ERTRAC Conference 2025

ERTRAC is delighted to announce that it will host its annual conference 2025 in Brussels on 1^st of July.

The 2025 edition is titled “Which Research Agenda for Road Transport in FP10?” because the event will serve as a milestone towards the new EU Research Framework Programme FP10: stakeholders will express and discuss their priorities for road transport research in the timeframe 2028-2035.

Experts from the ERTRAC community will present their proposed topics for the new ERTRAC Strategic Research Agenda.

• Timing: Tuesday 1 July 2025, 09:30 – 15:30 (CET)
• Setup: Full-day conference with keynote speeches and panel debates

Discover the draft programme:

09:00 – Arrival of participants

09:30 – Opening session: FP10 is on the horizon: what place does road transport research have in it? How can the research agenda of ERTRAC, 2Zero, CCAM and other relevant Partnerships be handled in the future? How can large flagship initiatives bring a tangible impact on European competitiveness

• Keynote 1: Jane Amilhat, European Commission, DG RTD, Head of Unit Clean Transport Transitions
• Keynote 2: Stephan Neugebauer, BMW Group, ERTRAC & 2Zero Chairman

10:00 – Energy & Environment session: electrification of road transport, charging and grid integration challenges, battery technologies, role of alternative fuels, etc.

• Keynote: Helene Niklasson, Volvo Group, Vice-President Innovation Ecosystems and Partnerships, Head of CampX, EUCAR Chair 2026
• Uros Salobir, ELES, 2Zero Vice-Chairman from the smart grids industry
• Gerhard Meister, AVL, Business Field Leader and Vice President for Electrification
• Rod Williams, Shell, Expert Diesel & Gasoline Application, Fuels Technology Group
• Moderator: Adrian Velaers, Concawe, Fuels Quality and Emissions Science Associate, ERTRAC E&E WG Leader

10:45 – Circularity and Competitiveness session: LCA, alternative materials, reverse factory and recycling, role of AI and digitalisation, etc.

• Keynote: Gladys Moréac-Njeim, Renault Group, Air Quality & Pollutant Footprint Expert
• Anna Rossi, Forvia, Group Technology Sustainability & Partnerships Director
• Markus Seidel, BMW Group, ERTRAC C&C WG Leader
• Sandrine Baudry-Wintrich, Bosch, Design for Environment Raw Materials Life Cycle Management
• Moderator: Thilo Bein, Fraunhofer LBF, Head of Knowledge Management, ERTRAC C&C WG Leader.

11:30 – Urban Mobility session: innovation in urban mobility plans, mobility solutions for all, urban space, innovation for urban logistics, etc.

• Keynote: Koen Kennis, Deputy Mayor in charge of mobility, city of Antwerpen
• Françoise Guaspare, Senior Policy Advisor, Île-de-France Europe, Île-de-France Mobilités Representative in Brussels, ERTRAC Vice-Chairwoman
• Merja Penttinen, Principal Scientist, Transport Systems and Services, Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT
• Johan Leveque, Director of R&D, La Poste Group, ALICE Urban Logistics Co-chair
• Moderator: Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS, ERTRAC UM WG Leader

12:15 – Lunch break

13:30 – Long Distance Freight Transport session: implementation challenges of electrification and automation in LDFT, innovative logistics schemes, vehicle-infrastructure cooperation

• Keynote: Manasa Sridhar, IVECO Group, Innovation – Funding and Cooperation
• Graham Major-Ex, sender, Senior Director Green Business & eMobility
• Franziska Schmidt, Université Gustave Eiffel, ERTRAC LDFT WG Leader
• Moderator: Isabelle Schnell, Volvo Group, ERTRAC LDFT WG Leader

14:15 – Road Safety session: safety system approach, safety of two-wheelers, validation, predictive safety, next roles for AI, etc.

• Keynote: Tjark Kreuzinger, Toyota Motor Europe, Senior Manager Safety Research & Technical Affairs
• Oihana Otaegui, Vicomtech, Director Transport & Security Division
• Heike Martensen, SWOV, Senior Researcher
• Emilia Silvas, TNO, Senior Scientist Integrated Vehicle Safety
• Moderator: Peter Urban, RWTH Aachen, Vice Director Institute for Automotive Engineering (ika), ERTRAC RS WG Leader

15:00 – Connectivity and Automation session: next steps for deployment of CCAM, Software-Defined-Vehicles, vehicle-infrastructure coordination, AI, etc.

• Keynote: Christian Merkt, BMW Group, Chairman of the CCAM Association
• Jean-Baptiste Burtscher, Valeo, Group External Affairs and R&D Partnerships Director
• Kristof Rombaut, Advisor Innovation PMO, Flemish Agency for Roads and Traffic, CEDR CAD
• Margriet Van Schijndel, Program Director Responsible Mobility, Eindhoven AI Systems Institute, TU Eindhoven
• Moderator: Christoph Weigand, Continental, Vice-Chairman of the CCAM Association

15:45 – Conclusions and next steps for new ERTRAC Strategic Research Agenda

• Simon Edwards, Global Director, Technology, Ricardo, ERTRAC Vice-Chair

16:00 End of conference

You can also find the draft agenda on the ERTRAC event webpage.

Please register using this link.

Registration is mandatory. This event is limited to companies and organisations involved in European road transport research. ERTRAC has the right to reject applications not fitting the research activities of the platform.

The event is free of charge.

For any question, please contact the ERTRAC office at info@ertrac.org.

*STREnGth_M has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101096253.