Mobility in the cities of tomorrow is an interdisciplinary research focus at the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences. "Urban Mobility" plays a central role in making metropolitan areas attractive, sustainable, safe, flexible, and user-oriented, but also affordable. This is where Prof. Dr. Hartmut Fricke, Head of the Chair of Air Transport Technology and Logistics at the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, and eight other scientists from TU Dresden are starting with a joint proposal for a Research Training Group. After intensive preparation, the proposal was submitted to the German Research Foundation (DFG, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) in December 2020. The review process usually takes 6 months. The faculty is looking towards the DFG with excitement.

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) as an integral part of tomorrow's mobility.

The research team has put the focus of their submitted study and research program into the air - Urban Air Mobility (UAM), a research focus at the Chair of Air Transport Technology and Logistics. The guiding theme of the interdisciplinary study and research program is "Technical and Operational Integration of Autonomous Aviation in Metropolitan Areas". Prof. Hartmut Fricke: "The way we move and want to move in our urban environment is changing radically right now - and not only on the ground. Political decision-makers in connection with the automotive and aerospace industries have started to conceptually consider UAM as an integral part of tomorrow's mobility and to look for solutions to expand the mobility ecosystem in the third dimension. UAM is expected to become an important pillar for transporting goods and, strategically, people in urban and suburban areas by using compact aerial vehicles. This is the focus of the planned activities in our Research Training Group envisioned at the ,Friedrich List' Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences."

Interdisciplinary interlaced research topics for young scientists

The main topic, which is already being researched at the applicant chairs at TU Dresden, is to be further intensified within the Research Training Group with numerous, interdisciplinary interlocked dissertations. For this purpose, clearly definable, interdisciplinary research themes have been formulated in order to qualify young academics in the field of mobility across all topics.

The interdisciplinary application team of TU Dresden around the Chair of Air Transport Technology and Logistics shows the wide range of topics and approaches that must be considered in the successful research and design of Urban Air Mobility. In addition to flight mechanics, these include communications engineering, computer science, safety research, operations research, economics and urban/airfield planning, as well as the physics of the atmosphere.

The proposed Research Training Group fits in with the objectives of the current "Excellence Strategy TUD2028" of TU Dresden with special reference to the Emerging Field "Automated and Networked Mobility" defined therein. Responsible for its development at TU Dresden is the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences. In order to jointly shape and promote the global key area of Urban Mobility at TU Dresden and the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, international tutors will also be integrated into the Research Training Group.

The research focus "Urban Air Mobility" at the Chair of Air Transport Technology and Logistics headed by Prof. Dr. Hartmut Fricke