Dear Colleagues, 

We are pleased to invite you to submit an abstract to the session EMRP1.7 “Laboratory characterization and numerical modelling of soft rocks” for the next EGU GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2025 which will be held in Vienna from April 27 to May 2, 2025.

The session will be convenered by Maria Lia Napoli (from the Department of Structural, Geotechnical and Building Engineering of Torino Polytechnic) and myself (Chiara Caselle, from the Department of Earth Science of Torino University) and will focus on the laboratory characterization and modeling of the thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical (THMC) behaviour of weak/soft rocks and rock masses.

These rocks represent a challenge in several geoengineering contexts, due to their low strength, high heterogeneity, high proneness to drastic weathering or fracturing processes, and to the fact that they can develop time-dependent and water-interaction-dependent deformations (e.g., creep, swelling, squeezing).

Despite these materials raised big attention in the geotechnical and rock mechanics scientific communities in the last decades, several questions remain open about the understanding of the complexity that drives their behaviour, posing risks to the safety and longevity of infrastructures and to the stability of natural slopes and sea cliffs.

For these reasons, this session proposes to collect contributions about the THMC behaviour of soft rocks and rock masses, welcoming laboratory, modeling and case studies topics, with the objective of revealing our capability of effectively characterizing and predicting the behaviour of these materials. We hope that you wish to contribute to the discussion with your research!  

You can find more information at https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/session/51719 and the attached PDF.

The abstract deadline is January 15th (13:00 CET)!

We look forward to seeing you in Vienna!

Sincerely, 

Chiara and Maria Lia

It is our great pleasure to invite you to participate and present your latest work in the Mini Symposium on “Advances in Constitutive Modeling of Soils and Parameter Determination” (MS-24) that will be held during the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute 2025 International Conference (EMI 2025-IC), at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Jul 17-20, 2025. 

The co-organizers of MS-24 include Rui Wang, Yan-Guo Zhou, Majid Manzari, Mahdi Taiebat, Kyohei Ueda, and Zhongxuan Yang.

This Mini Symposium aims to bring together researchers to discuss the needs, challenges, advances, and innovative paths forward for the development of constitutive models for soils and accurate parameter determination for advanced soil models.

Contributions are welcome on, but not limited to the topics below:

• Constitutive modeling of soils under complex loading conditions
• Constitutive modeling of special types of soils
• Machine learning in constitutive modeling of soils
• Optimization algorithms and machine learning methods in soil model calibration
• Parameter determination using combination of laboratory and in-situ measurements
• Validation and application of soil constitutive models and calibration methods

The deadline for the submission of abstracts is February 3, 2025, and we are excited to receive your abstract in due course. The link for abstract submission is https://emi-ic.asce.org/call-abstracts.

We look forward to your contributions soon.

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the mini-symposium “MS-19: Offshore Geotechnics and Wind Turbine Foundations” at EMI 2025 IC, scheduled for July 17-19, 2025 and hosted by Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• ●Soil-structure interaction
• ●Pile installation techniques and their effects on short- and long-term pile capacities
• ●Constitutive models for soils, particularly in capturing their high-cycle responses
• ●Advanced numerical methods for simulating large deformations and long-term service responses of pile foundations
• ●Model and centrifuge testing of pile foundations
• ●Field and case studies
• ●Future trends in emerging technologies in offshore geotechnics

Abstract submission is now open and will remain open until February 3, 2025. You can submit your abstracts here. Please ensure you select MS-19 for the MS Code during submission.

For more details about the MS, please refer to the attached PDF. We look forward to welcoming you in Beijing!

The next gathering of the European Geoscience Union – EGU 2025 (Vienna, April 27 to May 2, 2025) will host the session on Petrophysics and Geomechanics for the Energy Transition, convened by Paul Glover (University of Leeds), Wenzhuo Cao (Utrecht University), Daniela Navarro-Perez (University of Southern Chile), Ashley Stanton-Yonge (UCL), Roberto Rizzo Utrecht University) and Eszter Békési (Hungarian Research Network).

Petrophysics and geomechanics have been critical tools in the exploitation of naturally occurring fossil fuels. Now that the world is transitioning away from fossil fuels towards sustainable energy and material sources, these same methods still have critical roles to play. The methods remain the same – it is only their applications that have changed, helping to drive the globe towards net zero and beyond. Conventional petrophysics and geomechanics are being applied to new challenges, ensuring that the wheel does not need reinventing.

The aim of this session is to explore and foster the contribution of petrophysics and geomechanics to improve development of sustainable energy and material resources in the transition to low-carbon energy and net zero.

