This project, funded by the Unite! Seed Fund, aims to fill a gap in educational initiatives on underground transport in European academic education by offering a dedicated summer school focused on the safety of underground transport infrastructure.
Transport infrastructure is the backbone of the European economy. To achieve high availability, infrastructure safety must be ensured. Underground transport infrastructure, in this context, represents a special case but is underrepresented in European academic education.
The Seed Fund project aims to fill this gap by offering a dedicated summer school focused on the safety of underground transport infrastructure. The project team from TU Darmstadt, TU Graz, Politecnico di Torino, and Wrocław University of Science and Technology combines expertise in automotive, energy, and civil engineering, as well as transport safety, creating a unique unity that enables a comprehensive view of the topic.
Underground transport infrastructure, due to its limited space, always presents particular challenges. Therefore, great efforts have been made to ensure the safety of tunnels, parking garages, etc. Additionally, the transport sector is undergoing significant changes in energy sources. Particularly, today’s road transport still relies on fossil fuels, but alternative technologies, such as battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and hydrogen-powered vehicles, are entering the market. This poses new challenges in road safety.
However, the topics of road safety and tunnel safety are underrepresented in European academic education. For this reason, the project team decided to initiate a joint teaching and learning initiative within Unite! – a summer school on the topic of “Safety of Underground Transport Infrastructure.”
The course will take place on-site at the universities in Darmstadt and Wrocław, where a visit to a tunnel under construction is planned. The first days of the summer school will be held virtually, with lectures and preliminary information on project work. More information can be found on the Unite! website.
