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Welcome to the new version of vref.se. Please report any bugs to karin.henriksson@vref.se. If you don't find what you are looking for, please visit our old site at old.vref.se
Håkan Frisinger Award for Excellence in Transportation Research
”Håkan Frisinger, 1928 – 2021, was an individual and a leader who made a difference.
Through his lifetime, he made a major contribution to strenghthening the connection between Swedish research and the vehicle industry”
The Håkan Frisinger Award for Excellence in Transportation Research is awarded annually to a distinguished researcher active in the area of transportation, at a university or research institute of academic standing located in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).
From 2021, the Award is coupled to a period as visiting researcher at a university located in Sweden. The Award thus consists of two integrated parts:
An individual prize of SEK 300 000 to the awardee
A grant for a VREF Visiting Researcher Programme of SEK 500 000 to the university hosting the visiting resear
The objective of the Award is to promote and support research and development in the area of transportation, to the benefit of academia, industry and society in general, but not benefitting any specific private company or government.
Call for nominations – open until 31 March:
The VREF invites universities located in Sweden to nominate candidates for The Håkan Frisinger Award for Excellence in Transportation Research (Håkan Frisingers pris till framstående transportforskare) and apply for a VREF Visiting Researcher Grant for the nominated candidate. The universities can nominate researchers from any other university or research institute of academic standing in the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) for the prize.
The Håkan Frisinger Foundation for Means of Transport Research awards its 2018 scholarship to Johan Holmgren, Professor of Transport Economics at Molde University College, Norway for his researchon sustainable investments in infrastructure.
Johan Holmgren is awarded the scholarship of SEK 300,000 for his extensive research work, while the grant of SEK 500,000 for the VREF Visiting Researcher Program is given to Malmö University, which hosts the award-winning guest researcher.
“From a scientific basis in transport economics, Johan Holmgren has made important contributions both in empirical works and policy-related publications. Several of his studies have focused on the so-called wider ‘benefits of accessibility’, which is highly relevant for ensuring sustainability in the development of infrastructure and making sure that investments are efficient to society,” says the Board of Håkan Frisinger’s Foundation in their motivation.
A seminar is planned to take place in spring 2022 at the end of the visiting period. Further details will be given later on.
The Håkan Frisinger Foundation for Means of Transport Research awards its 2018 scholarship to Dr. Sonia Yeh, Professor in Transport and Energy Systems, at the Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology. The scholarship with an amount by 250 000 SEK, rewards Sonia Yeh for her research on alternative transport fuels, consumer behaviour and urban mobility as well as work with sustainability standards.
Dr. Sonia Yeh’s expertise is in energy economics and energy system modeling, alternative transportation fuels, sustainability standards, technological change, and consumer behavior and urban mobility.
Between 2007 and 2014, she co-led a large collaborative team from the University of California Davis and UC Berkeley advising the U.S. states of California and Oregon, and British Columbia, Canada to design and implement a market-based carbon policy (Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and Clean Fuel Standard (CFS)) targeting GHG emission reductions from the transport sector. She received Academic Federation Award for Excellence in Research by the UC Davis in 2014 and was appointed as Adlerbertska visiting professor at Chalmers University of Technology in 2015. She served as Fulbright Distinguished Chair Professor in Alternative Energy Technology in 2016-2017.
The scholarship was presented at a seminar at Chalmerska Huset, Gothenburg.
The Håkan Frisinger Foundation for Means of Transport Research awards its 2017 scholarship to Professor Jonas Sjöberg, Chalmers University of Technology. The scholarship with an amount by 250 000 SEK, rewards Jonas Sjöberg for his extensive research work on safe autonomous vehicles with low emissions for a sustainable future.
The automated transport systems will revolutionize the efficiency of transportation of people and goods, and at the same time dramatically reduce environmental impact. This topic concerns optimization of the overall transport performance by taking advantage of new possibilities for efficient communication, accurate position estimation, and smart decision systems.
Jonas Sjöberg has successfully developed the area electromobility, active safety and autonomous driving. Along with his research group at Chalmers, he has worked on system aspects, dimensioning, modelling and control both in the area of hybrid powertrains, and active and autonomous vehicles.
Thanks to the results, “best” design of the electric powertrain, such as control strategy can now be calculated more exactly instead of using rough estimates as before. Jonas Sjöberg has led the academic part of several industrial PhD projects, one of them within the programme “Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems” which resulted in patents, and later led to the development of an emergency brake function that mitigates accidents in left turns. The later years of research has been focused on decision making and other issues related to autonomous driving.
Jonas Sjöberg is Professor of Mechatronics and Head of the Mechatronic research group. Dr. Sjöberg’s research involves mechatronics, and mechatronic related fields, such as signal processing and control. Within these fields, he focuses on model based methods, simulations, machine learning for dynamic systems, system identification, and optimization for design and product development of mechatronic systems. Applications are, for example, Automotive Active Safety and Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Dr. Sjöberg also leads and supervises research and education at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
The scholarship was presented by the Håkan Frisinger Foundation at a seminar on Tuesday May 29 at Chalmerska Huset, Gothenburg.
The Håkan Frisinger Foundation for Transportation Research has awarded its 2016 scholarship of SEK 250,000 to Professor Louise Olsson. Louise Olsson is a Professor at the division of Chemical Engineering, where she also is the manager for the Chemical engineering division.
