Senior Researcher Competition
THE COMPETITION
The concept of the TRA VISIONS 2024 Senior Researcher Competition is to have an excellence award for senior researchers who have contributed with significant innovative ideas and concepts, based on results from EU-funded projects in the field of transport.
This competition will act as a tool for further disseminating knowledge and results from innovation and/or research projects in transport, for promoting future synergies, as well as for further developing pioneering ideas in line with the strategic objectives of the Transport Research Arena (TRA) stakeholders.
The winners of the TRA VISIONS 2024 Senior Researcher Competition will act as a showcase for the very best EU-funded innovation and research and either acknowledge the achievements of established leaders in the field, or encourage the development of the rising stars who will become the future leaders.
The Senior Researcher Competition will cover all transport modes (road, rail, waterborne, air and cross-modality) including infrastructures and cross-cutting issues in line with the EC ‘Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy’ for a green, smart, affordable and integrated mobility.
The Science and Technology (S&T) objectives are to nurture the best transport researchers and innovators in Europe, promote the alignment of their interests with those of transport stakeholders, encourage them to participate in the Transport Research Arena 2024 Conference (TRA 2024) and celebrate their achievements.
TRA VISIONS 2024 seeks to reflect the multidisciplinary nature of the transport domain and, for this reason, addresses all stakeholders in both the public and private sectors and all professionals, regardless of their roles (researchers, practitioners, designers, constructors, operators, administrators, etc.).
Winners and shortlisted entrants will be notified well in advance of the Transport Research Arena (TRA) 2024 Conference. Each winner will be awarded a trophy during the Transport Research Arena (TRA) 2024 Conference which will be held in April 2024, in Dublin, Ireland. Shortlisted entrants will receive a certificate acknowledging their achievement.
The deadline for entry is 14th September 2023 23:59 CET.
REGISTRATION
JOIN THE SENIOR RESEARCHER COMPETITION
You can register your details by selecting the link “Register as a senior researcher” and completing the registration form that is found there.
The TRA VISIONS consortium welcomes you and invites you to join the “TRA VISIONS” network. Participation and access to the information on the website is free of charge, but does require registration.
SPECIAL HONORARY AWARD
An additional sixth special award will be introduced, for honouring a “very” senior researcher who is about to complete or has already completed their career, and who has through the years made an outstanding and well-recognized contribution to transport-related research and innovation in their respective field. Someone who has, throughout their career, demonstrated groundbreaking and future-oriented views and research.
A Board of distinguished and renowned personalities from all transport modes will be created for selecting the winner of the TRA VISIONS 2024 special honorary award. An Open Call for nominations will be launched to the entire transport research community. Nominations can be made by single persons, including the members of the Board, or groups of persons. Self-nominations are excluded.
Each nomination shall include a proper justification based on the overall impact, visionary thinking, breakthrough achievements and track record of the nominated person (including but not limited to EU funding policy impact, publication track record, patents and research leadership, etc.). The justification shall not be more than two (2) pages long. The criteria for the selection of the winner will be holistic. There will be only one winner for this award, irrespective of transport mode.
COMPETITION RULES
1 Entries must be made to the TRA VISIONS 2024 public website (http://www.travisions.eu/) or via the TRA 2024 Conference portal.
2 Entries must be based on results from EU-funded transport-related research projects.
3 Entrants must select the most appropriate transport mode for their submission. The material in submissions need not be exclusively constrained to a single transport mode but entries can only be considered under one transport mode. The competition organisers reserve the right to reallocate any entrant that they regard to have been incorrectly categorized.
4 Only one entry to the competition per person.
5 All entries must be in English.
6 Previous winners are not eligible for the mode-specific competition but are eligible for the special honorary award.
7 Previous entrants, including those shortlisted, are eligible to re-enter the competition.
8 Entrants must not be directly related or affiliated with the individuals participating in the TRA 2024 (Project No 101056931) consortium.
9 The deadline for entry is 14th September 2023.
10 Shortlisted entrants will be informed in good time and given adequate time to provide any additional material requested.
