PhD Research Student (Naples, 1991)

Title of her Thesis: “MPM Modelling soil liquefaction”

Gaia di Carluccio has recently joined the project Soil in Motion (Ref. RTI2018-097365-B-I00) coordinated by CIMNE and funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the call Collaboration Challenges. This project of R+D+i Oriented to the Challenges of Society is led by the researchers Núria Pinyol and Sebastià Olivella.

Soil in Motion (SiM) is a project to move forward in the understanding and modelling of triggering instability processes and the subsequent dynamic response of soil and rock masses. Gaia is in charge of the maintenance, validation and development of ANURA3D code within the framework of the SiM Project and the development of the Anura3D interface, performing laboratory tests on soil and rock samples, among other functions.

INTERVIEW WITH GAIA DI CARLUCCIO:

-What new challenges does this position imply for your research career?

This position will allow me to continue dedicating myself to research in the field of numerical modeling with the Material Point Method (MPM) of geotechnical processes that involve large deformations. In particular, I will work to advance the study of the phenomenon of soil liquefaction under static and dynamic loads in the framework of landslides.

-When are you scheduled to read your thesis and what thematic alignment does it have with the SiM project?

The reading of my doctoral thesis is scheduled for the first semester of 2021. The work I have dedicated myself to is aligned with one of the objectives of the SiM project that provides for the development of the Anura3D code, in the context of the MPM Research Community, to simulation of liquefaction through the implementation of an advanced constitutive model and dynamic boundary conditions.

-The women who dedicate yourselves to research, especially scientific-technological, are still a minority...How do you value it? How do you think this situation could be reversed?

In my PhD experience, I was fortunate to work in a balanced context from the point of view of the number of male and female researchers. However, looking at the data, it is clear that women are declining more and more as education progresses. Among the measures necessary to reverse this trend, I believe that it is to implement structural changes in the organization of research work that facilitate reconciliation with family life.

See project sheet