Roads Research Alliance (RRA)
The RRA is a unique collaboration between National Highways, the University of Cambridge and industry partners to drive research in the UK’s road sector.
Formed in response to the pressing need for sustainable, efficient and technologically advanced road infrastructure, its vision is a collaborative, cross-sector alliance that guides and improves the effectiveness of roads research. Working together, we aim to address the challenges of the sector, increase impact, drive value and leverage investment for research.
Through sharing best practices, networking and bringing together diverse expertise, we're fostering a collaborative environment that creates pathways to take ideas to real-world solutions.
Origins of the RRA
The RRA was formally launched in September 2022 at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge, where representatives from 22 organisations signed a charter witnessing their joint commitment.
Our roots began from the development of the Future Roads Fellowship programme – a unique research initiative with the University of Cambridge and Costain. This secured £6.4m of funding, including a £2.6m grant from the EU Horizon 2020.
Our RRA partners put forward a set of real-world challenges for research fellows to focus on, which are grouped into five academic themes and are all underpinned by sustainability:
- Smart materials
- Automation
- Robotics
- Digital twins
- Data science
Research to address these themes is continually being worked on, with outputs regularly published and shared with the industry partners.
More information on the themes can be found on the University of Cambridge website.
How the partners and fellows work together
National Highways: Provides the perspective of the road operator, gives guidance on the research challenges, and how these can help address National Highways’ long-term strategy. Planning for standards that are future-proofed and viable, increasing the likelihood that the research will realise its full value on the network. It also supports the research fellows with first-hand insight of the strategic roads network, its operation and challenges.
Industry partners: Provide practical advice to help shape each fellow’s academic research, sharing how successful research could be springboarded to innovation trials and providing data that improves the quality of research. They ensure that the challenges being worked on continue to be relevant to current practices. Currently, there are 22 industry partners in the Alliance.
Fellows: Take on the real-life challenges faced by the industry and research innovative ways that these challenges can be overcome. The programme is currently supported by fellows from around the globe. They are experienced post-doctoral researchers who bring a wealth of knowledge to the industry challenges.
Some of the fellows who previously worked on the project have gone on to permanent roles in the roads sector, demonstrating the value of the research gained through working within the RRA.
"Together, we can develop ideas that will increase safety on our network as well as improving how we design, maintain, operate and build roads. This is the first time National Highways has formed an alliance like this to deliver research and we are looking forward to seeing the exciting results."Nick Harris, Chief Executive, National Highways
How the RRA aligns with National Highways’ vision
National Highways has a 2050 vision that sets out the long-term plan for the Strategic Road Network (SRN) — this sets out how it's going to meet road users’ needs by connecting the country safely and reliably, delivering economic prosperity, social value and a thriving environment. Of the nine focus areas within this strategy, the RRA addresses six of these. Many projects also have a clear focus on safety, which is a core focus of National Highways.
National Highways has a leading role in the strategic direction and day-to-day management of the RRA, ensuring that the investment directs research to impactful solutions.
Promoting the work of the RRA
As well as regularly meeting as an RRA group, it's important that the cutting-edge research being undertaken by the fellows is communicated to relevant interested industry parties beyond the RRA.
Fellows are proactive in presenting their work at industry conferences, workshops, and trade fairs. The RRA was also represented at Highways UK 2024 with a panel discussion.
The fellows also proactively publish their research through whitepapers, peer-reviewed publications and public consultations.
Each year, an annual review of the Future Roads research is hosted by the University of Cambridge, where the progress of the research is shared with industry representatives. Get more information on the research presented at the November 2024 conference.
Supporting the real-world application of the research
The research undertaken within the RRA is becoming increasingly mature. We’re facilitating an increasing number of secondments to bring new thinking to industry.
A Book of Abstracts summarises the research to date.
Can I join the RRA?
If you're a researcher interested in being involved in this exciting work, there will be opportunities to join the RRA in the future. We’ll update this page when they become available.
Currently, supply chain partners must be a member of the Future Roads programme to be part of the RRA. If you're interested in joining us, please get in touch via the email address below.
Further information
For further information, email the RRA.
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Research, Innovation and Development director Dr Joanna White
Dr Yue Xie sharing her research with the industry
Dr Linjun Lu, whose research is aimed at evaluating and enhancing the trustworthiness of digital twins for road infrastructure inspection and maintenance
"My research wouldn’t be possible without the close support I’ve received from the roads industry. I’ve been fortunate to have several organisations involved as industry supervisors, which has allowed me to shape my research to fit the industry’s challenges rather than prescribe a solution from the outside."Dr Abbas Solouki, research fellow at the University of Cambridge