Papers should show research or deployment involving theory, concept, measurement, modelling, testing, validation of the deployment of petrophysics and/or geomechanics, from/across angström to basin scales, that has the potential for driving us towards net zero, including pore-scale processes that link fluid flow, geochemistry and geomechanical properties, and studies linking petrophysical and geomechanical properties across multiple scales.

Applications include, but are not limited to, (i) carbon capture and storage, (ii) subsurface energy storage, (iii) geothermal energy, (iv) non-carbon gas exploitation (e.g. helium and white hydrogen), (v) wind energy, (vi) hydroelectric energy, (vi) solar energy, (vii) battery storage for smoothing of Intermittent Renewable Energy Sources (IRES). In each case including provision of critical minerals (e.g., lithium, cobalt, neodymium), engineering and groundwater flow are included.

Approaches may include laboratory measurement, field studies, multi-scale imaging, pore-scale and DRM modelling, reactive flow, reservoir modelling, 3D quantification and dynamic simulation, fracture modelling, heat flow quantification and modelling, reservoir integrity cap-rock studies, quantitative evaluation of porosity, permeability or any other properties or approach.

Interested participants are welcome to submit an abstract before January 15, 2025 (13:00 CET).

A short advertising video available at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkI_yZsi1y8  

Submission of abstracts through: EMRP1.2 – Abstract submission (copernicus.org)

We would like to invite you and your colleagues to participate in on-line session NP7.1 “Non-linear Waves and Triggering Effects” at European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2024 https://www.egu25.eu.

Division: Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics
Conveners:
Arcady Dyskin¹, Elena Pasternak¹, Sergey Turuntaev^2 
1University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
²Inst. of Geosphere Dynamics of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

The congress will be held on 27 April–2 May 2025. The EGU General Assembly 2025 (EGU25) will be a conference with a virtual component where everybody is welcome, in person or online! 

The session is NP7.1
The deadline for abstracts is 15 January 2025.

Waves in the Earth’s crust are often generated by fractures in the process of their sliding or propagation. Conversely, the waves can trigger fracture sliding or even propagation. Analysis of wave propagation and their interaction with pre-existing or emerging fractures is central to geophysics. Recently new observations and theoretical concepts were introduced pointing out to the limitations of the traditional concepts. These are:
• Multiscale nature of wave fields and fractures in geomaterials
• Rotational mechanisms of wave and fracture propagation 
• Strong rock and rock mass non-linearity (such as bilinear stress-strain curve with high modulus in compression and low in tension) and its effect on wave propagation 
• Apparent negative stiffness associated with either rotation of non-spherical constituents or fracture propagation and its effect on wave propagation
• Triggering effects and instability in geomaterials
• Active nature of geomaterials (e.g., seismic emission induced by stress and pressure wave propagation)
• Mechanics of granular material blowout by gas filtration
• Non-linear mechanics of hydraulic fracturing
• Synchronization in fracture processes including earthquakes and volcanic activity

Complex waves are now a key problem of the physical oceanography and atmosphere physics. They are called rogue or freak waves. It may be expected that similar waves are also present in non-linear solids (e.g., granular materials), which suggests the existence of new types of seismic waves. 

It is anticipated that studying these and related phenomena can lead to breakthroughs in understanding of the stress transfer and multiscale failure processes in the Earth’s crust, ocean and atmosphere and facilitate developing better prediction and monitoring methods. The session is designed as a forum for discussing these and similar topics. 

Best regards,
On behalf of the convener’s team

The 2025 International Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference will be hosted by Tsinghua University in Beijing, China from July 17-20, 2025. Ghassan Shahin (EPFL), John Rudnicki (NU), Giuseppe Buscarnera (NU), and Dawei Xue (Tongji U.) would like to invite you to contribute to the mini-symposium ADVANCES IN GEOMECHANICS AND GEOPHYSICS FOR SUB-SURFACE TECHNOLOGY AND NATURAL HAZARD (MS-20). Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• multiscale and multiphysics mechanics of porous rocks
• fault mechanics, fracture mechanics, and deformation banding
• field and laboratory methods
• constitutive, multiscale, and data-driven modeling

Abstract submission is now open and will remain open until February 3, 2025. Abstracts can be submitted here.

We hope you will submit an abstract to the conference and meet you in Beijing, China!

The next gathering of the European Geoscience Union – EGU 2025 (Vienna, April 27 to May 2, 2025) – will host for the fifth year the session on Nature-based and bio-based or inspired solutions for geohazard mitigation on slopes and streambanks

The objective of the session is to stimulate the interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge on nature-based (such as use of vegetation,  capillary barriers, …), bio-based (such as MICP calcite induced by microbial activities, biopolymers, …) or bio-inspired (root-shaped anchors for soil reinforcement, …)  solutions for the mitigation of risks related to hydro-geological disasters, with particular attention to landslides and erosion on slopes and streambanks.

