FERSI statement on the war in Ukraine

The Forum of European Road Safety Research Institutes FERSI notes with dismay the alarming situation in Ukraine and finds the invasion of a sovereign democratic nation by Russian forces outrageous and unacceptable. These actions are undermining global security and stability and have led to deplorable human suffering and loss of life.

In the interests of peace and stability in international relations, we call for an end to the hostilities and for a resolution that respects the sovereignty of Ukraine and all its people. FERSI stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, along with those in Russia who are courageously manifesting their rejection of war. We wish the citizens of Ukraine great strength in resisting and overcoming this shocking crisis.

We note that scientists and scientific journalists in Russia have issued the following open letter on the situation.

Young Researchers Seminar 2023

The 11th Young Researchers Seminar will be held from 17 to 19 May 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal, hosted and organised by LNEC, the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering.

The YRS is organised every two years in a different European country. The common vision for the Young Researchers Seminar is the preparation of a new generation of transport scientists and science-based professionals in the area of  transport (multimodal).
The objectives are:
-To train young researchers belonging to the Supporting Organizations’ members of ECTRI, FEHRL, FERSI, EURNEX, HUMANIST and from United States’ universities, to prepare papers and present oral scientific communications, by direct interaction with assigned tutors.
-To enable the exchange and networking opportunities of young transport researchers with their peers and tutors. Therefore, this seminar is not only aimed at building up scientific excellence, it also seeks at improving presentation skills and the ability to communicate science.

The seminar focuses on following research domains:

  • Transport economics, policy, and transport behaviour
  • Transport sustainability and environment
  • Transport safety
  • Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) & Traffic management
  • Transport logistics and freight
  • Road, rail and maritime transport engineering

The young researchers are incited to participate by their own organisations (institutes or universities). They are novice researchers, preferably PhD students (postdoctoral may also be  accepted, within  1-2  years after their PhD). They are involved in (at least) one of the research domains. Attention isa lso given on ensuring a balanced representation among the organisations based on the following criteria:

  • Maximum 1 young  researcher per research domain for organisations with more than 300 staff,
  • Maximum 3 young researchers in total for organisations with less than 300 staff,
  • And maximum 1 US young researcher per research domain. The tutors are senior researchers from the supporting organizations but also from United States’ universities.

More information »

FERSI Conference 2022: Call for contributions

FERSI is organising a two-day conference for researchers and policy makers on 6 and 7 October 2022 in the Hague. FERSI invites you to submit a proposal for a contribution.

This contribution would focus on implementation of proven, highly effective measures for, combinations of, some of the world’s main road safety challenges listed below, illustrating which implementation barriers were encountered and how these were dealt with, including, for example, political barriers, legal and liability concerns, lack of public support, or level of road safety culture. 

Read more about the FERSI Conference 2022 »
Read more about the call for contributions »

Timeline

  • Submission of proposal: March 13, 2022
  • Feedback on acceptance + poster or oral presentation: April 2022
  • Submission of final contributions: September 9, 2022

FERSI Executive Board (re)elected

FERSI’s General Assembly, in its meeting of 24 November, (re)elected its Executive Board for the next three years: President Rob Eenink (SWOV), Vice-President Dominique Mignot (UE), and members Lila Gaitanidou (HIT/CERTH), Astrid Linder (VTI) and Klaus Machata (KFV). The General Assembly thanked Mateja Markl (APV) for her valuable input as EB member in the past three years.

Successful FERSI online symposium: Implementing proven but controversial measures

There are quite a few proven effective measures that are hardly implemented because of real or presumed barriers. On Thursday 14 October FERSI organised a successful online symposium on exactly this topic. The audience were treated to three presentations on relevant topics: an urban 30km/h limit in Spain, a strict, but evidence-based successful road safety management in Greece and the promotion of (voluntary) bicycle helmet use in Denmark. A lively discussion followed with input from the EC, the WHO and the scientific world.

Missed the online symposium? Check out the presentations below ánd be sure save the date for the FERSI conference where the discussion on topics like these will be continued.

On our way to the 2022 FERSI conference

The online symposium was a prelude to the postponed FERSI Conference in the Hague on 6 & 7 October 2022 around the same theme: Implementing evidence-based road safety measures, removing barriers and enhancing public support. This symposium clearly showed that there is still a lot to learn from all the different experiences in other countries. So, for the FERSI Conference in 2022, we expect many interesting contributions on a variety of road safety topics.

The Call for Contributions will be re-opened soon. Stay updated on the FERSI Conference by subscribing to our newsletter and/ or following FERSI on LinkedIn!

Presentations:

FERSI Online Symposium: speakers announced

On 14 October 2021 FERSI will organise an online symposium: Implementing evidence-based road safety measures, removing barriers and enhancing public support. FERSI announces the speakers and panelists at the symposium. 

Three presentations will be given by practitioners and decision makers on vulnerable road users, speed and road safety management. Speakers are: 

  • Ana I. Blanco (Associated Deputy Director for Traffic at the Spanish General Directorate for Traffic) 
  • Giannis Kefalogiannis (former Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport in Greece) 
  • Pernille Sølund Ehlers (Senior Advisor at the Danish Road Safety Council) 

A panel (together with the speakers and the audience) will put the issues in an international, European and scientific perspective. The panelists are: 

  • Matthew Baldwin (Deputy Director-General DG MOVE and European Coordinator for Road Safety and Sustainable Mobility, EC) 
  • Astrid Linder (Research Director Traffic Safety at VTI and Adjunct Professor at Chalmers University of Technology) 
  • Nhan Tran (Head Safety and Mobility, Department of the Social Determinants of Health, WHO) 

More information on the speakers can be found here

Register now for the symposium »