Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education & Human Resources (IUSE: EHR) Program is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF). This program promotes novel, creative, and transformative approaches to generating and using new knowledge about STEM teaching and learning to improve STEM education for undergraduate students. It supports projects that bring recent advances in STEM knowledge into undergraduate education, adapt, improve, and incorporate evidence-based practices, and lay the groundwork for institutional improvement in STEM education. Professional development for instructors to ensure adoption of new and effective pedagogical techniques is a potential topic of interest.

NSF Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I Programs is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF). These programs provide non-dilutive funds for use-inspired research and development of unproven, leading-edge technology innovations that address societal challenges. NSF funds broadly across scientific and engineering disciplines and does not solicit specific technologies.

Fire Science Innovations through Research and Education (FIRE) program is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF). This program invites innovative multidisciplinary and multisector investigations focused on convergent research and education activities in wildland fire. It supports research that can inform risk management and response, adaptation, and resilience across infrastructures, communities, cultures, and natural environments. Relevant topics include developing novel materials and methods for retrofitting existing buildings and remediating buildings following wildfire and smoke events.

Innovation for regional rail services and new guided transport systems is sponsored by European Commission — Horizon Europe. Expected Outcome: Building upon the results of S2R, Europe’s Rail FP6-Future and Pods4Rail projects as well as EU-member states rail research and innovation activities, the action stemming from this topic is expected to contribute to provide sustainable, attractive and passenger centred solutions to regional and suburban areas by developing light weight and cost efficient rolling stock and an automated Multi-Modal Mobility-System with “moving infrastructures”. Workstream 1: Flagship Area 6 Rolling Stock cluster Work-stream 1 aims at further developing a regional railway vehicle which is a small lightweight vehicle based on the results of EU-Rail FP6-Future [1] , adapted according to numerous specific requirements influenced by the different lines and the corresponding categories of regional lines (e.g. topography, passenger capacity, etc.). The key objectives are the cost reduction and adaptation to the corresponding infrastructure of capillary lines (poor superstructure, narrow curves etc.). These factors have a high influence on the mechanical and electrical architecture of the vehicle and thus on the car body design and the running gears. To ensure the alignment with the key objectives, close monitoring will be implemented using key performance indicators (KPIs). Within FA6 a set of High level KPIs has been identified, targeting the main impacts foreseen for the Flagship Area. Reduced vehicle CAPEX & OPEX through innovative and lighter design: The vehicles for low-density lines must be designed to deliver the service at these lines at a significant lower CAPEX/OPEX: Targeting 50% reduced CAPEX and OPEX, in a LCC perspective. Notwithstanding the previous KPI, passenger vehicles development should aim for step changes in weight reduction and track force reduction, while being tolerant to higher unevenness of the tracks: up to 60% for some parts of the vehicle and up to 30% of weight reduction for the vehicle. Work-stream 2: Automated Multi-Modal Mobility-System with “moving infrastructures” This work-stream should further develop an Automated Multi-Modal Mobility-System system design, based on the results of the EU-Rail Pods4Rail [2] project which defined the foundations for such a system. Design concepts for the Carrier on rail but also on road and conceptual design of a selected sample Transport Units, as well as for components and equipment for the Transport Units were drafted. This work-stream should specify the technical requirements of the main subsystem of a pod system with specific focus on the Carrier, Transport Unit and the Handling System. The focus should remain on the railway application, however, intramodality should be ensured by considering road and ropeway carriers. This workstream should further work on the development of the Mobility Management System already started in the Pods4Rail project and to further detail the technical basis for the autonomous operation of the system, including the investigation of system components of the Mobility Management System in a laboratory environment. In addition, the political, economic, social, technical, legal and environmental (PESTLE) consideration of the realisation of a pods system should be assessed as well as developing concepts for integration into existing multimodal mobility environment. Scope: The project stemming from this topic should develop under the following capabilities the enablers and any other which may contribute to deliver the afore-mentioned expected outcome: Workstream 1: Flagship Area 6 Rolling Stock cluster This work-stream should develop a virtual concept design for lightweight modular regional vehicles for both G1 (Group 1: regional lines with significant connection with mainline) and G2 (Group 2 regional lines with no or limited connection with mainline) lines (TRL4/5) based on the technical parameters defined for solutions developed in FP6-Future D5.1 [3] coming from additional requirements collected from regional rail operators and con Programme areas: Horizon Europe (HORIZON), Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, Climate, Energy and Mobility, Smart Mobility Keywords: Automotive engineering, Disruptive innovation, Multimodality, Rail Operations, Rail Services, Rail projects, Railway, Regional development, Sustainable transport, Transport Railway, Automation, Business Cases, CBA, Carrier, Cost benefit analysis, Cost efficient, Low density lines, Mobility Management System, Moving infrastructure, Multi-modal, Pod, Rail, Rail Car Body, Rail Powertrain, Rail Running Gear, Regional lines, Rolling Stock, Transport Unit, Vessel, modular light-weight vehicle