Periodic Reporting for period 2 - GEOLAB (GEOLAB: Science for enhancing Europe's Critical Infrastructure)
Période du rapport: 2022-08-01 au 2024-01-31
The existing Critical Infrastructure (CI) of Europe in the water, energy, urban and transport sector is facing major challenges because of pressures such as climate change, extreme weather, geo-hazards, aging and increased usage in combination with pivotal changes in the CI to meet long-term societal goals (e.g. energy transition). To address these challenges, scientific research and innovative solutions are needed that can only be achieved by an interdisciplinary, cross-boundary approach and by equipping expert teams with the most advanced suite of physical research infrastructure available that allows them to work across spatial scales, explore different theories that describe the pressures and adopt innovative techniques for solutions.
The GEOLAB Research Infrastructure (RI) consists of 12 unique installations in Europe aimed to study subsurface behavior and the interaction with structural CI elements (e.g. a bridge) and the environment. The overarching aim of GEOLAB is to integrate and advance these key national research infrastructures towards a one-stop-shop of excellent physical research infrastructure for performing ground-breaking research and innovation to address challenges faced by the Critical Infrastructure of Europe.
During Transnational Access (TA), users outside the consortium gain access to the GEOLAB installations to perform research and innovation. The scientific research community will use the innovative capabilities of GEOLAB to perform ground-breaking experiments. For CI managers and policy makers, the activities will result in a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing CI and evidence to base decision making upon. The construction industry will use GEOLAB to proof innovative solutions for the CI and so gain more leadership in the industrial and enabling technologies.
There will be close interaction with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) that develop user-friendly engineering software from numerical modelling advances which are validated in the TA projects. We will explicitly challenge SME on sensing, new materials and other niches for innovative solutions, which will have spinoff in other fields of application, contributing to the competitiveness of Europe.
The GEOLAB Research Infrastructure (RI) consists of 12 unique installations in Europe aimed to study subsurface behavior and the interaction with structural CI elements (e.g. a bridge) and the environment. The overarching aim of GEOLAB is to integrate and advance these key national research infrastructures towards a one-stop-shop of excellent physical research infrastructure for performing ground-breaking research and innovation to address challenges faced by the Critical Infrastructure of Europe.
During Transnational Access (TA), users outside the consortium gain access to the GEOLAB installations to perform research and innovation. The scientific research community will use the innovative capabilities of GEOLAB to perform ground-breaking experiments. For CI managers and policy makers, the activities will result in a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing CI and evidence to base decision making upon. The construction industry will use GEOLAB to proof innovative solutions for the CI and so gain more leadership in the industrial and enabling technologies.
There will be close interaction with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) that develop user-friendly engineering software from numerical modelling advances which are validated in the TA projects. We will explicitly challenge SME on sensing, new materials and other niches for innovative solutions, which will have spinoff in other fields of application, contributing to the competitiveness of Europe.
• Organizing the 3 call-for-proposals for TA and selection of user projects by the USP.
• Establishing a web site, social media channels and realize communication and dissemination activities, e.g. webinar on TA and 3 GEOLAB event (Madrid, Zurich and Oslo).
• As separate part of the web site, development of a Knowledge Platform to disseminate project outcome to the stakeholders among industry, CI managers and academia.
• Activities for Next Generation (NG), such as 3 trainings and 7 internships
• Activities for stakeholder involvement, such as workshops during the 3 GEOLAB events
• Performance of JRA on innovation of the research infrastructure and data management & standardization
• Reinforcing partnerships with industry, CI owners and SMEs through NA, TA and JRA
• Increase innovation through collaboration with various stakeholders
• Increasing awareness and exposure of GEOLAB within the wider research community, industry and CI owners & operators and policymakers
• Total 20 TA project completed, out of which 6 in RP1 and 14 in RP2. Several other TA projects are under preparation.
• Establishing a web site, social media channels and realize communication and dissemination activities, e.g. webinar on TA and 3 GEOLAB event (Madrid, Zurich and Oslo).
• As separate part of the web site, development of a Knowledge Platform to disseminate project outcome to the stakeholders among industry, CI managers and academia.
• Activities for Next Generation (NG), such as 3 trainings and 7 internships
• Activities for stakeholder involvement, such as workshops during the 3 GEOLAB events
• Performance of JRA on innovation of the research infrastructure and data management & standardization
• Reinforcing partnerships with industry, CI owners and SMEs through NA, TA and JRA
• Increase innovation through collaboration with various stakeholders
• Increasing awareness and exposure of GEOLAB within the wider research community, industry and CI owners & operators and policymakers
• Total 20 TA project completed, out of which 6 in RP1 and 14 in RP2. Several other TA projects are under preparation.
Widening access and focus on user needs
This impact is to be achieved through our TA projects, which are organized in three themes in accordance with user needs and are especially targeted at diverse groups of users: the scientific research community, construction industry, and CI owners and policymakers. This ensures that all sectors critical to the enhancement of the resilience of CI can gain access to the world-class facilities of GEOLAB for excellent research outputs. We had our first round of transnational access focussing on the theme “Experiments that proof innovative solutions to enhance the resilience of the CI in Europe”. Given access to our facilities in this round are 15 User Groups from 30 different institutions/companies, composing of 69 individuals. Breakdown of these individuals into the three target User Groups shows that we effectively reached the scientific research community, which composed 66% of the total individual users, see table below. Efforts to improve our reach to the other groups/sectors, particularly the CI owners and policymakers, are currently underway.
