VISION

The University of Žilina becomes a unique innovation hub and a leading European institution in ITS research and innovation. Awareness about ITS research activities at UNIZA is increased within the European Research Area. The performance of UNIZA and the Žilina convergence region in ITS research, innovation as well as education is enhanced for the benefits of relevant actors at regional, national and European levels.

MISSION

To contribute to scientific excellence in ITS and support regional innovation strategies fostering economic and social development.

To build an attractive and internationally competitive environment at UNIZA through the development of human resources and maximisation of research infrastructure exploitation.

The ERAdiate project intends to help UNIZA become an ITS research and innovation leader in Central Europe.

The objectives of ERAdiate are to:

• Unlock and strengthen UNIZA research potential in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)
• Promote excellence of the University of Zilina (UNIZA) as well as the Zilina convergence region in the field of ITS
• Enhance transnational cooperation in research thus increasing international competitiveness of UNIZA
• Intensify national and international cooperation with stakeholders
• Contribute to growth and jobs in line with regional innovation strategies

The ERAdiate project intends to help UNIZA become an ITS research and innovation leader in Central Europe.

Systematic development of human resources (notably attracting highly experienced international experts and increasing the critical mass of excellent researchers in ITS), effective exploitation of research infrastructures and structural changes within UNIZA are the key instruments to reach the ERAdiate objectives.

The ERA Chair project “Enhancing Research and InnovAtion dimensions of the University of Zilina in intelligent transport systems” (ERAdiate) has the overarching objective to unlock and strengthen the research potential and promote excellence of the University of Zilina (UNIZA) as well as the Zilina convergence region in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).

The main aim is to enhance UNIZA and the Zilina region performance in research, innovation and education, as well as to strengthen UNIZA’s competitiveness within the European Research Area (ERA).

ERAdiate is developing significant ITS topics with international recognition and creates a recognized footprint. The project focuses on societal challenges, political goals, long term strategies, sustainable solutions, technological and societal development to determine future “market demand”.

The relevant fields in research and innovation (R&I) tackled by the project are:

1. Co-operative ITS
2. Decarbonisation of Mobility
3. Urban Mobility / Smart City
4. Intermodal ITS

The project addresses major challenges such as creating competitive environment, increasing of critical mass of excellent researchers, significant improvement of the UNIZA performance in competitive research funding, implementation of the ERA culture and contribution to growth and jobs based on the SMART specialization strategies.

ERAdiate is a Coordination and Support Action funded by the European Commission’s (EC) Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). It began in July 2014 and will last five years. ERAdiate is coordinated by Prof. Milan Dado (Project Coordinator) and managed by prof. Tatiana Kováčiková (ERA Chair Holder) in close cooperation with two advisory bodies: the Project Board and the Exploitation Panel. The project is implemented by the ERA Chair team.

The ERAdiate project is expected to have the following impacts:

Impacts on Research and Innovation

• unlock and stimulate UNIZA’s research potential in ITS;
• increase awareness about UNIZA’s ITS research activities in the European Research Area;
• more effective management of research and innovation at UNIZA;
• enhanced international competitiveness of UNIZA by means of transnational co-operation;
• increased participation of UNIZA in European research and development programmes;
• more intensive national and international cooperation with stakeholders, especially innovative business partners, research institutions and professional associations.

Institutional and Structural Changes

• strategy for sustainable development of ITS human resources and research infrastructures at UNIZA;
• integration of ERA priorities into UNIZA processes, including open recruitment, gender balance, peer review, and doctoral training.

Impacts on Regional Development

• stronger interaction with regional and national authorities in designing and implementing research and innovation strategies and policies for the SMART specialization;
• direct contribution to regional and national development plans;
• effective contribution to the regional economic and social development.

The results of the ERAdiate project will be exploited not only within UNIZA but also by other regional stakeholders.

The execution of the ERAdiate project will enhance UNIZA and the Zilina region performance in research, innovation as well as education for the benefits of enlarged European Union.

ERAdiate began in July 2014 and runs until July 2019. The project is implemented through 7 work packages, the inter-relations of which can be seen in the figure below.

Management (WP1)

This work package aims at ensuring that the project is appropriately managed as per the project plan, within budget and scheduled timescales. Tasks includes risk management, monitoring project progress, tracking deliverables and reporting back to the EC. WP1 will also control the quality of the performance, developments, achievement of milestones and deliverables.

ERA Chair Selection (WP2)

In this work package, the selection procedure for the position of ERA Chair Holder will be prepared and conducted. Specific tasks include advertising the job vacancy, nominating the independent selection committee members, defining the selection criteria, and coordinating the ERA Chair selection process in accordance with the ERA priorities. WP2 is the strategic milestone for the implementation of the whole project.

