01.
PhDTalks
PhDtalks is a series of seminars and discussions organized by and for PhD students. The events are self-managed by the doctoral candidates of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Speakers are voluntarily selected from among the candidates enrolled in the PhD programs in Structural, Seismic, and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSG) and Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering (IAI).
The events take place every two weeks in the late afternoon and are followed by a small refreshment funded by the DICA Department. The initiative aims to provide an informal and relaxed setting for PhD students to discuss ongoing research projects, share knowledge and skills, and enhance networking with fellow candidates.
02.
Rules and Awards
Prizes are planned for each seminar cycle, one for the IAI PhD program and one for the ISSG PhD program.
Participation is free each participant may submit only one presentation every two seminar cycles. The best presentation for each course will be awarded with the “PhDTalks” Prize from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, which consists of a budget of €1,000.00 available to the winner for conference participation or open-access scientific publications.
For more information and to download the registration form, please refer to the PhDTalks Regulations.
03.
Event Calendar
04.
Presentations
Sara Donzelli – Beneath the Frescoes of Pompeii: the Use of GPR to Identify and Image Roman Masonry Arrangements
The structural evaluation of walls in Pompeii requires accurate knowledge of construction techniques hidden by plaster and frescoes, which prevent direct observation and preclude invasive investigation. To address this challenge, a non-destructive methodology based on high-frequency Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is proposed. A dedicated experimental setup enables surveys directly on decorated surfaces, improving signal quality while ensuring full compatibility with conservation requirements. A 2D approach supports the identification and mapping of masonry typologies, while 3D acquisition allows the imaging of surface masonry arrangements. The integration of these techniques provides a robust framework to support structural assessment and conservation management at Pompeii.
Ana Maria Rotaru – Accounting for spatial dependence in flood hazard assessment at basin scale
Flood hazard assessments at basin scale often rely on simplified representations of extreme events, assuming that the same level of severity occurs across the entire catchment. This assumption rarely holds in reality, and the resulting flood maps correspond to longer return period than intended. This work explicitly characterizes the spatial dependence of flood-generating extremes in producing hazard maps within the Lambro River basin. A conditional extreme value framework is used to model the dependence structure of precipitation and generate a large ensemble of scenarios, each sharing the same joint return period at the basin scale but with varying return periods across sub-catchments. The rainfall scenarios drive 2D hydrodynamic simulations, producing a set of flood maps that can be synthesized into probabilistic hazard maps. The findings demonstrate that accounting for spatial dependence returns a richer depiction of the flood hazard compared to the current practice.
Eleonora Barbaccia – Stakeholder-based eDNA monitoring framework for marine biodiversity management
Monitoring marine biodiversity at high spatio-temporal resolution remains constrained by the vast scale of ocean systems and the logistical, financial and taxonomic limitations of conventional surveys. As a result, available data are often fragmented, spatially restricted and temporally discontinuous, reducing their reliability for effective marine governance. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is based on the analysis of genetic material that organisms naturally release into their environment, allowing species detection from environmental samples without direct observation or capture. Within the eWHALE project, this research developed and validated an integrated monitoring model that combines eDNA, opportunistic platforms and stakeholder engagement to expand spatial coverage, increase sampling frequency and reduce operational costs. The framework provides a scalable pathway to generate policy-relevant marine biodiversity data that can directly inform strategic conservation planning and evidence-based marine management.
Gabriele Bocchino – Understanding the Fatigue Behaviour of High-Performance Fibre-Reinforced Concrete: From Experimental Investigations to Design Provisions
The topic of fatigue in concrete is receiving increasing attention as a growing number of fatigue-sensitive structures are being constructed. These include energy-harvesting and energy-storage infrastructures, industrial slabs, bridges, and infrastructural pavements, which, over their service life, may undergo millions of load cycles, possibly leading to premature degradation and failure. Fibre-Reinforced Concrete (FRC), owing to the bridging effect of fibres, exhibits significant tensile resistance and improved toughness compared to plain concrete, enabling it to better withstand cyclic loading. Nevertheless, current design codes only provide fatigue formulations originally derived for plain concrete, strongly limiting the advantages offered by the improved capabilities of FRC. The talk will outline the problem of fatigue in concrete structures, provide an overview of the behaviour of FRC under fatigue loading, and conclude with new tailored formulations informed by experimental results, aimed at better exploiting the enhanced performance of FRC materials.