Synergy and complementarity
To the above end, several JRA and NA were accomplished as reported. Notable among these are the establishment of “Joint standards for data and software protocols” and “Protocols for consistent model-building across installations (laboratory and field)”, which are both crucial for the harmonization of our operation. Also notable are the “Critical review of short-term experiment challenges and technology readiness” and “Physical modelling of the impact of climate change, extreme events and aging on CI”, which feed into and inform the first and second rounds of our TA projects. In particular, the former led to the application of the innovative distributed fiber optics sensors (DFOS) in several TA projects.
Innovation impact
We have made a first step in challenging SMEs on sensor development and other niches for innovative solutions. Some of these SMEs have already joined the GEOLAB user community and are currently directly involved in our TA projects. An example is the SHM system, which is part of the User Group for the PEBSTER (Piled Embankment with Basal STEel Reinforcement) TA project. SHM system develops, distributes and apply Distributed Fiber Optic Sensor (DFOS) systems tailored for geotechnical usage. The application of DFOS in PEBSTER allows unprecedented insight into the system behaviour through continuous readings along multiple axes. Apart from the SHM system, 2 other SMEs are involved in the current round of TA projects. In addition, several innovations in experimental methods have been applied in our research infrastructures in the course of the implementation of the TA projects. For instance, advanced non-intrusive geophysical techniques had been employed in QC-CEM and RELERT projects, which are both aimed at protecting critical infrastructures against quick clay hazards.
Next Generation researchers
Another critical area of our impact is the Next Generation (NG) researchers. Many of our NA and other actions are specifically targeted at educating and training these researchers so they can acquire the ability to better assess the added value of physical modelling and use the physical modelling tools in combination with data and numerical modelling for science and engineering. Developing the skills of these future research leaders ensures our impact on future research and innovation. The interest our training workshops, webinars and internships opportunities has been overwhelming. Next to that, during the evaluation of TA proposals, inclusion of Next Generation Researchers and female member in the User Group are important criteria. As a result, a total of 25 NG researchers are directly involved in our TA projects, 16 or 64% are female.
This impact is to be achieved through our TA projects, which are organized in three themes in accordance with user needs and are especially targeted at diverse groups of users: the scientific research community, construction industry, and CI owners and policymakers. This ensures that all sectors critical to the enhancement of the resilience of CI can gain access to the world-class facilities of GEOLAB for excellent research outputs. We had our first round of transnational access focussing on the theme “Experiments that proof innovative solutions to enhance the resilience of the CI in Europe”. Given access to our facilities in this round are 15 User Groups from 30 different institutions/companies, composing of 69 individuals. Breakdown of these individuals into the three target User Groups shows that we effectively reached the scientific research community, which composed 66% of the total individual users, see table below. Efforts to improve our reach to the other groups/sectors, particularly the CI owners and policymakers, are currently underway.
Synergy and complementarity
To the above end, several JRA and NA were accomplished as reported. Notable among these are the establishment of “Joint standards for data and software protocols” and “Protocols for consistent model-building across installations (laboratory and field)”, which are both crucial for the harmonization of our operation. Also notable are the “Critical review of short-term experiment challenges and technology readiness” and “Physical modelling of the impact of climate change, extreme events and aging on CI”, which feed into and inform the first and second rounds of our TA projects. In particular, the former led to the application of the innovative distributed fiber optics sensors (DFOS) in several TA projects.
Innovation impact
We have made a first step in challenging SMEs on sensor development and other niches for innovative solutions. Some of these SMEs have already joined the GEOLAB user community and are currently directly involved in our TA projects. An example is the SHM system, which is part of the User Group for the PEBSTER (Piled Embankment with Basal STEel Reinforcement) TA project. SHM system develops, distributes and apply Distributed Fiber Optic Sensor (DFOS) systems tailored for geotechnical usage. The application of DFOS in PEBSTER allows unprecedented insight into the system behaviour through continuous readings along multiple axes. Apart from the SHM system, 2 other SMEs are involved in the current round of TA projects. In addition, several innovations in experimental methods have been applied in our research infrastructures in the course of the implementation of the TA projects. For instance, advanced non-intrusive geophysical techniques had been employed in QC-CEM and RELERT projects, which are both aimed at protecting critical infrastructures against quick clay hazards.
Next Generation researchers
Another critical area of our impact is the Next Generation (NG) researchers. Many of our NA and other actions are specifically targeted at educating and training these researchers so they can acquire the ability to better assess the added value of physical modelling and use the physical modelling tools in combination with data and numerical modelling for science and engineering. Developing the skills of these future research leaders ensures our impact on future research and innovation. The interest our training workshops, webinars and internships opportunities has been overwhelming. Next to that, during the evaluation of TA proposals, inclusion of Next Generation Researchers and female member in the User Group are important criteria. As a result, a total of 25 NG researchers are directly involved in our TA projects, 16 or 64% are female.