Future Fellowship an investment in safer cycling
Congratulations to Dr Ben Beck, who has just been awarded a highly prestigious Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council.
100 Future Fellowships are awarded to outstanding Australian mid-career researchers to undertake high quality research in areas of national and international benefit. The Fellowship provides four years of funding to top-ranked mid-career researchers to support their research.
Dr Beck is Head of Sustainable Mobility and Safety Research in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, and leads a large body of interdisciplinary research focused on enhanced safety and uptake of healthy and sustainable modes of transport. His ARC Future Fellowship will see him advance this program of research, using data driven approaches and innovative technologies to improve the evaluation and implementation of interventions to support bike riding.
Dr Beck says, "I’m really passionate about creating environments that are safe, healthy, equitable and sustainable, and enabling people to choose active modes of transport is a huge part of this. My research is driven by bringing together experts across a breadth of fields and disciplines to solve complex local and global problems in partnership with government and non-government organisations.
"The Future Fellowship research will revolutionise our ability to implement safe and connected cycling infrastructure in areas of greatest need, leading to reduced injury, greater equity and a wider uptake of cycling as a mode of transport. This will lead to substantial gains in population and environmental health."
Ben’s planned work under the Fellowship will see the development of data platforms that will monitor, inform and evaluate bike riding and safety; the use of these platforms to identify locations and safety improvements that could yield high-value increases in cyclist participation; and the strengthening of partnerships with local and State and governments to improve implementation of research findings into practice.