Phd in STRUCTURAL AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

The three-year Structural and Geotechnical Engineering PhD Programme is positioned at the third level of university education and is designed to provide initiation into scientific research and to supply the skills required to conduct research activities, including at the international level, as well as highly qualified professional activities, with particular reference to topics related to Solid and Structural Mechanics and Geotechnics, including soils and foundations.

In 2020 (36th Cycle) the PhD programme was classified as International, and in 2021 (37th Cycle) as International, Intersectoral, and Interdisciplinary, according to ANVUR criteria (Guidelines for the accreditation of doctoral schools and programmes, ANVUR_Note No. 3315_1-2-2019).
 

Areas of interest include basic and advanced research on: mechanical modelling of innovative materials and structures; structural dynamics; structural stability; geomechanics; and applied research in the structural and geotechnical fields, in connection with activities related to soil protection, the prevention of seismic risk to buildings and monuments, infrastructure upgrading, and energy saving. The PhD Programme specifically includes topics pertaining to the disciplinary scientific sectors of Structural Mechanics, Structural Engineering, and Geotechnics as specified in the following descriptors.
 

STRUCTURAL MECHANICS This sector concerns scientific and educational activities related to the mechanics of solids, materials, and structures. Its disciplinary content covers theoretical and experimental knowledge aimed at solving problems related to determining the mechanical behaviour (including in the presence of multi-physical couplings) of structures, with particular reference to resistant elements of civil engineering, architecture, other engineering fields, or other applied sciences. Problems addressed include aspects of statics, dynamics, constitutive modelling of traditional and “innovative” materials, fracture and fatigue mechanics, stability of equilibrium, active and passive structural control, and experimental mechanics as validation of the adopted models. The techniques and methods used are those of physical–mathematical modelling, computational mechanics, experimental mechanics, diagnostics, and structural identification. Other topics concern the interaction between structures and their surrounding physical environment, the mechanics of innovative materials and unconventional structures, regardless of the observation and modelling scale, the critical study of the historical development of models, and the structural interpretation of historical and monumental constructions.

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING This sector concerns scientific and educational activities related to theories and techniques aimed both at the structural conception and design of new constructions and at the assessment and structural rehabilitation of existing ones. Its disciplinary content includes: actions on structures, including seismic actions; the behaviour of structures depending on typology and morphology, materials, techniques and technologies, interaction with soil and the environment, ways and strategies of use and control; methods and tools for performance-based structural design; structural and non-structural systems using traditional and innovative materials; construction and management of structures; assessments of vulnerability, reliability, comfort, safety, and durability; testing and monitoring of constructions; historical investigation of construction methods, safety assessments, numerical modelling, and structural intervention solutions applicable to ordinary buildings, historical structures, and monuments; structural architecture.

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING This sector concerns scientific and educational activities related to the principles, theories, and analytical, computational, and experimental methodologies for the physical–mechanical modelling of soils and rocks and for evaluating their behaviour in boundary-value problems in which these natural materials interact with typical Civil Engineering structures under static and dynamic conditions. In particular, part of the research is devoted to the experimental observation of the mechanical behaviour of soils and rocks at the element level, as well as the related formulation of nonlinear constitutive models capable of reproducing their salient features. Such mathematical models require the development of specific numerical integration strategies—another research area of the sector—so that they can be implemented in computational codes for boundary-value problem analysis. The transition to analysing the behaviour of geotechnical structures—such as foundations, underground constructions, excavations and retaining structures, tunnels, embankments, or earth dams—also requires synthesising the results of geotechnical characterisation to formulate a specific geotechnical subsoil model, whose definition forms an integral part of typical sectoral analysis. Research on these boundary-value problems has a direct impact on technical practice, both at the design stage and during the construction phase of civil engineering works. Finally, though no less important, there is the research area dedicated to the analysis at different scales of problems associated with environmental risks affecting the territory in which we live. This includes the analysis of natural slope stability, seismic analysis (e.g., quantifying local seismic response or the risk of liquefaction), and assessment of environmental damage of anthropogenic origin, with particular reference to the remediation of contaminated sites.
 

The topics of the PhD in Structural and Geotechnical Engineering are central to the field of Civil Engineering and Architecture, but they may also extend to broader areas such as Industrial Engineering (e.g., mechanical, aerospace, naval) or Mathematical Physics, while maintaining a focus on theoretical, experimental, computational, and applied aspects. The programme also encompasses different research topics such as safety under extreme actions such as fires and explosions, unconventional mechanics, frontier technologies, technologies based on coupled or bio-inspired behaviours, biostructural issues, heuristic optimisation methods, security-related problems, energy harvesting, sustainability aspects, forensic engineering, and historical aspects of structural mechanics and design methods.

The preferred research topics are varied and characterised by rigour and appropriate depth. In addition to the specific themes of the two curricula, interdisciplinary theses—including those developed in collaboration with various Institutions (Universities, public and private bodies)—are encouraged. Theses on cross-disciplinary topics are also supported when they can guide future PhD graduates not only toward academic and research careers but also toward highly qualified professional and consultancy paths.