12 An additional (sixth) special honorary award will be granted to a very senior researcher. There will be one winner for this award, irrespective of transport mode (see Section 6).
13 Nominated winners will be required to attend the award event at the TRA 2024 Conference. In addition, winners will be expected to cooperate promptly with the competition organisers for reasonable requests for additional material to support the awards ceremony, publicity and TRA 2024 Conference. If the nominated winner is unable to attend the TRA 2024 Conference, the award may, at the discretion of the competition organisers, be given to another entrant on the shortlist.
14 For the six winners (mode-specific and honorary), the organisers will contribute to Conference fees, reasonable accommodation and travel expenses to the TRA 2024 Conference in Dublin, Ireland. This is conditional upon the provision of receipts and limited to a maximum contribution of 850€.
15 Winners are responsible for organising their registration, accommodation and travel to and from the TRA 2024 conference in Dublin, Ireland.
16 Winners will be acknowledged on the TRA 2024 Conference and TRA VISIONS 2024 website and may be acknowledged on the websites of the project Consortium members.
18 Entrants must comply with all rules to be eligible for the awards, certificates and contributions towards their accommodation and travel expenses.
19 No responsibility is accepted for ineligible entries or entries made fraudulently.
20 Entrants will be deemed to have accepted these rules and to agree to be bound by them when entering this competition.
21 The competition organisers do not accept any responsibility for late or lost entries due to the poor performance of the Internet – applicants are advised to apply as early as possible.
22 The Judges’ decision is final in every situation including any not covered in these rules and no correspondence will be entered into.
23 The Judges and competition organisers reserve the right to have discretion regarding the rules including amending dates.
24 The organisers reserve the right to cancel the competition at any stage, if deemed necessary in their opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of their control. In such circumstances, no costs will be refunded.
25 The organisers reserve the right not to select a winner in one or more transport modes in the unlikely event that the Judges decide that no entry is of sufficient standard, similar to the special honorary award.
Notes
- There are no specific educational, qualification or nationality requirements but as a guide it is envisioned that entrants will be senior researchers well recognised in their field.
- The competition is primarily aimed at individual champions but this does not exclude a joint entry from two or more senior researchers working on a collaborative project. In this case the relative contributions of the senior researchers must be provided as well as the benefits gained from the collaboration. When assessing output the judges will take in to consideration the number of senior researchers for any submission.
- The organisers recognise that research is often a team effort and are keen to recognise the work of all team members. Shortlisted candidates may provide a list of the research group who have supported their work.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information about the competition, you may contact the Senior Researcher Competition organizer, Dr Bidisha Ghosh, at: bghosh@tcd.ie
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Is A PhD required to enter the competition?
A: There are no academic requirements for the competition, but successful candidates are expected to be in more senior roles.
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Q: Must I be an EU citizen?
A: No, the competition is open to all nationalities.
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Q: Not all of my research is funded by the EC will this count?
A: A successful researcher will have many funding streams and non EC funded research will be taken into consideration when looking at your overall transport related impact but EC funded transport research must be a significant part of your research portfolio and will be given more weighting.
COMPETITION SCHEDULE
7 FEB 2023
Full competition opens
PARTICIPANTS CAN REGISTER AND ALSO MAKE THEIR FULL SUBMISSION
Registration of interest
14 SEPT 2023 23:59 CET
Submission of entries deadline
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
JAN 2024
Results of peer evaluation
PARTICIPANTS INFORMED AND SHORTLIST SELECTED
FEB 2024
Winner selection workshop
WINNERS NOTIFIED
15-18 APR 2024
TRA conference - Dublin
AWARDS CEREMONY
More information
For more information about the competition download the “Senior Researcher Competition Guidelines 2024” or contact Dr. Bidisha Ghosh at bghosh@tcd.ie
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Award – TRA VISIONS 2022
The five top winners for each mode (road, rail, waterborne, airborne and cross-modality) have been announced during the TRA VISIONS 2022 award ceremony on 14th November 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal.
