PhD Core Areas
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING is an area of study and research aimed at:
(I) formulating and applying models and methods for the theoretical, numerical and experimental analysis of the mechanical
behaviour of structural systems;
(II) providing a realistic description of the resistant mechanism of a construction, in order to ensure its overall stability and the
robust fulfilment of all of its required performances;
(III) simulating the relationship between external excitation and system response in such a way to optimize the structural behaviour
and pursue innovative techniques of structural design.
Structural engineering is basically concerned with systems and problems occurring in civil engineering and architecture, but
structures encountered in other areas - such as mechanical, aerospace and marine (naval, offshore) engineering - are also of major
interest.
In civil engineering, the interest is towards modelling, simulating and designing buildings, bridges, dams, and other systems, in
such a way to guarantee the capability of the underlying structures to withstand natural and man-made forces in different
environmental conditions, which may include earthquakes, tornadoes, fire, traffic-induced excitation, etc. Based on also a crossdisciplinary
fertilization between companion areas of engineering, meaningful changes are now occurring within the spectrum of
traditional research activities in structural engineering ensuing from the solely civil engineering, as regards aspects pertaining to
both structural analysis (solid and structural mechanics) and structural synthesis(structural
design). They are associated with the need:
(i) to reliably describe the mechanical behaviour of either new/innovative materials (the huge variety
of composites) or of old ones which are still unsatisfactorily modelled (old constructions and historical monuments);
(ii) to improve and exploit understanding and control of phenomena still inadequately addressed in Master programme studies (e.g.,
the effect of geometric or material nonlinearities, and various kinds of coupled problems, including fluid-structure, thermo-structural
and electro-mechanical interaction);
(iii) to guarantee (or improve) the operating conditions of structural systems (all issues associated with the identification, structural
health monitoring, and control of structural behaviour);
(iv) to move from the traditional prescription-based design of structures to their more modern performance based design, which is
necessary to make the realization of non-conventional architectural and structural systems feasible.
Possible fulfilment of these (and other) needs requires a strong effort in the development of innovative,
practical, safe, and economical solutions of complex theoretical and technological issues, to be pursued by exploiting the advanced
technology - which includes sophisticated mathematical and mechanical modelling, computer simulation, and physical
experimentation - in order to attain a robust structural behaviour and to support consistent choices in the design stage.
Of course, it is quite hard to draw a training programme in Structural Engineering able to guarantee a satisfactory coverage of such
a wide range of topics, and the present Ph.D. program - which is basically devoted to fostering and properly driving individual
research skills within a customized scientific path - makes no attempt in this respect. Yet, it aims at providing the student with a scientific environment as much open
as possible, by encompassing both the fundamentals of modern engineering mechanics (materials, solids, and structures), and the
advanced aspects of structural analysis and design (simulation techniques, and phenomenological/technical issues).
The Ph.D. program in Structural Engineering is aimed at training a selected number of highly skilled
professionals in structural engineering, with the academic and engineering credentials to assume leadership roles in industry and
academia.
Opportunities are also available in many R&D institutes, which include - in Italy - agencies like CNR,ENEA, ENEL, ANAS etc.,
governmental institutions in the area of Public Works, Infrastructures, Transportation, Cultural Heritage, Environment, Industry, and
Earthquake Engineering, and top-level public and private companies operating in civil, aerospace, marine and mechanical
engineering.
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
The Doctorate Program in Geotechnical Engineering has a long tradition and is one of the oldest programs offered at the Faculty of
Engineering of the University of Rome ’La Sapienza’. It started in 1986 and,since then, it has continued its activity up to the
present. During this period, 73 candidates have successfully completed the program. Many of them have undertaken the Academic
career and are now enrolled as assistant, associate or full professors in Italian and foreign Universities.
Others are employed in Italian Technical Institutions such as the National Dam Safety Board, the National Seismic Agency, the
National Service of Civil Protection or in private companies such as civil engineering construction companies operating at an
international level.
Education
During the first two years of the program, the students undertake advanced education activities articulated
on advanced-level courses, seminars and lectures given by the members of the program’s Teacher’s Council, or by leading experts of
other Italian and foreign Universities.
These activities are organized in two steps. The former is devoted to basic learning studies on such fundamental topics as
Continuum Mechanics of Solids and Fluids, Numerical Methods, Engineering Geology. The latter is oriented towards more specialistic
subjects, often directly connected to the research activities of the students, including:
-Advanced-level soil and rock mechanics;
-Constitutive modeling of inelastic materials, with special reference to granular media;
-Mechanics of multiphase media;
-Advanced experimental techniques in soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering;
-Computational geomechanics, with special reference to the application of the FE and FD methods for the analysis of complex
geotechnical engineering problems.
Research
The research activities carried out by the candidates can be oriented towards: a) experimental characterization of the mechanical
behavior of geomaterials at the laboratory scale; b) field monitoring
and analysis of applied geotechnical engineering problems in the areas of foundations engineering,retaining structures, slope
stability, environmental geomechanics, etc.; c) the development of theoretical models for the description of the mechanical behavior
of soils and rocks under complex loading conditions; and, d) the implementation of numerical strategies for the analysis of complex
geotechnical problems.
In the development of the different research activities, particular emphasis is given to the interaction
between the candidates and foreign research institutions. Thanks to the international contacts and co-operative projects existing
between the geotechnical staff of the DISG and several academic institutions in the EU and in the rest of the world (US, Japan,
Australia), the candidates have the unique opportunity to carry out part of their research activity abroad (1 to 6 months), working
together with world’s leading experts in their research field.