Why R2S?

The total investment in the construction industry in Sweden alone is about 300 billion SEK per year of which approximately 75 billion SEK goes to civil constructions such as road- and railway infrastructure. Considering the size of this investment as well as the societal importance of a sustainable, well functioning and long-term environmentally friendly infrastructure network, it is not hard to see why the road- and railway network is of national importance for Sweden. Furthermore, a thriving road- and railway network also functions as a driving force for further economic growth and helps in attracting international ventures, making it also of international importance. Given the current pace of new inventions in high-tech materials, ICT solutions, new environmentally friendly vehicles and solutions and increased international trading, it is of the utmost importance that our infrastructure is not lacking behind in innovation and is able to implement the latest innovations into practice. For this, a close collaboration between the state-of-the-art research centers in Highway and Railway Engineering and the industry is of utmost importance. Only then, research advances can lead to inventions that will bring innovations in our future infrastructure.

For this reason, a new Center will be inaugurated called Road to Science (Road2Science), which is located at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and is closely linked to industrial partners and relevant national and international transport authorities. KTH’s Road2Science Center will seek to create multi-disciplinary solutions and cross-disciplinary paths that transcend departmental, institutional, industrial and governmental barriers and lend itself to the integration of research and education in the vital field of transport infrastructure technology. Road2Science will foster advances in computational and experimental science aiming at developing new materials, tools and systems for increased mobility, safety and environmentally friendliness and will be a driving force for implementation of innovations in the infrastructure of tomorrow’s society. Road2Science will put science into the future of infrastructure.