Universities' Transport Study Group

The Universities’ Transport Study Group (UTSG), initiated by the late Professor R.J. Smeed of University College London in 1967, aims to promote transport teaching and research and to act as a focus for those involved in these activities in universities and institutions of higher education in the UK and Ireland. Member institutions (of which there are over 50) are expected to be conducting a substantial amount of postgraduate research in the field of transport. Because such activities are often spread over several departments, each institution appoints a correspondent to disseminate and collate information: in this way over 100 departments are involved in UTSG’s activities. One key UTSG activity is an annual conference for staff, research students and other relative newcomers to transport research of member institutions and overseas universities, which is designed to discuss research needs, research in progress, and to give research students the opportunity to present papers on their work.

This conference will be the 53rd annual meeting of the UTSG, and will be hosted online by Loughborough University between 9am and 5pm each day on 5th and 6th July 2021. It is open to transport scholars from universities all over the world and the delegate fee will be £50.00. 

Submission Guidelines

To present at the conference, members of academic institutions should first submit a 300 word abstract by 5pm UK time on 2^nd March 2021 (stage 1). The abstracts will be considered for acceptance by the UTSG Executive Committee and corresponding authors will be informed of the decision during early April. Presenters will be required to submit either a full paper or an extended abstract of 1500 words by 5pm on 22^nd June 2021 (stage 2).

Stage 1: Abstract submissions: all submissions this year will be of a maximum of 300 words, including Smeed Prize applicants. They should have a clear structure as follows:  objective, background, methods, main result(s), conclusions. Please use the online submission form at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=utsg2021. 

The deadline for Stage 1 submissions is 5pm UK time on 2^nd March 2021.

Stage 2: Paper and Extended abstract submissions: at this point, presenters have two options for submitting their research work this year:

1. A full paper. Full papers will need to adopt the UTSG template and will be a maximum of 12 pages long. Please note, Smeed Prize entrants will need to submit a full paper to be eligible (see later).
2. An extended abstract (short paper) of up to 1500 words.

Templates and further information can be found at: http://utsg.net/annual-conference.

The deadline for Stage 2 submissions is 5pm UK time on 22^nd June 2021.

Smeed Prize submissions: Eligible papers are those prepared and presented entirely by an author who has carried out the work described in the paper while registered as a postgraduate student at a UTSG member institution, and who is either still registered as a student at such an institution or has had a viva since the previous UTSG conference. (NB There was a Smeed Prize event at the mini-conference, Number 52, that happened in the Covid-19 lockdown in July 2020). The first prize is £500 and the runner-up prize is £250. Prospective entrants should consult the Smeed Prize regulations for further details on the conference website. Entrants must be supported by a confirmation message from the candidate's supervisor, which should be sent to m.p.enoch@lboro.ac.uk. Please note that a full paper submission after abstract acceptance is compulsory for the Smeed entrants.

Organising Committee

• Professor Marcus Enoch
• Dr Andrew Timmis
• Jacky Mann (student representative)

Contact

Full conference details including the 'Call for Papers' and the Smeed Prize rules can be found at http://utsg.net/annual-conference. Please email m.p.enoch@lboro.ac.uk with any other queries.