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ANNOUNCEMENT

ITF Annual Summit Research Sessions
held as part of the 2025 ITF Annual Summit

21-23 May 2025
Leipzig, Germany

Call for Extended Abstracts

The International Transport Forum (ITF), together with the European Commission (EC), the European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (ECTRI), the US Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS), is pleased to announce the ITF Annual Research Sessions as part of the official programme of the ITF 2025 Annual Summit on Enhancing Transport Resilience to Global Shocks to be held in person in Leipzig, Germany from 21-23 May 2025.

The Summit explores how governments ensure the continuity of transport systems amidst current and future disruptions. The programme will focus on key shocks such as natural disasters, pandemics, cyber-attacks, and geopolitical crises, which can cause operational delays, economic losses, and diminished public confidence.

The objective of the Summit Research Sessions is to bring together subject matter research experts, senior-level policy practitioners, as well as decision-makers, to discuss and exchange ideas on specific Summit themes. Researchers can inform policy decisions by helping practitioners understand the increasing complexity of mobility systems; by bringing awareness about the latest innovations that could be critical for a sustainable future; and by critically assessing the potential and the impacts of current and burgeoning policies. This is increasingly important considering the pace at which our transport systems are currently evolving.

Format of the research-focused events of the ITF Summit
Three Research Sessions will be included in the main programme of the Summit and a research perspective will also be brought to many Panel Sessions: 

  • The three Research Sessions will promote exchanges between research experts and policy practitioners focused on the Summit themes.
  • Panel Sessions will bring together Transport Ministers, industry leaders and other stakeholders to discuss a specific policy topic. Researchers and policy practitioners will also participate in selected panels and offer insights to enrich policy discussions.

Submission of abstracts for the three Research Sessions
The following policy-relevant questions will guide discussions at the three Research Sessions

  1. Bridging Inequalities and Supporting SDGs: How can inequalities in transport access and inclusivity be addressed to empower communities and accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals?
     
  2. Advancing Climate and Environmental Preparedness: How can transport systems be strengthened to adapt to and mitigate climate shocks through physical and collaborative solutions?
     
  3. Harnessing Innovation and Digital Solutions: How can the adoption of digital innovations and technologies future-proof transport systems and enhance resilience?

To select the researchers who will present their work at the three Research Sessions, we invite submissions for extended abstracts of up to 1000 words that focus on one of the three questions above. The submission must be accompanied by a three (3) minutes-long video recording explaining the relevance of their contribution for the chosen submission topic. 

Abstracts and videos must be submitted no later than Monday, 03 March 2025, 11:00 PM ET (GMT-5) using the button below.
Any submissions received after this deadline will not be accepted for consideration.

Guidelines for abstracts and videos
Abstracts can draw on quantitative or qualitative research in the fields of transport, mobility, or any other academic fields linked to transport. Abstracts must include a title, the name(s) of author(s), their organisation affiliations, and their contact details. Please also include details of any project website(s) where additional information is available, and identify which one (or more) of the three topics listed above your abstract relates to. Given that the overall goal of the Research Sessions is to foster research-policy linkages, abstracts must clearly elaborate on their relevance and potential to impact policy, as well as on how the research contributes to the processes of developing and implementing policy.

Videos must explain the relevance of a submission to the Summit theme and concisely summarise how research findings address one of the three questions set out above. In case of submissions with multiple co-authors, the video recording should be prepared by the lead author who will present the research at the Summit. Presentations can be done by using a slide-deck, but this is not mandatory. They must be submitted in an mp4 format.    

Abstracts and videos can be submitted in both English and French, the two official languages of the International Transport Forum.

Selection process
For both the abstract and the video submissions, applicants will be evaluated on the following:

  • relevance of the research for policymaking in the chosen submission category(ies);
  • potential of the research outputs to improve policymaking;
  • methodological soundness of the presented work;
  • clarity of argument; and
  • uniqueness and innovativeness of the presented work. 

Based on these criteria, submissions will first be reviewed by a team of ITF and independent experts. The final selection of speakers will then be conducted by a jury composed of members of the five partner organising institutions. Successful applicants will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by late-March 2025.

Selected authors will be invited to present their research in person at the ITF Summit, 21-23 May 2025.  

As Summit speakers, the selected authors will have their Summit registration fees covered by the ITF; however, these authors will be responsible for their own travel, hotel, and any other related expenses. We recommend authors who require a visa to travel to Germany start processing it as soon as possible.  

For further information, please contact: