DOCTORAL DEGREE IN AGRI-FOOD TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

• BISCAMPS DALMAU, JORDI: Generació de mapes de vigor mitjançant sensors remots i proximals per a l’aplicació a dosis variable de productes fitosanitaris en vinya utilitzant tecnologia de modulació d’ample de pols (PWM).
  
  Author: BISCAMPS DALMAU, JORDI
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN AGRI-FOOD TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
  Department: Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Biotechnology (DEAB)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 11/09/2026
  Reading date: 03/12/2026
  Reading time: 10:00
  Reading place: Sala de Graus de l'EEABB, Campus del Baix Llobregat de la UPC, C. Esteve Terradas 8, Ed. D4, Castelldefels
  Thesis director: GIL MOYA, EMILIO | GARCIA RUIZ, FRANCISCO JOSE
  Thesis abstract: This doctoral thesis contributes to the development and validation of variable-rate technologies for the application of plant protection products in vineyards through flow-rate control systems based on pulse-width modulation (PWM) and vegetation characterization methods using remote and proximal sensors. First, a prototype based on PWM valves was developed and validated. The system used prescription maps generated from multispectral imagery acquired with an unmanned aerial vehicle to identify vigor zones and automatically adjust the flow rate. Trials were conducted in both trellised and goblet-trained vineyards at two phenological stages. The valves showed an almost linear response over a duty-cycle range of 20-80%. Under field conditions, the system reduced the spray volume applied by up to 23.8%, with an average reduction of 18.6%, without significant differences in normalized deposition compared with the conventional treatment. Second, three application strategies were compared: a conventional constant-volume system, a pressure-controlled variable-rate system, and the PWM-based system. The results showed that working pressure and the resulting droplet spectrum had a greater influence on spray drift than the total volume applied. The conventional system generated ground losses close to 40% under low-vigor conditions, whereas the PWM system reduced both ground losses and airborne drift under all the conditions studied. Finally, a device for high-throughput vegetation characterization was designed using ultrasonic sensors, GNSS, and an onboard control unit. The system was validated under laboratory and field conditions and compared with three-dimensional models generated using UAV photogrammetry. Both methods provided comparable estimates of the main structural parameters of the vineyard, with mean absolute percentage errors below 10%. Although photogrammetry offered higher spatial resolution, ultrasonic sensors proved to be a robust and operational alternative under field conditions.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS

• FACCIOTTI, BENEDETTA: Groupoids of local systems and decorated representations on marked bordered surfaces
  
  Author: FACCIOTTI, BENEDETTA
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS
  Department: School of Mathematics and Statistics (FME)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 13/07/2026
  Reading date: 20/10/2026
  Reading time: 18:00
  Reading place: Sala 327 SYMCREA, planta 3 de l'EPSEB, Campus Sud Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/85064553889?pwd=hlFbcaUadWq4QQLS7FYGpUhbVNbUhH.1
  Thesis director: MAZZOCCO, MARTA | NIKOLAEV, NIKITA
  Thesis abstract: This thesis studies representations of fundamental groupoids of surfaces $\Sigma$ with boundaries, with values in $G:=\operatorname{GL}_n(\mathbb C)$, up to isomorphism. When no marked points are present on the boundary, the corresponding objects admit several equivalent descriptions: as linear local systems on $\Sigma$, as representations of the fundamental groupoid $\Pi_1 (\Sigma)$, as monodromy data, and as points of the associated character variety. The introduction of marked points on the boundary, motivated by the need to encode irregular singularities of meromorphic connections, has led to several generalizations of this Betti-type description in the literature. Although these approaches are generally understood to describe essentially the same mathematical objects, the precise relation between them has not yet been been formulated explicitly. Motivated by the broader programme of establishing a precise and conceptually coherent relationship between the existing approaches to the representation-theoretic description of irregular singularities of meromorphic connections, in this thesis we develop a categorical framework for the definition of decorated Betti objects associated with marked bordered surfaces encoding higher-order poles, in a form designed to specialize to the different points of view encountered in the literature.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

• BELLAFIORE, GASPARE: Résidence Le Parc à Meudon-la-Forêt. Tectónica y decoro urbano en la obra de Fernand Pouillon.
  
