Research Arena conference (TRA) in 2028;
• Successful organisation of two competitions for transport research and innovation awards covering all transport modes and cross-cutting issues;
• Conference proceedings published in recognised scientific journals;
• Higher visibility, political and strategic relevance of the transport sector and of the EU policy in the field;
• Enhanced dissemination, communication and valorisation of transport R&I objectives, perspectives, strategies and results;
• More effective links and exchanges between research and innovation stakeholders, industry and policy makers, to support the development and deployment of innovative solutions in Europe and Associated Countries;
• Increased attractiveness of transport related studies and reinforce the pursuit of excellence in European transport research and innovation, by giving recognition and visibility to the best achievements;
• Increased visibility, interest and number of applications for the two competitions for transport research and innovation awards.

Scope:The action will prepare and provide support to the Transport Research Arena (TRA) conference to be organised in 2028 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 interested to host the event and an economic plan covering the additional funding needs. A professional conference organiser should be included in the consortium. To ensure high political and strategic relevance, the proposals should involve Member States holding the Presidency of the European Union in year 2028.

In line with previous TRA biannual conferences, the event should address the technological and industrial developments of the transport sector (i.e., 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. Specific attention should be put on a broad and balanced participation in the conference i.e., students, young researchers, women, a large number of country representatives, etc.

The action will be implemented in close collaboration with the Management and Programme Committees of the TRA, which includes the TRA 2028 conference organiser, 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) and the previous TRA conference organiser (TRA 2026) in order to maintain continuity of the event.

Proposals should address all the following aspects:

• Support the definition of the overall planning of the conference, including the main thematic pillars of the event as well as the structuring of the technical and political sessions;
• Contribute to the identification and selection of an appropriate conference venue and support the organisation of the conference’s logistics;
• Provide operational support to the TRA conference organisers, such as in relation to the website and conference management IT tools (e.g., for the registration of participants, handling of speakers’ contributions, submission and selection of scientific papers, conference application);
• Support the organisation of the demonstration activities and technical visits;
• Assess and monitor the environmental impact of the event and propose appropriate measures to reduce and mitigate this impact;
• Organise of two high-quality competitions for transport research and innovation awards (TRA VISION) covering all transport modes and cross-cutting issues (technological, socio-economic, 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 to develop innovative solutions 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.

• Proposals should plan for involving the awarded researchers in the conference programme and for promoting links between the researchers and possible career development opportunities in the field (e.g., traineeships, jobs, courses, training); • A very good media coverage before, during and after the event should be foreseen for both the TRA conference and for the TRA VISIONS.