Successful Kickoff Meeting for the PhDs EU-Rail Project in Málaga Málaga, Spain –
The PhDs EU-Rail project marked the beginning of an ambitious research and innovation initiative with a successful kick-off meeting held from October 8 to 9, 2024, at the University of Málaga’s School of Industrial Engineering. Coordinated by Armando Carrillo Zanuy (EURNEX) and chaired by Isabel Ruiz-Mora, Juan Jesus Castillo and Sergio Postigo (UMA), this pivotal event brought together 20 representatives from all partner institutions.
The PhDs EU-Rail project, under the Horizon Europe framework funded by Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail), aims to consolidate academic and industry collaboration in the railway sector through the work of 10 PhDs. These projects will contribute to advancing innovation and sustainability in rail transport, aligning closely with the objectives of EU-Rail to support railway engineering, decarbonisation, gender equality, education, economics/impacts and inclusive rail solutions among others.
The 3-year-long project is organised into 5 structured Work Packages to ensure comprehensive research coverage and strategic coordination. Apart of the PhDs theses themselves, a key goal is to produce valuable tutorials and documents that will aid current and future PhD students interested in railway domain, fostering effective collaboration with industry partners and enhancing real-world applicability. PhD Research Focus Areas The kick-off event featured presentations on individual PhD research projects, each addressing critical topics within railway innovation:
- PhD1 Measures and mechanisms to support implementation of rail technical innovations supporting the decarbonisation of transport (VGTU/KYIV).
- PhD2 Change making for gender equality in rail (UMA/UIC).
- PhD3 New generation education and training methods for rail (ASTON).
- PhD4 Rail enabled urban logistics (PARDU).
- PhD5 Fast night train operations (ZAGREB).
- PhD6 Dynamic stability of trains over bridges: a normative research approach (UPORTO).
- PhD7 Safety-relevant communication in the railway system with special consideration of human factors using the example of the digital command (TUB).
- PhD8 Assessing the economic impact of rail technical research: delivering societal objectives in the face of external challenges (LEEDS).
- PhD9 Railway inclusion and accessibility for individuals with intellectual disabilities (LILLE).
- PhD10 ICT platforms for reliable and interoperable ERTMS systems (SSSA).