  Author: BELLAFIORE, GASPARE
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
  Department: Department of Architectural Design (PA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 13/07/2026
  Reading date: 20/10/2026
  Reading time: 12:00
  Reading place: ETSAB (Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona) - Planta Baja - Sala de GradosAv. Diagonal, 649-651 - 08028 - Barcelona
  Thesis director: PEÑIN LLOBELL, ALBERTO
  Thesis abstract: This research examines the relationship between compositional procedures and construction methods in the architecture of Fernand Pouillon, taking the complex of Résidence Le Parc in Meudon-la-Forêt (1959-1962) as a paradigmatic case study. The study begins with a diagnosis of the condition of contemporary architecture, marked by a growing fracture between the act of designing and the act of building. It notes a drift toward a production that entrusts its expressiveness to the image, the authorial gesture, or technical sophistication rather than to the internal reasons of the work. Faced with this displacement, the research recovers the concept of tectonics—not as a stylistic category or a synonym for technicality, but as the syntax through which construction becomes architectural language. It argues that Pouillon's work in Meudon-la-Forêt constitutes a privileged material verification of this hypothesis. The theoretical framework articulates two critical traditions often treated separately: Anglo-Germanic tectonic analysis (Bötticher, Semper, Sekler, Frampton) and the Latin theory of analogical decorum developed in France by Quatremère de Quincy and Julien Guadet. The research argues that a conjunction of both is necessary to read Pouillon's work, reconstructing the genealogy of French constructive rationalism—from Philibert de l'Orme to Auguste Perret—as the cultural horizon that makes his choices intelligible. In this reading, Pouillon emerges not as an exception within post-war modernity, but as a "transformative continuator": an architect who reactivates the French classical tradition and translates it to the operational conditions of reconstruction and mass social housing. The work is structured into three parts. The first reconstructs the theoretical framework of tectonics. The second traces the cultural genealogy of Pouillon's thought and analyses the operational context of post-war Paris. The third part develops a multiscalar analysis of Résidence Le Parc, covering the problems of the framed wall, stone as a tectonic and ethical core, the travée as a device of order. The study reaches four main theses:First: The hybrid construction system of Meudon—load-bearing Fontvieille stone articulated with reinforced concrete slabs—is not a technical compromise, but a new tectonic synthesis that reactivates the logic of load-bearing mass under conditions of industrial prefabrication. Second: The travée functions in Meudon as a "total operator" of the project, simultaneously coordinating construction logic, facade composition, and interior spatial organization, extending to the urban scale as the rhythm of public space. Third: Decorum in Pouillon does not respond to the strict truth of the Perretian frame, but to a "lithic verisimilitude" (vraisemblance)—an expressive adequacy between form, construction, and civic character—that reformulates Quatremère’s principle of analogical decorum for modern conditions. Fourth: The civic dimension of the work is not an ethical supplement added to formal decisions, but the direct effect of the construction grammar itself assumed as a shared language. The research is based on specialized critical bibliography (Lucan, Bonillo, Ferlenga, Sayen), primary sources from Pouillon’s archives, heritage documentation from the French Ministry of Culture, and direct measurements taken in the municipal archives of Meudon-la-Forêt. Its main contribution consists of articulating tectonic analysis and the theory of decorum within a single analytical device, proposing a systematic reading of the travée as the syntactic atom of the project, and defending the relevance of Pouillon’s lithic lesson for the contemporary debate on civic architecture and collective housing.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURAL, BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND URBANISM TECHNOLOGY

• CASAPINO ESPINOZA, CARLOS ALBERTO: Estudio de eficiencia térmica de bloques de tierra (adobe), y propuesta de desarrollo de prototipo para clima frío. Caso de estudio altoandino Perú.
  
