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From October 2016 to December 2024, the NRW Research College ACCESS! at RWTH Aachen University conducted research on the holistic design of future-proof mobility systems. Over eight years, 23 doctoral candidates from 13 chairs collaborated across disciplines and maintained close exchanges with practice partners from politics, industry and society. Funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, ACCESS! set new standards for transdisciplinary mobility research in the Heinsberg region, the Ruhr metropolitan area and the Meuse – Rhine Euroregion.
The first funding phase kicked off in September 2016 under the guiding question “What mobility can we afford in the future?”. Over the following four years, the doctoral candidates explored the potential of various mobility modes and developed visions for tomorrow’s mobility. This period was marked by a rich programme of professional development: in doctoral workshops, methods workshops and interdisciplinary lecture series, participants gained valuable insights into other fields and learned to work across subject boundaries. At the regular symposia, they presented and discussed their findings with partners from industry, academia and politics. Complementary field weeks in Heinsberg and the Ruhr region offered on-site excursions to partner organisations, giving the candidates authentic insights into the regions’ daily mobility challenges.
After the successful conclusion of the first phase, ACCESS! was extended for another four years. Under the new guiding question “Transformation pathways to sustainable mobility”, a fresh cohort of doctoral candidates, together with numerous established and new practice partners, developed concrete pathways for more sustainable mobility concepts. Proven formats such as field weeks, lecture series, methods workshops and symposia were continued. At the same time, the college placed greater emphasis on internationalisation: ACCESS! welcomed students from Ecuador to exchange different ideas and expectations about mobility, and an excursion to the ITEM in Maastricht enabled cross-border dialogue with experts from the Netherlands. The second funding phase culminated in a writing retreat, which gave the candidates a final boost as they completed their dissertations.
We would like to thank the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia, all 23 doctoral candidates, the 13 participating chairs at RWTH Aachen, and our practice partners for their commitment, the trusting cooperation and eight very successful years. If we have piqued your interest, please have a look at our final brochure. There you will find more information and a comprehensive overview of the results from both funding phases. You can also find the full list of list of presentations and list of publications from ACCESS!