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Structural Engineering, Geotechnics and Seismic Risk (35th cycle)

  • Description

    Educational purposes

    The Ph.D. program in Structural Engineering, Geotechnics and Seismic Risk (DISGERS) offers high technical and scientific training aimed at increasing the analytical and research skills, so that the placement of students is facilitated both in the field of public and private research, as well as in other highly qualified sectors.

    By virtue of multidisciplinarity of the scientific sectors that characterize it, the DISGERS provides physics and math background and an advanced knowledge of the scientific aspects that contribute to the evaluation, mitigation and monitoring of risks, for civil engineering structures and infrastructures, with particular reference to seismic risk.

    The training will make use of Federico II labs, as well as the relevant network of collaborations of the Ph.D. board with the major public and private institutions having to do with the central themes of the doctorate. PhD students are expected to spend periods of study and research at other institutions/universities, in Italy and abroad, in order to deepen their knowledge. DISGERS intends to encourage the participation of PhD students in national and international research projects.
     

    Research fields

    The prediction of risk phenomena, in particular of the seismic one, and the estimation of the expected damages, seen as tools for the consequent mitigation choices, require the development of a synergistic approach to the problem. To this purpose, seismology and geology contribute to the correct characterization of the seismic hazard as a specific property of the territory, as well as structural and geotechnical engineering both for the assessment of the vulnerability of buildings and for the correct design of the new ones. Furthermore, studies in the engineering and seismological fields are preparatory to a correct temporal and spatial allocation of the resources available for the most critical situations, as well as the imposition of sustainable constraints on building activities and, more generally, on the use of territory according to the different levels of danger. Therefore, the research topics connected with the risk are of particular interest and importance for our country, which is often subject to the occurrence of seismic events, landslides, flows, subsidence, etc., causing considerable damage both from the point of view of material possessions than in terms of loss of human lives. Ultimately, the transversal and interdisciplinary nature of both the topics studied and the research fields addressed make DISGERS a unique example of its kind in Italy, so as to make it particularly attractive.

  • Cycle:

     35

  • Board committee:
    1. CORBI Ottavia
    2. DE LUCA Antonello
    3. EMOLO Antonio
    4. FESTA Gaetano
    5. FLORA Alessandro
    6. FRALDI Massimiliano
    7. IERVOLINO Iunio – Coordinator
    8. LANDOLFO Raffaele
    9. MANCUSO Claudio
    10. MANFREDI Gaetano
    11. NIGRO Emidio
    12. PICOZZI Matteo
    13. ROSATI Luciano
    14. SACCO Elio
    15. SANTO Antonio
    16. URCIUOLI Gianfranco
    17. VERDERAME Gerardo Mario
    18. ZOLLO Aldo

  • Organization of courses and educational activities:

    The PhD program requires the acquisition of 180 ECTS (60 ECTS per year), divided into:

    Educational activities (courses and/or seminars): 30 ECTS

    During the entire PhD course, no more than 5 ECTS can be awarded in seminars. Typically, one credit is equivalent to three seminars. The credits relating to the courses are acquired only after passing the final exam that may consist, in addition to the traditional forms of examination, in the discussion of a report illustrating:

    • works on topics related to the course published in the international literature
    • the results of experimental tests conducted within the course

    Courses can be chosen among those proposed by the tutor/board or by the PhD student and are subjected to approval by the tutor and the Committee. The list of appointed courses for a.y. 2019-2020 can be viewed at the dedicated webpage and relevant Google calendar.

    Teaching activities: 35 ECTS

    Research activities: 115 ECTS
  • Admission test:

    The selection includes an assessment of the qualifications followed by a written and an oral test. For more details, please refer to the call.
  • Admissions exam topics:
    1. Continuum mechanics (balance and kinematics of continuous systems, deformations, constitutive bonds, stability, etc.)
    2. Dynamics of material systems (discrete systems, continuous discretized systems, continuous systems, seismic dynamics, etc.)
    3. Numerical and computational methods for solids mechanics problems (finite elements, finite differences, etc.)
    4. Physical, mechanical, and experimental characterization models (mechanical tests, influential variables on mechanical behavior and typical behaviors, monitoring tools and their purposes, etc.)
  • Course length: 3 years
  • Credits: 180 ECTS
  • Contacts:
  • Course affiliation: Dept. of Structures for Engineering and Architecture - via Claudio 21 (80125 Naples, Italy) - Building 6, 1st floor
  • Candidatures deadline: 2nd August 2019

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