Meet our researchers
Building a pathway to sustainable travel futures Having helped shape sustainable transport policy, most notably in his native Greece, Dr Alexandros Nikitas is not resting on his laurels. The Deputy Director of Huddersfield Business School’s Behavioural Research Centre has founded the UK’s first Future Mobility Lab (FML). This interdisciplinary lab will promote the study of sustainable and socially inclusive mobility and connected, shared and alternatively fuelled transport. It is part of the University’s new Sustainable Living Research Centre. It’s a typically innovative move from Dr Nikitas, a Reader in Smart Transport who arrived at Huddersfield in 2015. He combines intensive and influential research with practical engagement with the real world. He was included in Stanford University’s 2020 list of the 2 per cent of scientists with the most citations in academic papers. That desire to see research translated into action saw him serving as a councillor in his home city of Drama for three years from 2011. Athens and Drama are among 12 Greek cities using his active travel research as a compass for their EU-funded Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. He also works with the Greek government on sustainable transport interventions. Dr Nikitas suggests: ‘The next big challenge we need to be thinking about is climate change. COVID-19 in some ways gave us a blueprint for change – highlighting the importance of developing and promoting sustainable transport.’ In July 2022 he assumes the Chair of the Universities’ Transport Study Group’s Executive Committee – the premier academic forum for transport research and teaching spanning UK and Irish universities. ‘This leadership role’, Dr Nikitas, says, “will offer excellent visibility to the Business School and wider University transport initiatives – making us a top24 | DISCOVER 2022
Dr Alexandros Nikitas
tier transport research hub globally.” As well as publishing more than 90 journal and conference papers, Dr Nikitas has worked with UK councils and city regions and major industrial powerhouses such as Volvo Buses. This applied research portfolio of work includes a pioneering micro-mobility/shared transport project with Kirklees Council. Dr Nikitas is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Transport & Health and an Editorial Board member for another two leading academic journals.
