New research hub to be set up to help tackle decarbonisation and improve transport resilience

Fri 03 February 2023 View all news

A new research hub is to be launched, aimed at boosting 'innovative measures to decarbonise and improve transport'. The Government has pledged to invest £10m in funding for the centre, which will establish a UK centre for excellence for transport innovation.

The 'Net Zero Transport for a Resilient Future Research Hub' is being set up to drive decarbonisation solutions, such as greater use of recycled materials and reducing the carbon footprint of repairs and maintenance. The hub will also develop and implement innovative ideas to ensure future transport is resilient and meets the challenges of climate adaption, such as changes to weather and water levels.

Applications are now open for organisations to host the new hub. (Closing date 25 April.)

Decarbonisation Minister Jesse Norman MP said: "Innovation is key to the growth of the transport sector, and the creation of high-skilled jobs and business opportunities across the UK.

"By working to develop real-world solutions across a wide range of academic disciplines, such as architecture and design, computing and behavioural sciences, the hub will help support innovation in the UK which could lead to high-skilled jobs across the UK."

Some of the areas the hub will be expected to research include:

  • solutions for resilient transport infrastructure – researching ways to improve the design of transport related infrastructure to better cope with potential climate impacts and reduce emissions, for example increasing use of recycled materials, increasing biodiversity in projects, or ways to use fewer materials
  • streetscape – designing streets to minimise carbon emissions, improve drivers’ and pedestrians’ mental health and wellbeing, and ensure their resilience to potential climate impacts
  • localised climate modelling of temperature, sea-level and weather – gaining a better understanding of potential climate impacts on specific areas, in part, to prioritise those places most in need for possible adaptive measures and projects
  • bridge the gap between infrastructure research and policy – researching ways to shorten the time between developing innovative solutions and their wider adoption

The hub will be funded through UKRI’s Building a Green Future strategic theme to accelerate the UK’s transition to a secure and prosperous green economy by 2050. This theme is a partnership between government departments, industry and UKRI to fast-track the development of innovative solutions needed to meet the UK’s net zero goals.

Over 80% of the funding for the hub will come from government through the Department for Transport, UKRI (via the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council), and organisations in the Transport Research and Innovation Board, with the remaining coming from the winning research centre, which will become the home of the hub.

The hub has a fixed start date of 1 September 2023 and can run for up to 43 months.

Photo by Tekton on Unsplash

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