ERA Chair Establishment (WP3)

The overall objective of this WP is to create a stimulating, attractive, and competitive environment stimulating research, development and innovation with a high added value. This includes a complex analysis of the current state-of-the-art in the ITS research and innovation at UNIZA and the definition of a strategy for future sustainable development of research and innovative activities. Consecutive tasks include setting up the ERA Chair team structure and selecting the team members. This WP addresses the wider integration of research activities at regional and international level including industrial partnerships.

ERA Chair Performance (WP4)

This WP contributes to the promotion of UNIZA activities and excellence in ITS research through the development of existing resources (human, infrastructure, contact database) and the organisation of workshops and conferences. More specifically, the WP intends to

• define strategies pertaining to the development of human resources and research teams in the ITS field at UNIZA
• develop the research infrastructure, notably define strategic research areas
• define education policies, especially in doctoral studies
• enhance networking and cooperation through the expansion of an international contact database and establishment of strategic partnerships with key players in Europe

ERA Chair Attraction (WP5)

WP5 is oriented towards the effective widening of the participation of UNIZA in H2020 and other important European competitive programmes and towards the concentration of resources for funding research and innovations. This WP aims at enhancing UNIZA competences and competitiveness for grants through effective management of research and innovations. This includes activities such as the preparation of project proposals directed to the Horizon 2020 challenges and other important EU programmes for regional development, cross border collaboration, and the implementation of results for smart specialization as well as the management/coordination of supporting activities.

ERA Chair Interaction (WP6)

WP6 is focusing on the interaction between UNIZA, regional and national authorities, as well as external stakeholders in the field of ITS research, development, innovative implementation and operation. Such interaction aims to achieve the positive spill-over effects of implementing the ERAdiate project, to initiate and support structural changes and to intensify the cooperation with regional, national and cross-border authorities and bodies with a view to enhance the research excellence and the innovation chain.

Dissemination and Publicity (WP7)

The objective of the dissemination and publicity work package is to raise awareness about the developments and outcomes of the project and to disseminate information about the project, its objectives and results. Within this work package, strategy and policies will be established in order to effectively spread excellence and ensure that the project objectives, results and knowledge gained within the project are widely promoted to the target groups at national and European level. All key stakeholders such as public administrations, academics, relevant enterprises and research institutions are involved, in order to foster the impact of the project activities and results.

General information

General information about ERA Chairs: http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/era-chairs_en.html

Project details

ERAdiate = Enhancing Research and innovAtion dimension of the University of Zilina in intelligent transport systems

http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/185731_en.html

Project reference:           621386

Funded under    FP7-REGPOT

Total cost:          EUR 2 640 760

EU contribution:              EUR 2 126 035

Coordinated in: Slovakia

Topic(s):              ERACHAIRS-2013-1 – Any research topic covered by the EU FP7

Call for proposal:             FP7-ERAChairs-PilotCall-2013

Funding scheme:             CSA-SA – Support actions

History and future of ERA Chairs

“Spreading Excellence and Widening – participation in Horizon 2020”

WIDESPREAD 2-2014: ERA Chairs

http://www.horizon2020.lu/content/download/18019/171893/file/ERA%20Chairs.pdf

Structure & organisation

The team of the ERA Chair project “ERAdiate” (in short, the ERAdiate Team) is conceived as a flexible organisational structure consisting of experts and specialists with skills in project management, technology and innovations transfer into industry, intellectual property rights, public relations, in addition to the scientific and research skills in the ITS domain.

On a case-by-case basis, the team may be enhanced by supporting staff which carries out specific tasks (e.g. collection and analysis of data) or non-scientific work (e.g. translations, documentation).

The ERAdiate team operates under the direct supervision and responsibility of the ERA Chair Holder as a Project Manager.

The ERAdiate Project Coordinator is the person responsible for the project implementation based on the work plan according to the Grant Agreement with the European Commission (EC). The Project Coordinator leads project meetings and is responsible for progress and final reports to the EC. An administrative and financial assistant supports the Project Coordinator with his duties.

ERA Chair holder

Prof. Tatiana Kováčiková, PhD. has been ERA Chair Holder for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) at the University of Zilina, Slovakia, since October 1, 2017.  More info

Project coordinators

Prof. Milan Dado

Prof. Milan Dado is Full Professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (Department of Telecommunication and Multimedia). He is former dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, former rector of the University of Zilina and former president of the Slovak rectors’ conference.

He had the opportunity to develop international activities in research and education abroad, e.g. at the York University Canada, Northern Telecom and Bell Canada in 1993, at the Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm in 1990 and at the Vienna University of Technology in 1981-1982. He has visited many other foreign institutions during the last 25 years.

