Here is an overview of what we have achieved in recent years with the DeSIRE programme. This gives an idea of our work and the impact we are making. First we introduce two flyers addressing our accomplishments. Thereafter, you can read more about our research, our education, our community and some examples of our activities.
At the DeSIRE Conference 2022 in November, the 4TU.Centre for Resilience Engineering and the 4TU.DeSIRE Research Programme published two flyers recounting what the Resilience Engineering community stands for.
Download flyers
- 4TU.DeSIRE Research Programme(931 kB)
In this flyer you will find more information about the 4TU.DeSIRE Research and Capacity Programme, its ambitions, working groups and accomplishments.
- 4TU.Centre for Resilience Engineering(2 MB)
In this flyer you will find six engaging examples of the accomplishments of our Resilience Engineering community, powered by the 4TU.DeSIRE Research Programme.
The DeSIRE-programme funds 17 Tenure Trackers, 20 Postdocs and over 50 Resilience Fellows across 14 faculties at the 4TU's. Our DeSIRE Tenure Trackers and Postdocs are talented scientists and very active scientifically. In recent years the have published actively on various aspects of resilience. In 2021 for example, 52 papers were released by DeSIRE members and they contributed to more than 89 events and conferences. In addition, the DeSIRE Tenure Trackers were involved in at least 23 new PhD appointments in 2021 and in that same year there were 18 awarded awards (individual and partnerships).
4TU.DeSIRE members were awarded both in collaboration, through our thematic working groups, as well as individual research projects and grants. In 2021, they collaborate on over 14 subsidized projects with external partners. The examples are too many to mention, but a nice project to highlight is that of JOIN-RIse concerning STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), one of 4TU.RE's spearheads.
As part of our Resilience Academy, the DeSIRE community believes in sharing knowledge. That is why a lot of our time is devoted into our Open Educational Resources Platform, where we offer, share, tailor and explain various learning materials. These materials can be used by internal and external partners who would like to integrate our modules into their educational programmes.
The SURF project of the Open Educational Resources Platform has been formally completed in 2021, but an active delegation of our DeSIRE Tenure Trackers is working on further dissemination of the platform materials. The mission to strengthen education in resilience engineering through tailor-made courses, which their content is shared (inter)nationally via this platform, remains unchanged and is supported by our community.
In 2021, the DeSIRE community was involved in more than 41 educational activities (for example subjects, supervision of MSc/Bsc students, workshops) and this is independent of the contributions to the SURF activities on the Open Education Platform.
National and international collaboration
4TU.RE and the DeSIRE programme establish connections between scientists, practitioners, engineers and policymakers; between industry, academia, civil society and policy. On a national level, there is collaboration with colleagues in the field (f.e. with municipalities and Security Regions in Zwolle, Utrecht and The Hague). We work with our sister 4TU.institutes with similar, yet complementary objectives, such as the Delft Climate Program, Delta Future Labs, Center for Disaster Resilience (UT), Disaster and Pandemic Preparedness Center (EMC/EUR/TUD) and AMS Institute. During the 2021 floods in Limburg, the urgency of Resilience Engineering became apparent and many of our members had public appearances in regional and national media.
At international level, there is cooperation to prepare the FSR-2023 (Singapore, Stevens US and ETHZ), cooperation with Texas A&M on coastal resilience and regular consultations on cooperation through education/shared platforms with Turku (FIN) and Resilience Academy in Tanzania. In 2021, the 4TU.RE Centre was also approached to think along in initiatives such as ACRE, Safety Delta Netherlands, CoP climate robust high sandy soils and others.
Events & Communication
Despite COVID19, we did our best to support and grow our community. In 2020 we organized the Joint International Resilience Conference (JIRC 2020). A inspiring event with 832 participants from all over the world. People from Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa and America shared their ideas for resilience impact concerning design, measuring, modelling and engaging. How great to see our resilience community growing!
From February 2022, we started Thematic Lunch Seminars every three weeks. These seminars are organized by our 4TU.DeSIRE Thematic Working Groups. We aim at 12 sessions this year, two dedicated seminars per DeSIRE theme. The talks are open for everyone who is interested in Resilience Engineering and results in valued interactivity and discussion between the participants.
We are active on social media (LinkedIn and Twitter), share news and connect with our community via our website and quarterly newsletter.
Internal cohesion
To strengthen the ties within 4TU.RE and the DeSIRE programme, Tenure Trackers organize online thematic events regularly, sometimes together with practitioners (f.e. NGInfra, municipalities). To share, connect and discuss with eachother, we have our annual 2-day DeSIRE-meeting every year.