  Author: CASAPINO ESPINOZA, CARLOS ALBERTO
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURAL, BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND URBANISM TECHNOLOGY
  Department: Department of Architectural Technology (TA)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 28/07/2026
  Reading date: 13/10/2026
  Reading time: 16:00
  Reading place: ETSAB (Esc.Téc.Sup.Arquit.Bcn)-Pl. Baja-Sala GradosAv. Diagonal, 649Enlace a videoconferencia: https://meet.google.com/xki-ujnw-hqvConnexión 15:30h
  Thesis director: GOMEZ SOBERON, JOSE MANUEL VICENTE | GOMEZ SOBERON, MARIA CONSOLACION
  Thesis abstract: Buildings that use earth as a component of their construction systems represent between 30 and 50% worldwide, with most of these structures being residential and located in rural areas or developing countries. Earth is an economical and sustainable solution with excellent hygrothermal regulation. However, it presents limitations such as lower mechanical resistance and reduced durability in humid conditions. To mitigate these limitations, chemical stabilization (using lime or cement) or compression is commonly employed, which increases production costs, embodied energy, and CO2 emissions.At the same time, the generation of different types of waste, such as construction and demolition waste, mineral waste, and other materials like used tires, represents a serious environmental problem. Incorporating this waste as second-generation raw materials in unfired earth blocks emerges as a circular economy alternative to improve their properties without additives or stabilization methods. Therefore, the objective is to evaluate the technical feasibility and compatibility of incorporating different types of recycled aggregates, such as crushed ceramics (CCB), powdered soapstone (PSR), and end-of-life tires (CTW), by analyzing their effects on the various properties of earth blocks manufactured using traditional methods, without stabilizers or firing.The experimental methodology was structured in three stages: The first stage involved characterizing the soil and the different aggregates. The second stage focused on the mix design and manufacturing process, defining the replacement and curing percentages. The third stage consisted of the experimental campaign, evaluating, under standardized tests, density, porosity, hygroscopic expansion, compressive and flexural strength, elastic modulus, thermogravimetric analysis, thermal tests, and durability tests; these tests are addressed in the articles that comprise this thesis.The results obtained from the recycled aggregates studied demonstrate the possibility of their use through incorporation into soil matrices under regulatory standards, representing alternatives for reducing energy demand, reducing production costs, improving the insulating capacity for CCB and CTW cases, and in the case of PSR it was presented as an alternative mineral stabilizer with the potential to increase mechanical resistance and optimize thermal behavior for energy absorption, thus presenting themselves as construction alternatives for cold climates, also representing alternatives for the management of these wastes.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURAL, CIVIL AND URBAN HERITAGE AND REFURBISHMENT OF EXISTING BUILDINGS

• GARCIA SALANOVA, ANTONIO: Arquitectura amb propòsit per a una gestió sostenible dels equipaments públics
  
  Author: GARCIA SALANOVA, ANTONIO
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURAL, CIVIL AND URBAN HERITAGE AND REFURBISHMENT OF EXISTING BUILDINGS
  Department: Departamento de Representación Arquitectónica (RA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 09/09/2026
  Reading date: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  Thesis director: REDONDO DOMINGUEZ, ERNEST
  Thesis abstract: PURPOSEFUL ARCHITECTURE FOR THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC FACILITIESThis research analyses, formulates and reasonably contrasts a comprehensivea model of sustainable management of public facilities throughout their life cycle, from planning and design to operation and dismantling, and incorporates data-driven governance aimed at facilitating collaborative decision-making between the different agents involved. It is based on the hypothesis that the adoption of a comprehensive sustainable management model, based on collaborative digital methodologies —especially Building Information Modeling (BIM)—, sustainability criteria and life cycle analysis (LCA), makes it possible to overcome the limitations of traditional models of management of public facilities, characterized by the fragmentation of processes, the lack of traceability of information and the low optimization of the use phase. The work adopts a mixed methodological approach that combines systematic review of the literature, comparative analysis between management models, interviews with experts from the public and private sectors, quantitative validation and the development of an original methodological instrument: a methodological framework of 100 sustainable technical criteria applicable to the entire life cycle, which operationalizes the proposed management model. Unlike predominantly theoretical approaches, the research is carried out in a real context of public management of educational facilities and incorporates recent data and professional experiences (2024–2025), especially in relation to the implementation of BIM in the operation phase.The research also develops a practical case, a hypothetical Audiovisual Vocational Training Institute of Catalonia in the Tres Xemeneies del Besòs site, which acts as a proof of concept of the proposed comprehensive management model. This case makes it possible to contrast the coherence and feasibility of the model, as well as its architectural translation in relation to the pedagogical requirements of vocational education.The results positively show the three hypotheses formulated. Firstly, the comprehensive management model based on BIM–LCA improves the efficiency, quality and sustainability of processes. Secondly, its application determines a new flexible, modular architectural typology aimed at efficient maintenance. Thirdly, the integral model is adapted in a coherent way to the functional and pedagogical requirements of Vocational Training, reinforcing the connection between architecture, management, educational innovation and participatory governance processes. Of particular relevance is the contribution in the field of digital operation management, still underdeveloped in current institutional practice,Finally, the research proposes future lines aimed at data-driven exploitation, the integration of intelligent systems and the development of new professional profiles linked to life cycle management.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