Prof. Olsson and her group are also associated with Competence Centre for Catalysis (KCK). Her research group works with catalysis for emission cleaning and alternative fuel production. More specifically, the aim is to combine experiments and kinetic modelling for increasing the fundamental understanding of the reactions occurring on the catalytic surfaces and also to be able to predict the conversion after the catalyst. Louise group basic science projects are combined with applied projects together with industry.
The scholarship was awarded by the Håkan Frisinger Foundation at a seminar jointly organised by the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers and the VREF held on 11 May, 2017.
2015: Professor Mats Svensson, Chalmers University of Technology together with Associate Professor Astrid Linder, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute
The development of crash test dummies has played a vital role in terms of car safety. Two researchers into traffic safety are now being rewarded for their crucial work in the field of biomechanical research. The Håkan Frisinger Foundation for Transportation Research has awarded its 2015 scholarship of SEK 250,000 to Associate Professor Astrid Linder and Professor Mats Svensson.
Astrid Linder is Associate Professor of Injury Prevention at Chalmers University of Technology and Research Director at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI). She realized at an early stage of her research that women run a considerably higher risk than men of being affected by whiplash in the neck, and that there was no model for an average woman which could be used to test and develop car safety. Astrid Linder therefore developed a female crash dummy to improve the protection of all passengers in vehicles.
Mats Svensson is Professor of Injury Prevention at Chalmers and leader of SAFER’s (Vehicle and Traffic Safety Center at Chalmers) Competence Area for biomechanical and protection systems. His research into whiplash has led, for example, to the development of the BioRID whiplash crash test dummy, which has now become a global standard.
”Astrid Linder and Mats Svensson have contributed vital efforts to developing biomechanical research for the benefit of the Swedish automotive industry. Moreover, the implications of this research have led to a drastic reduction in human suffering”, the Scientific Council outlines in its motivation.
The scholarship was awarded by the Håkan Frisinger Foundation at a seminar jointly organised by the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers and the VREF held on 6 april, 2016.
What are the factors that influence us in choosing the mode of transport to take in our everyday lives? The Håkan Frisinger Foundation for Transportation Research has awarded its 2014 scholarship to Professor Margareta Friman at Karlstad University. Margareta Friman will receive the scholarship of SEK 250,000 for combining behavioral science with transportation research, and thus has increased understanding of the factors that influence the decisions and choices of transport people make.
Part of the Foundation Board’s citation was as follows: “Margareta Friman’s research, which primarily focuses on consumer and transportation psychology, has generated extensive national and international attention. She has been widely published in scientific journals and is often invited to speak at conferences”.
Alongside her high publishing rate, Margareta Friman is engaged as an expert both within and outside academia, and has been highly praised by external evaluators for her work as a director and manager of the Service and Market Oriented Transport Research Group (SAMOT) at Karlstad University.
The scholarship was awarded by the Håkan Frisinger Foundation at a seminar held on April 1 in the Palmstedt hall of Chalmers University of Technology. Volvo Research & Educational Foundations (VREF), the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers will organize a seminar in connection with the award ceremony.
The scholarship was presented by the Håkan Frisinger Foundation at a seminar held in Swedish. The seminar was attended by a one hundred participants coming from institutions, universities, companies and communities.
Our friend and colleague Håkan Frisinger left us at the age of 92, in February 2021
“Håkan Frisinger was an individual and a leader that made a difference. Through his lifetime commitment to Volvo and the Håkan Frisinger Foundation for Transport Research he made a major contribution to strengthening the connection between Swedish research and the vehicle industry,” said VREF’s Chairman Torbjörn Holmström.
Jonas Nässén, Chalmers University of Technology, and chair of VREF:s scientific council Karin Lundgren, standing next to 2022 years awardee Simon Matti, and chair oft he VREF board Torbjörn Holmström.
The 2022 scholarship from Håkan Frisinger’s Foundation for Transport Research is awarded to Simon Matti, Professor at Luleå University of Technology. The Foundation has also decided to grant SEK 500 000 SEK for the VREF Visiting Researcher Programme 2022 to Chalmers University of Technology.
Simon Matti is awarded the scholarship of SEK 300 000 for his extensive research work, while the grant of SEK 500,000 for the VREF
(Volvo Research and Educational Foundations) Visiting Researcher Program is given to Chalmers University of Technology which hosts the award-winning guest researcher.
“Simon Matti’s research concerns strategy and policy for climate and the environment, which is very relevant for the field of transport research. Prof. Matti focuses on general political attitudes, political legitimacy and political behavior, and also has well-documented experience of interdisciplinary research.
The proposed program at Chalmers University of Technology will provide good opportunities for fruitful interdisciplinary collaboration.Matti’s experience of general political attitudes and behavioral economics will contribute to research on transport and mobility, especially in terms of consumption patterns and adjustment.
Helena Bohman, Malmö Universitet, and chair of VREF:s scientific council Karin Lundgren, standing next to Johan Holmgren who received Håkan Frisinger Award 2021, and chair oft he VREF board Torbjörn Holmström.
A price ceremony and a seminar for both Awardees 2021, Professor Johan Holmgren and 2022, Professor Simon Matti, was held on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, at the Chalmerska Huset, Gothenburg, Sweden. Presentations where given by both awardees and by guests Helena Bohman from Malmö University and Jonas Nässén, Chalmers University of Technology. See the presentations given during the ceremonies here below:
