Today marks a proud milestone for the Mobility Lab: Dana Kaziyeva successfully defended her PhD dissertation titled “Advancing Transport Models Using Agent-Based Modelling and Geoinformatics” at the University of Salzburg.

Dana joined the Mobility Lab as a research assistant in 2017 and quickly became a driving force in several projects. Her journey began with FamoS, where she developed an agent-based simulation model for bicycle flows. This work led to her widely recognized paper on simulating spatio-temporal bicycle traffic patterns, an achievement that became the cornerstone of her dissertation.
Building on this foundation, Dana turned to pedestrian mobility as part of the SINUS project. Here, she designed a large-scale agent-based pedestrian model, integrating walkability-based routing and probabilistic decision-making to capture realistic urban movement patterns. Dana published this work in the high-impact journal Computers, Environment and Urban Systems.
Both models represent significant advances in transport modelling, enabling planners to test infrastructure and policy scenarios before implementation.

Beyond her scientific contributions, Dana enriched our team with exceptional GIS expertise and a collaborative, open-minded spirit. Her work has not only advanced academic knowledge but also provided practical tools for sustainable mobility planning.

After moving to Vienna to start a career in private industry, Dana returned today to complete the final step of her PhD journey. Prof. Johannes Scholz and Dr. Martin Loidl served as discussants in the defense, contributing to a stimulating and insightful examination, chaired by Prof. Gudrun Wallentin.

Congratulations, Dr. Dana Kaziyeva! Your achievements will continue to inspire our work toward smarter, more sustainable mobility solutions.