• ARBOLEDA CARVAJAL, ALEJANDRO: Nuevos índices para la predicción del momento óptimo de la extubación de pacientes asistidos mediante ventilación mecánica a partir de señales electromiográficas y cardíacas
  
  Author: ARBOLEDA CARVAJAL, ALEJANDRO
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Automatic Control (ESAII)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 03/09/2026
  Reading date: 06/10/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: Sala Polivalent, Edifici A , Escola d'Enginyeria de Barcelona Est (EEBE), Av. d'Eduard Maristany, 16, 08019 Barcelona
  Thesis director: GIRALDO GIRALDO, BEATRIZ FABIOLA
  Thesis abstract: Invasive mechanical ventilation constitutes one of the most critical life-support interventions in Intensive Care Units for patients with acute respiratory failure. Premature discontinuation may lead to respiratory failure, the need for reintubation, and increased morbidity and mortality. Conversely, delayed extubation increases the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia and diaphragmatic atrophy due to disuse. Since traditional indices often fail to capture the systemic complexity of the patient, this thesis addresses the problem under the hypothesis that neuromuscular dynamics and cardiorespiratory coupling, measured noninvasively during the spontaneous breathing trial (SBT), contain predictive patterns related to the patient’s functional reserve to sustain autonomous ventilation.An experimental design based on a prospective observational study was structured, recruiting a cohort of 39 adult patients. Inclusion criteria required a period of mechanical ventilatory support of at least 48 hours, ensuring that patients had overcome the acute phase of the disease and met the clinical requirements to initiate extubation. A novel protocol was implemented to record respiratory activity from these patients using electromyographic (EMG) and electrocardiographic (ECG) signals. The cohort was monitored longitudinally for 48 hours following extubation; this follow-up enabled patient classification into the success group—those who maintained spontaneous breathing—or the failure group—those who exhibited intolerance to the SBT or required reintubation within 48 hours.According to the proposed protocol, multichannel surface diaphragmatic EMG (sEMGdi) and ECG signals were recorded simultaneously, together with clinical and ventilatory variables reflecting the patient’s condition at the time of the extubation trial. The signals underwent filtering and artifact reduction procedures. Subsequently, new derived signals were obtained: the EMG envelope to quantify muscle recruitment amplitude, the interpolated sEMG signal to standardize the analysis, ECG R-R interval fluctuations to assess heart rate variability (HRV) as an indicator of sympathetic-parasympathetic autonomic tone, and ECG-derived respiration (EDR), which reconstructs respiratory activity from variations in the heart’s electrical axis induced by thoracic volume changes.The derived signals were characterized using a multidimensional approach. In the time domain, activation cycle amplitudes and durations were evaluated; in the frequency domain, shifts in mean and central frequencies were analyzed to detect muscle fatigue, together with power distribution within the low- and high-frequency HRV bands. In addition, nonlinear analysis metrics, such as entropy measures, were applied to quantify the loss of system complexity. Cardiorespiratory coupling was assessed through cross-correlation and spectral coherence analyses, evaluating how the mechanical and neurological effort of breathing modulates the hemodynamic and cardiac response.Finally, statistical analysis identified a set of parameters showing statistically significant differences between the extubation success and failure groups. These properties reflected alterations in diaphragmatic effort efficiency, reduced cardiac variability, and loss of synchronization between cardiac and respiratory rhythms in patients who failed extubation. Based on these selected biomarkers, supervised classification models were implemented, including Naïve Bayes, Support Vector Machines, and k-Nearest Neighbors. The optimized model achieved an accuracy of 92% and a specificity greater than 90%.
  
• CLARAMUNT MOLET, MIREIA: Development of a novel clinical gait assessment tool for monitoring and stratifying neuromuscular diseases
  
  Author: CLARAMUNT MOLET, MIREIA
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Mechanical Engineering (EM)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 24/07/2026
  Reading date: 17/11/2026
  Reading time: 10:30
  Reading place: Aula 28.8. Planta 1, Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona (ETSEIB), Av. Diagonal, 647, 08028 Barcelona
  Thesis director: FONT LLAGUNES, JOSEP MARIA | IDELSOHN ZIELONKA, SEBASTIAN
  Thesis abstract: Neuromuscular diseases are chronic and degenerative conditions of the skeletal musculature that progressively impair gait, one of the primary determinants of functional independence. Their monitoring, both in clinical practice and clinical trials, relies on clinical scales and functional tests that are subject to observational bias, ceiling effects, and insufficient sensitivity to detect subtle changes. At a time when novel disease-modifying therapies are emerging, the availability of an objective, portable tool integrable into routine clinical practice for biomechanical mobility assessment represents an unmet clinical need.To address this need, the present thesis develops the biomechanical algorithms to derive spatiotemporal parameters, sagittal joint kinematics, muscle activation, plantar pressure distribution, and heart rate from raw wearable sensor data. Data capture relies on the Ephion Mobility system, which integrates and synchronises inertial sensors, surface electromyography, plantar pressure insoles, and a cardiac sensor within a single mobile application. Using this system, data were collected from 176 volunteers, 90 patients and 86 controls, across two countries and standard hospital settings.The first study, conducted in collaboration with Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, serves as the proof of concept. It validates a multidimensional gait score for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, derived from multisensor data through unsupervised learning, which demonstrates good agreement with current clinical metrics and promising capacity for disease monitoring.With the validity of the approach established, the second study, carried out at the Copenhagen Neuromuscular Center, explores its applicability in two conditions with markedly different distributions of muscle weakness: Becker muscular dystrophy and myotonic dystrophy type 1. Biomechanical gait assessment is shown to discriminate disease-specific patterns and severity gradients that functional tests do not capture. Finally, the third study, conducted in collaboration with the Spanish Pompe Patient Association, addresses the most demanding question: whether the tool can detect longitudinal progression in a slowly evolving disease. The Pompe-MDPI achieves statistical significance over one year of follow-up in a context where current metrics fail to detect change over the same interval.Taken together, the results provide preliminary evidence that portable multidimensional biomechanical assessment is clinically feasible, sensitive to functional severity, and capable of detecting longitudinal disease progression where conventional measures fall short. The derived scores represent promising candidates as digital biomarkers for natural history studies and clinical trials of disease-modifying therapies.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CHEMICAL PROCESS ENGINEERING

• MARÍN RIVAS, ENRIQUE DAVID: Mechanochemical Preparation of Pd-Cu/CeO₂ Catalysts for Carbon Monoxide Oxidation
  
