Doctoral School : Experimental Geomechanics for Beginners
Organizers: Nabil BENAHMED, Manuel CABRERA, Jan DIJKSTRA, Eleni GEROLYMATOU, Alessandro TARANTINO and Alessandro TENGATTINI

1^st-3^rd October 2026

Download the Workshop and School programme.

Day 1: “Theory”

• Introduction (Nadia BENAHMED, Miguel CABREBRA, Jelke DIJKSTRA, Eleni GEROLYMATOU, Alessandro TARANTINO and Alessandro TENGATTINI)
• Introduction to geotechnical testing (Jelke DIJKSTRA, Xiaoyang CHENG)
• Sensors: fundamentals of measurement & electronics for experimentalists (Alessandro TENGATTINI)
• Triaxial testing of geomaterials: From specimen preparation to strength interpretation (Nadia BENAHMED)
• Dimensioning and construction of experimental apparatus with examples (Eleni GEROLYMATOU, Uwe DÜSTERLOH, Riccardo CASTELLANZA)

Day 2: “Theory and hands on sessions”

• Unsaturated soil mechanics and hydraulics (Alessandro TARANTINO)
• Physical modelling: from abstraction to experimental design (Miguel CABRERA)
• Hands on session 1 (Nadia BENAHMED, Miguel CABRERA, Alessandro TARANTINO and Alessandro TENGATTINI)
• Hands on session 2 (Nadia BENAHMED, Miguel CABRERA, Alessandro TARANTINO and Alessandro TENGATTINI)

Day 3 (Half-Day): “Hands on sessions”

• Hands on session 3 (Nadia BENAHMED, Miguel CABRERA, Alessandro TARANTINO and Alessandro TENGATTINI)
• Hands on session 4 (Nadia BENAHMED, Miguel CABRERA, Alessandro TARANTINO and Alessandro TENGATTINI)

Hands on sessions:

• Soil specimen preparation — M. CABRERA
• Mini triaxial — Nadia BENAHMED
• Measurement of suction and water content — Alessandro TARANTINO
• Sensors–Hands on with an Arduino-based setup — Alessandro TENGATTINI