Valerio Maugeri – Ageing effects in metro tunnel ground-borne vibrations: a combined numerical and experimental approach
Ground-borne vibrations generated by metro trains can affect human comfort, structural integrity, and the operation of sensitive equipment. The role of ballast ageing in the dynamic response of track-tunnel-soil systems remains poorly understood, motivating dedicated investigation. A combined numerical and experimental framework is presented. On the numerical side, two computationally efficient three-dimensional models are adopted: (i) a novel formulation in which track and tunnel are modeled as beam elements coupled to dynamic impedance functions, and (ii) a 2.5D Finite Element model with Perfectly Matched Layers developed in a fully open-source environment. Experimentally, ballast dynamic behavior is characterized through cyclic simple shear and seismic laboratory tests with controlled degradation, as well as through in situ active MASW surveys. The combined approach investigates vibration propagation under different ballast degradation conditions.
Paolo Colombo – How to harness irrigation-groundwater linkages to adapt to climate changes
Groundwater is crucial in sustaining life, worldwide depletion has been observed, linked to climate changes and human consumption. This leads to risks for the whole water system. The Po plain makes no exception. It does however offer some solutions: the historical irrigation practices foster aquifer recharge, opening a path towards possible adaptation. The presentation will follow the path of my PhD, answering the questions: how will groundwater respond to future climate changes? Can we “hit two pigeons with a stone” and safeguarding heritage irrigation canals while adapting to climate change? What do we need to consider? The answers have come through field tests in cooperation with farmers and an irrigation consortium, groundwater monitoring and numerical modeling.
Federico Lanteri – Learning the physics of free-surface fluid flows with AI
The study of free-surface fluid flows is of significant interest across various research fields, including civil, aerospace, and biomedical engineering. Numerical simulations approximating Navier–Stokes equations provide accurate descriptions of such phenomena but are often computationally expensive for real-world applications. In recent years, deep learning has emerged as a promising approach for modeling complex physical systems, offering data-driven alternatives to traditional solvers. However, applying these techniques to free-surface flows is particularly challenging compared to standard fluid dynamics problems on fixed geometries, as it requires neural network architectures capable of handling unstructured and dynamically evolving domains. By carefully designing such architectures and training them on datasets generated from high-fidelity numerical simulations, it is possible to learn the complex underlying physics governing free-surface dynamics, effectively building surrogate models that reproduce accurate solutions at a fraction of the computational cost. This approach opens new perspectives for real-time analysis, optimization, and control in engineering applications involving free-surface flows.
Paula Barbato – Life Cycle Assessment of E-Diesel production
In recent years, electrofuels (e-fuels) have gained increasing attention as a promising alternative to conventional fossil fuels, offering a potential pathway for decarbonising multiple sectors. Synthesised from hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2) using renewable energy, e-fuels are currently being discussed within the European automotive policy framework as a possible solution to enable the continued registration of new internal combustion engine (ICE) passenger vehicles beyond 2035. So far, most research has focused on their use in hard-to-electrify sectors, leaving their potential role in passenger road transport underexplored. This talk investigates the environmental performance of e-diesel production through the application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Six production scenarios, differing in CO2 sources, electricity supply mixes, and methodological choices, are investigated and compared. By examining these variations, the study aims to identify under which conditions e-diesel could provide environmental improvements compared to fossil diesel, and whether it can truly represent a bridge toward a more sustainable transport future.
Ashfeen Ubaid Khan – Multiscale Investigation of Iodinated Contrast Media Agent Removal Using Engineered Montmorillonite Clay
Iodinated contrast media agents (ICMs) are pharmaceutical compounds essential for medical imaging that escape into water systems, resist conventional treatment, and generate toxic byproducts. We present an engineered clay for targeted removal of these pharmaceutical contaminants, investigated through multiscale experiments spanning batch studies to continuous flow columns simulating real world conditions. Coupling experimental data with Bayesian modeling of adsorption dynamics reveals how the amphiphilic porous architecture of engineered clay achieves over 93% removal efficiency. This integrated approach of experimentation and modeling reveals both performance and the underlying mechanisms essential for deployable water treatment systems.
05.
Photo Gallery