Prof. Dado has been actively involved in European research and education programmes (TEMPUS, COST, LEONARDO, Socrates, 5th, 6th and 7th Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, European University Association projects…) and has managed national projects related to information and communication technologies, intelligent transportation systems, regional innovation strategies and e-learning.

He has been a member of several international committees and is currently COST programme national coordinator, member of COST Committee of Senior Officials as well as Executive Board member of COST.

As project coordinator of ERAdiate, Prof. Dado is responsible for the project implementation as foreseen in the Grant Agreement with the European Commission (EC). He chairs project meetings and is responsible for progress and final reports to the EC.

Prof. Ladislav Janoušek (Coordinator Contact)

Prof. Ladislav Janoušek is Full Professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electromagnetic and Biomedical Engineering. He is former vice-dean for development and international affairs at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and former vice-head of the Department of Electromagnetic and Biomedical Engineering. He used to be a member of the Programme Committee of the 7th Framework Programme, specific programme Capacities – Regions of Knowledge, Research Potential.

Prof. Janoušek completed his Master’s and PhD. degrees at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Žilina, in the field of Power Electrical Systems. His professional carrier started at the Electrotechnical Research and Projecting Company in Nová Dubnica, Slovakia. Then, he joined the research company IIU Int. in Tokyo, Japan, where he worked as researcher in the field of non-destructive evaluation for three years. After returning to Slovakia in 2005 he joined the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. His current research and innovation activities focus on electromagnetic non-destructive evaluation of conductive materials and impact of electromagnetic field on living organisms. He is author/co-author of three patents and more than 150 research articles published in scientific journals and conference proceedings. He has been principal investigator of six research projects and actively contributed to implementation of other ten projects funded from national and international resources. He received several prestigious awards for his achievements and innovative solutions.

As coordinator contact of ERAdiate, he is supporting the project coordinator with all issues related to the project implementation.

Project board

The Project Board has an advisory and supervisory function. Its role is to oversee the fulfilment of the ERAdiate project goals with emphasis on the selection of the ERA Chair Holder and ERA Chair Team members, definition of research strategies, preparation of innovative project goals in R&D oriented mainly on H2020, preparation of strategy for sustainable growth and transfer of best practices and ERA priorities within the university environment.

The Project Board members actively participate in the creation of policy strategic documents, especially for SMART regional strategy definition, negotiations with representatives of the Zilina region and national representatives and cross-border regional political coalitions. The Project Board plays an important part in the project propagation and dissemination.

The Project Board consists of UNIZA decision makers and the ERA Chair Holder.

Members of the Project Board are:

• Karol Matiaško, vice‐rector for Information Systems – Chair;
• Tatiana Čorejová, rector of UNIZA;
• Ján Čelko, vice‐rector for Science and Research;
• Jozef Ristvej, vice-rector for International Relations & Marketing;
• Milan Sága, dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering;
• Josef Vičan, dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering; doc.
• Emil Kršák, dean of the Faculty of Management Science & Informatics;
• Pavol Špánik, dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering;
• Anna Križanová, dean of the Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications;
• Zdeněk Dvořák, dean of Faculty of Security Engineering;
• Peter Fabián, director of CETRA;
• Michal Zábovský, director of the University Science Park;
• Tatiana Kováčiková, ERA Chair Holder.

Exploitation panel

The Exploitation Panel is the second advisory body consisting of representatives of important stakeholders and decision-makers from the Žilina region including regional and national authorities, industrial partners, research institutions and professional associations.

Activities of the Exploitation Panel focus on dissemination and possible participation in research and innovation projects, to create spill-over effects within and outside UNIZA

The Exploitation Panel is composed of:

• Tatiana Kováčiková, ERA Chair Holder – Chair
• Miriam Skacelova, Žilina self-governing region, Slovakia
• Tomáš Mésároš, Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic
• Branislav Zacharides, TRITIA Inter-Regional Association, Slovakia
• Rastislav Babica, ITS Director, Betamont, Slovakia
• Christian Chimani, Head of mobility department, Austrian Institute of Technology
• Jarsoslav Holecko, President of Association of Automotive Industry, Slovakia
• Martin Russ, Managing Director of Austria Tech GmbH, Head of ITS Austria
• Roman Srp, ITS&S, Head of ITS associations, Czech Republic

Peer review board

The Peer Review Board is an advisory body of WP7 Dissemination and Publicity. Its role is to set up dissemination goals and metrics, as well as to review disseminated results and provide feedback to the leader of WP7.

Members of the Peer Review Board are:

Milan Dado, Professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at UNIZA, ERAdiate project coordinator – Chair

Otto Koudelka, Head of the Institute of Communication Networks and Satellite Communications (Graz University of Technology), Austria

Ondřej Přibyl, vice-dean for International Relations, Faculty of Transportation Sciences, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic