"Transport and Traffc Sciences as an Interdisciplinary Domain: Projects, Insights, Perspectives" was the title of the first Faculty Colloquium of the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences in the winter semester 2020/21 in cooperation with the Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed). Eight renowned scientists from the TU Dresden (TUD) and other research institutes covered a wide range of topics from technology and economy to sociology and sustainability. With an average of about 30 and sometimes 50 participants, the organizers Prof. Regine Gerike (“Friedrich List” Faculty) and Prof. Marc Timme (cfaed) achieved a great success, which already spurs them on to new joint plans.

Ms. Gerike, Mr. Timme, the faculty colloquium had an enthusiastic audience. There was a very open and interested atmosphere of getting to know each other. What did you want to achieve with the initiative?
Regine Gerike (RG): We wanted to stimulate an interdisciplinary exchange around the topics of transport and mobility and give impulses for possible collaborations. The audience was wonderfully diverse: researchers and students from TU Dresden, from Dresden-concept and also from business, administration and other universities. There were lively discussions after each lecture.

Marc Timme (MT): We were delighted by the broad cross-institutional interest. One goal was to offer all participants a broad overview of the variety of research areas that have points of contact with transport and traffic sciences both inside and outside TUD – from sociology to technology development, infrastructure planning and digitization to environmental and economic aspects.

Why did you organize a colloquium together?
MT: This also has something to do with the broad networking at TU Dresden. Events of the so-called Scientific Area Networks of Dresden-concept on the future of metropole and rural areas, on digitalization and on the dynamics of complex networks have clearly shown that the activities at the faculty and at cfaed offer various points of contact that we would like to explore and exploit.

RG: The colloquium also contributes to the development of the Emerging Field of "Automated and Networked Mobility" defined in the "TUD2028" Excellence Strategy. This area not only includes technical aspects, but must be thought and developed in an interdisciplinary way.

How do you now proceed with the impulses that have been set?
RG: In a second step, we want to involve students more closely in the interdisciplinary approach to designing sustainable transportation systems. A lecture series "Mobility4Future – On the Way to Climate-Compatible Mobility" in the summer semester within the Studium Generale will offer exciting and also international perspectives.

MT: In addition to TUD experts on transport ecology, telecommunications and electric railways, we have been able to attract top-class international experts, including from the University of Oxford (Transport Studies), Lund University/Linnaeus University (Human Ecology/Tourism Research), the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, MOIA GmbH of the Volkswagen Group (Shared Mobility), TU Delft (Robotics) and Virginia Tech (Urban Affairs/Planning). We are excited to see what other perspectives open up.

Interview: Anke Richter-Baxendale

Press contact
Anke Richter-Baxendale
"Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, TU Dresden
phone: +49 351 463-34908
mail: