Research group: Traffic Safety

The origins of the Traffic Safety research group date back to the increase in traffic accidents in Norway in the post-war period. The group is part of the Department of Safety, Security and Environment, which is one of the three constituent departments at TØI. The group’s research areas have been adapted over time to respond to the changing circumstances and traffic safety issues and priorities.

The group’s research area is highly specialised. The group itself and the nature of its research is multidisciplinary. The group consists of 20 researchers, who are in turn organised in three subgroups.

The group is involved in applied research as well as making contributions to forming and developing safety guidelines and documents for policymaking purposes. The group’s research activities can therefore be viewed as generally having rather high societal relevance and impact potential.

6.2.1 Organisation, leadership and strategies

The research group and its three subgroups constitute an important component of the institution under which they work. Each of the researchers can belong to two of the three subgroups, which are in turn led by a chief research officer for a five-year period (evaluation after three years). Given the total number of researchers in the group (20), this structure appears both sound and flexible, while the group and its subgroups work within TØI’s overall strategy as specified in the Strategic Institute Programme.

The group refers to TØI in the submission as the ‘host institution’ that provides financial support to the group. This presumably signals a degree of management and financial autonomy for the group. The financial support from the institution appears to fund the group’s basic and infrastructure needs.

The group receives considerable funding from external sources. Income from contract research is very important to the group. This includes NOK 9 million from the RCN, which amounted to approximately 40% of total contract research in 2016. The sources of contract research seem to be predominantly public bodies. However, this reliance on a few public sources of funding can potentially expose the group to overall cutbacks in government spending in future.

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The publication strategy is focused on recognised field journals. This is to be expected of a highly specialised group that aims to be noticed and recognised internationally among its peers. Several of the 23 publications submitted in the form of journal articles, TØI reports and other publications show evidence of international collaboration with external partners. Links to Swedish institutions appear to dominate, while two papers indicate collaboration with the UK and Chile. At least three publications show evidence of collaboration with the University of Oslo.

6.2.2 Research personnel

The group’s recruitment and training strategy appears somewhat less formal than the rest of the organisation of the group and TØI as a whole. Supervising students is important for developing research opportunities and links with academic institutions, and some researchers have been recruited on the basis of their own initiative by submitting applications and proposals. A drawback of such a strategy is that knowledge of the research opportunities provided the group, among talented potential researchers, will not be widely known among the potential recruits and membership of the group will seem closed. However, vacancies for permanent positions are also openly advertised as part of the recruitment strategy.

The group also allows existing researchers to increase their competence by entering PhD programmes.

However, in the longer run, permanent staff should be expected to already hold a PhD at the time of their appointment.

The group does not include any postdoc researchers. Postdocs are generally very motivated and productive in terms of research output and providing funding assistance. This is a shortcoming compared with traditional academic departments that provide career opportunities for early career researchers through postdoc arrangements. Although academic career advancements in the group’s research area may be limited, the researchers may be able to develop opportunities with their collaborating institutions and universities. As postdoctoral posts may only be used by institutions entitled to award a doctorate, TØI is not in a position to have postdoc researchers.

6.2.3 Research production and scientific quality

The group has submitted a total of 23 publications in the form of journal articles, TØI reports and other outputs. The interdisciplinary composition of the research group is also reflected in the varied range of approaches adopted in the research outputs.

Some of the publications show collaborative work with UiO. About five publications show evidence of international collaboration, three of which were with Sweden and two with the UK and Chile. A number of the publications are single-authored. More collaborative work would increase the productivity of the group. The journal articles appear to be focused on a selected number of relevant field journals.

The overall quality of the research presented is very good and the publication outlets appear to be suitable for the purpose.

6.2.4 Networking

There are good indications that the group is well networked within its research and professional environments. This also needs to be translated into collaborative research and other concrete outputs.

The publication outputs do not reflect the networking effort and seem to be somewhat limited to a few collaborators. The networks can potentially lead to more collaboration and in turn help secure international funding, which will diversify funding sources. However, the group participates in a number of EU projects with partners from all over Europe.

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6.2.5 Interplay between research and education

Several members of the group have a good level of teaching activities at undergraduate, master’s, and PhD levels, although these efforts seem to focus more on higher degree levels. The teaching activities are not limited to Norwegian institutions, and some teaching takes place in Denmark and Sweden.

Overall, the group exhibits a very good level of teaching engagement. This must also be seen in light of the highly specialised nature of their research, which might limit the scope of teaching potential.

6.2.6 Societal relevance and impact

The traffic safety research area clearly has a high degree of potential for societal relevance. This is also reflected in the group’s ability to secure funding from the Research Council of Norway, as well as obtaining external funding and contract research from other public bodies. The five submitted impact case studies cover a diverse range of traffic safety areas. The cases of Speedcam and Shareroad have more physical safety effects, while the Handbook, White Paper 40 and Life Value cases are of more policy relevance. The overall assessment of the cases presented is that collectively they represent high socio-economic value in relation to their cost.

6.2.7 Overall assessment

Overall, the group produces good quality research output and other research with societal relevance and impact. It is important for the group to revisit the balance between academic research and contract research. Contract research clearly enables the group to be larger than it otherwise would have been. However, the long-term implications of this for the external image of the group in academia, the career progression of staff and the inevitable influence of the group’s priorities and even its culture need to be considered. This is clearly a fairly delicate balancing act to which there should be an informed approach.

Assessment of research group: 4 - very good

6.2.8 Feedback

The group’s funding base is currently very reliant on public sector sources. The group will benefit from a deliberate diversification of its funding sources, somewhat away from public sources. The current funding structure, while effective, generates a considerable amount of contract research. The group needs to carefully consider the pros and cons of this structure. For example, the extent to which the quality of the group’s research publications and its research profile may be affected by the current focus on contract research and funding structure. More focus on developing international collaborations can be a useful way of developing a more diverse funding and research output base.

TØI’s positive international reputation can be helpful to this end. The social relevance of the group’s research area provides a good base for generating more impact-oriented and socially beneficial research. The strong teaching-research link presented is important and should be maintained.

57 No. of PhD graduated at the institution per year

Male/Female -/- -/- -/-

R&D expenditures and sources of funding (1000 NOK) Total per year - - - No. of positions announced / No. of qualified applicants per year

We do not have a record of all applicant so the numbers are a best guess.

Source: The Research Council of Norway, Self-assessment report for the institution, 16/12960