Jens Borken-Kleefeld has been researching the effects of traffic on climate, environment and health for two decades. His focus is on the question of how high the burdens caused by traffic are and what mitigation options exist at the interfaces of technology, environment and society. "With his systemic approach, Jens Borken-Kleefeld is an excellent fit for us at the 'Friedrich List' Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences," says the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Regine Gerike.

On 1 September 2022, Dr. Jens Borken-Kleefeld succeeded Prof. Udo Becker as Professor of Transport Ecology. Prof. Becker continues to support the professorship as a senior professor. The faculty is delighted about the new colleague: "On behalf of the faculty management and all employees, I warmly welcome Jens Borken-Kleefeld as a new member of our faculty. With him, new impulses around transport, environment and climate will flow into our transport research and teaching. In addition, his research offers numerous forward-looking opportunities for cooperation with other professorships at the faculty," says the dean.

Jens Borken-Kleefeld has set himself two priorities for research at the TU Dresden: "On the one hand, we want to continue to make contributions to climate-friendly mobility. This is an urgent task for all of us. And secondly, we must continue to reduce pollutant emissions from traffic. In doing so, I would like to use my expertise in the field of remote sensing measurements and enter into big data analysis together with colleagues," says Borken-Kleefeld. "I bring with me research collaborations and a lot of field data waiting to be further analysed."

Measuring real emissions of vehicles by remote sensing as they pass by

Remote sensing measurements can be used to collect the real emissions of vehicles as they pass by. This has not yet been established at any university in the EU, he said. "Remote sensing results have already been incorporated into emissions modelling and European emissions legislation. The further analysis of the data and the further development of applications, for example for real-time field monitoring and traffic control under air quality standards, could open up new research perspectives at TU Dresden," Jens Borken-Kleefeld continues. To this end, he hopes for cooperation within the faculty, especially with the Institute of Automobile Engineering Dresden (IAD) in the field of vehicle sensor technology and exhaust gas aftertreatment and with the Chair of Big Data Analytics in Transportation, in order to develop advanced analysis methods.

Under Jens Borken Kleefeld, the Chair of Transport Ecology will continue to provide contributions on what climate-friendly mobility could look like. "For this, I would like to bundle the research projects at the chair and investigate what contribution to the great transport turnaround the improvement, shift, reduction of transport could make on a technical, organisational and social level." This question is of course far larger than the possibilities of the chair, the professor admits. "But it could be a crystallisation point for cooperation within the entire faculty. I would be very happy about an intensive cooperation with the new colleagues."

After many years in research, Jens Borken-Kleefeld is also looking forward to working with students. In his courses, he says, his goal is "that students understand the effects of traffic on the environment systemically, reflect on methods and assumptions, and learn to assess data and its significance". Furthermore, the normative framework must always be considered. "I would also like to promote publishing and exchange, and thus contribute to cutting-edge research in Europe."