Contributions will range from:
– experimental studies (lab and field testing or monitoring)
– numerical analyses and upscaling of results
– tools, design approaches, best practices, manuals, and guidelines
– National and European policies
– case studies and soil bioengineering applications

The session has been organized by
Vittoria Capobianco, Alessandro Fraccica, Manuela Cecconi, Zhun Mao, Anthony Leung.

(NGI – Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, ISPRA – Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, University of Perugia – Italy, INRAE – French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

More information and the session description can be found in the attached flyer and here: Session NH3.13

Interested participants are welcome to submit an abstract within January 15, 2025 (13:00 CET).

Additional info about abstract submission can be found at: EGU25 – How to submit an abstract

The aim of Powders & Grains 2025 (to be held in Goa, India, during 8-12 December 2025; https://www.powdersandgrains2025.co.in/) is to share the recent advances in the broad research field of granular media and particulate suspensions. Contributions from experts around the world will cover a wide range of topics.

Powders & Grains (https://www.powdersandgrains.org/) is the premier international scientific conference held every four years in three different continents (Europe, America and Asia & Oceania) since 1989. It brings together engineers, physicists and applied mathematicians interested in the mechanics and physics of granular media and particulate suspensions. It distinguishes itself from other meetings on granular materials by (1) the mixture of disciplines, (2) the unique single-session talks, (3) the posters taking a prominent role and being displayed throughout the conference, and (4) the refereed conference papers published online before the meeting.

Further information can be found in this file.

Thank you for your support to AGERP lecture series from the past four years. At AGERP’20 AGERP’21, AGERP’22, and AGERP’23, we have more than 50 lectures and 1 panel discussion that brought together more than 60 renowned geoengineering experts and a huge audience from 131 countries through a free to access knowledge sharing platform. Apart from the generous support from the experts that appeared in the past fourth editions of, it is your participation and appreciation that largely contributed to the success of AGERP.

In the last four editions of the AGERP lecture series, we covered quite a breadth of topics related to geotechnical engineering. In the fifth edition, we intend to dive even further and deeper into some of the specialised topics in geotechnical engineering. To that end,  we are pleased to invite you to the Indo-Australian Workshop on Geotechnical Engineering, scheduled to be held from 29th November 2024. You may register for the workshop at www.age-rp.com. Program for the workshop is summarised in the Flyer (In IST and AEST).

Dear Colleagues,

From April 14th to 17th, 2025, we are organizing an international workshop titled “International Workshop on Granular Materials & Regolith” at the University de Lorraine, Metz, France. The theme of the event will focus on: “Granular Materials Fundamentals, Applications, and Concepts for Extraterrestrial Regolith, including the Moon, Mars, and Asteroids.”

The event will bring together specialists and established researchers from academia, government agencies (including NASA, ESA, CNES) and industry. Participants will exchange and discuss ideas and topics related to regolith issues, particularly how knowledge and methods developed for granular media can help to approach extraterrestrial regolith behavior under extreme temperature, thin atmosphere, radiation, meteorite impact and other extreme environmental conditions.

The Workshop will have 10 sessions including 10 invited researchers/specialists delivering keynote presentations and 14 invited Feature presentations,18 quick-talks, and a poster session with more than 40 presentations.

We are pleased to invite you to participate in this event, and we will be grateful if you could circulate the attached flyer to those interested.

More information can be found on the workshop website at: https://regolith-metz.event.univ-lorraine.fr/ or here. We look forward to seeing you at the workshop in Metz, France. Thank you.

With all the best,

On behalf of International Organizing Committee

CoChairs:
Mahdia, Anil and Ramesh

Mahdia Hattab (Workshop Co-Chair),
Professor, Université de Lorraine-LEM3-CNRS/Member ASCE/EMI-GMTC and Member IRN GeoMech,. France.
E-mail: mahdia.hattab@univ-lorraine.fr,

Ramesh B. Malla (Workshop Co-Chair),
Professor, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, U.S.A.Chair, ASCE/Aerospace Division (ASD) -Space Engineering and Construction Technical Committee (SEC TC).
E-mail: Ramesh.Malla@uconn.edu, 

Anil Misra (Workshop Co-Chair)
Professor, Florida International University, Miami, FL, U.S.A.Chair, ASCE/Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) -Granular Materials Technical Committee (GMTC).
E-mail:  anmisra@fiu.edu