Chair : Prof . Roberto Paolucci DOCTORAL PROGRAM IN STRUCTURAL SEISMIC AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

Objectives of the Doctoral Program Structural, Seismic and Geotechnical Engineering SSGE consists of the disciplines and techniques that allow to understand, model and control the behavior of: (a) structural materials (concrete, steel, masonry, composites, bio-materials and materials for micro-systems), (b) structural systems (from constructions to bio-mechanical systems and micro-systems), (c) soils, and (d) environment-construction interaction. Being deeply-rooted in Civil Engineering, which is – by its own nature – highly inter-disciplinary, SSGE focuses also on the environmental actions, either external (like earthquake, vibrations, irradiation, wind and fire) or ensuing from soil-structure interaction (like those caused by retained-earth thrust, landslides and water-table fluctuations). Because of their generality in materials and structural modeling, the methods developed within the domain of SSGE are very advantageous also in other technical-scientific domains, whenever understanding and controlling the mechanical aspects are necessary to guarantee both design reliability and structural safety, serviceability and durability. Many are the examples of the issues typical of SSGE: from tall buildings and bridges to industrial bio-mechanical and micro-electromechanical systems, from offshore structures and dams to the rehabilitation of monumental buildings, from seismic design and structural dynamics to slope stability, tunnel behavior and foundations, not to quote many issues that are in common with several branches of Industrial Engineering. Within this context, the primary objective of this Graduate School is to favor the advancement of the knowledge, with reference to: (a) innovation in materials and structures; (b) building safety under highly-variable actions; (c) soil and surface/buried structure stability; and (d) biomechanics, that is a key aspect of industrial bio-engineering. This objective is pursued by giving the PhD Candidates an advanced, researchoriented formation, based on the pivotal role of Structural Engineering and on the multi-disciplinary nature of Seismic, Geotechnical and Bio-Mechanical Engineering.