french institute of science and technology for transport ... - Ifsttar

35
SCiENTiFiC AND
TECHNiCAL ACTiViTiES
To respond to issues with a major societal impact, research goals must not be too narrow and
compartmentalized and there must be a firm commitment to systemic, multidisciplinary, approaches,
which are necessarily complex. Throughout the year, our researchers and staff have therefore engaged
in a large number of discussions and an in-depth review in order to develop, collegially, a research
strategy for the next ten years with 4 Research Orientations. The process also considered the
resources, tools and policies to be consolidated, reoriented or implemented in order to enhance the
Institute’s research and adapt it to concerns, needs and priorities. This high level of mobilization on
organizational aspects did not prevent IFSTTAR from conducting research at a very high level in
2011. It should be pointed out that one of the major strengths of IFSTTAR’s research was already
the way disciplines are combined (SPI, STIC, SHS and SDV) and the systematic consideration of
human factors. These features are already discernable in the survey that follows, which has been
conducted for each Research Orientation in turn. Research Orientations 1 (Mobility, the environment
and energy) and R (Ageing, hazards and nuisances) deal with consumption and environmental
impacts at various scales. Research Orientations 2 (Quality, safety and optimization of transport
systems) and S (Improving road safety and modernizing transport infrastructure) focuses on the
organization of transport systems and infrastructures. Research Orientation S places the emphasis on
safety-related aspects of transport research, which are also covered by Research Orientation 3 (Accident
studies, biomechanics and health). Finally, Orientation W (Conserving energy and natural resources)
targets current concerns in the area of construction.
@ CONTACTS / dominique.mignot@ifsttar.fr & henri.van-damme@ifsttar.fr
Dominique Mignot
Deputy Scientific Director
Henri Van Damme
Scientific Director
annual report 2011 ifsttar.fr