In 2008, the Swedish government released a SEK 1.3 billion research and innovation proposition, which included transport as one of the 20-odd specified core areas. The proposition offered universities a new method for funding research.  All of Chalmers came together and mobilized for the application process, which was focused on securing funding in five areas. Efforts paid off, and Chalmers was granted the most funding per researcher of all of the universities and colleges in Sweden. Energy received the most funding of any area, with transport sliding in at second place. In the area of transport, Chalmers and the University of Gothenburg were granted SEK 15 million in joint funding per year through 2014, at which point funding will be re-evaluated. If the evaluation turns out well, Chalmers could receive SEK 46 million a year in funding from 2014.

One of the greatest effects of the new funding program is that scientific excellence and societal benefit are given the same emphasis. Before now, applied research has largely been assignment-based and doctoral student-focused, but now universities are given the chance to conduct research more freely and with more basis in academic discipline, though still in close collaboration with trade and industry and public authorities. "The aim is for each researcher to be able to spend approximately 30% of his or her time on independent research, which will help prevent us getting stuck in short commission-based projects that don´t correlate with a long-term research strategy," says Dubois. Chalmers will also focus on recruiting postdoctoral students to create a more balanced researcher structure in different phases, a richer postgraduate milieu and to bring in "new blood" to the system.

In the area of transport, Chalmers has decided to emphasize three areas - Transport Efficiency and Customer Adapted Logistics, Traffic Safety and Sustainable Vehicles and Fuels. The greatest challenge will be contributing to reliable and eco-friendly transports using various research and educational initiatives. Because so many solutions have application throughout the transport sector, they are also working to find synergies in road, rail, water and air transportation.

Chalmers aims to work with the entire chain - from how transport purchasers plan their logistics to the best possible means of transport with the least possible emissions. "To succeed in this, we need to have joint responsibility and collaboration with many interested parties in the public arena," says Dubois, but also points out that this type of collaboration already exists in the Göteborg region.

She names KNEG as an example. KNEG, a cooperative network aimed at the development of "climate neutral freight transportation," brings together 17 interested parties in this area - from the ICA grocery chain to the Swedish postal service to AB Volvo. The objective of KNEG is to propose various measures for reducing the carbon footprint of road-carried goods transports in Sweden. This collaborative partnership has been in place since 2006 and provides an excellent example of how positive cooperation between various interested parties might be structured. Another example is MISTRA Urban Futures, which is a recently established center for sustainable urban development. MISTRA´s strength lies in its role as link between research and practical application. All of the region´s players are involved in MISTRA.
Dubois concludes by bringing out a picture, which shows Chalmers in the middle surrounded by a number of skills centers and enterprises Chalmers is involved in. The objective is to show the strength inherent in the collaboration between trade and industry, the public sector and academia. And also to show that Chalmers aims to be the hub in the successful region of sustainable transports now being developed.