  Author: MARÍN RIVAS, ENRIQUE DAVID
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CHEMICAL PROCESS ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Chemical Engineering (EQ)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 31/07/2026
  Reading date: 13/11/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: Sala Polivalent - Edifici IEEBEhttps://eebe.upc.edu/ca/lescola/com-arribar
  Thesis director: LLORCA PIQUE, JORDI | VENDRELL VILLAFRUELA, XAVIER
  Thesis abstract: Cerium oxide (CeO2)-based catalysts are widely studied for oxidation reactions due to their redox properties, oxygen storage capacity, and ability to stabilise metal-support interfacial sites. Among these systems, Pd/CeO2 and Cu/CeO2 catalysts are of particular interest for low-temperature CO oxidation. However, their catalytic behaviour depends on the synthesis method, metal dispersion, and defect structure. In this thesis, mechanochemical synthesis by planetary ball milling was investigated as a sustainable route for preparing CeO2-based catalysts, together with different treatments aimed at modifying their structural and catalytic properties.The first part of this work focused on Pd/CeO2 catalysts prepared by planetary ball milling under controlled atmospheres. The results demonstrated that mechanochemical synthesis promotes the formation of active Pd-Ce interfacial structures. Catalysts prepared at 250 rpm under air for 10 min exhibited the highest CO oxidation activity, outperforming those prepared by conventional impregnation. This behaviour was attributed to the formation of PdOx-Ce interfacial species and strong metal-support interactions. Electron microscopy revealed highly dispersed Pd nanoparticles and clusters on the ceria surface.The second part investigated Cu/CeO2 catalysts prepared by mechanochemical methods using different precursors, calcination temperatures, milling conditions, and reduction treatments. The results showed that mechanochemical synthesis can produce catalysts with superior performance compared with conventional methods. Catalysts prepared from copper nitrate and calcined at 300 °C showed the best activity. H2/N2 reduction further enhanced catalytic performance. Electron microscopy confirmed the absence of large CuOx aggregates and the presence of highly dispersed copper species. In addition, operando synchrotron experiments revealed dynamic Cu+/Cu2+ redox cycling under reaction conditions, contributing to catalyst stability and progressive activation.The third part addressed bimetallic Pd-Cu/CeO2 catalysts prepared by planetary ball milling. Different Cu/Pd ratios, metal loadings, and deposition sequences were evaluated. Under non-reduced conditions, Pd incorporation did not significantly improve activity compared with monometallic Cu/CeO2 catalysts. However, after H2 reduction, the bimetallic catalysts exhibited enhanced activity, highlighting the importance of pre-reduction in the formation of favourable Pd-Cu-Ce interfacial structures.Electron beam irradiation was also investigated as a post-synthesis treatment for Pd/CeO2 catalysts. Irradiation improved catalytic activity and reduced the apparent activation energy for CO oxidation. Raman and XPS analyses revealed an increase in structural defects, peroxide species, and additional PdOx-Ce interfacial sites.Finally, flash sintering was applied to ceria-based materials. Although the treatment induced significant microstructural and electrical modifications, the resulting materials exhibited lower catalytic activity than untreated CeO2, mainly due to the thermal effects associated with Joule heating.Overall, this thesis demonstrates that mechanochemical synthesis is an effective strategy for preparing highly active CeO2-based catalysts. The catalytic behaviour of Pd/CeO2, Cu/CeO2, and Pd-Cu/CeO2 systems is governed by metal-ceria interfacial structures, metal dispersion, and the redox properties of the support.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE

• CARO ROCA, MARTÍ: Efficient Tailoring of AI-based Solutions for Safety-Critical Systems
  
  Author: CARO ROCA, MARTÍ
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
  Department: Department of Computer Architecture (DAC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 10/09/2026
  Reading date: 11/11/2026
  Reading time: 10:00
  Reading place: C6-E101
  Thesis director: ABELLA FERRER, JAIME
  Thesis abstract: The increasing performance of computing platforms enables the use of larger Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) that achieve the accuracy needed for real-time applications such as Camera-based Object Detection (CBOD) in Autonomous Driving (AD). While high inference accuracy is mandatory for DNNs in Critical Real-Time Embedded Systems (CRTES), memory bandwidth and energy consumption are also critical factors, often constraining the achievable performance and determining whether those DNNs meet application requirements (e.g., frames per second). Therefore, some highly accurate but large DNN models must be optimized to operate under these constraints.Moreover, automotive applications with safety requirements must adhere to standards such as ISO 26262, which impose the use of diverse redundancy for the highest integrity level (ASIL D) to mitigate common-cause faults — random hardware faults that can potentially affect redundant components similarly and remain undetected. Dual Modular Redundancy (DMR), also referred to as Dual-Core LockStep (DCLS) for CPUs, and Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR), often combined with some form of diversity, are commonly used in safety-critical systems to provide fault detection and tolerance. However, efficiently realizing diverse redundancy for DNN-based safety-related tasks, such as object detection, remains an open challenge, as these applications can leverage semantic redundancy rather than bit-level equivalence.In this thesis, we first perform an at-scale evaluation of several approximation domains to optimize DNN models. In particular, we focus on CBOD models, which are essential in AD to detect objects surrounding the vehicle. We study several techniques independently and jointly — including reduced-precision arithmetic, approximate computing, and low-voltage operation — to assess how they can be combined to significantly reduce the area, delay, and energy of AI systems. We further extend this analysis by studying the impact of weight clustering for different arithmetic representations, including floating-point and integer formats, providing insights to guide the development of low-power CBOD accelerators with negligible impact on accuracy.Next, we design an efficient diverse redundancy scheme tailored to AI applications by leveraging reduced precision. The proposed scheme operates on reduced-precision arithmetic obtained by dropping selected bits from the fetched data of the main accelerator. This enables mitigation of random hardware faults while reducing the delay, area, and energy of the redundant accelerator compared to traditional DCLS implementations, without noticeable accuracy loss.We also propose a diverse redundancy technique with a similar cost to DCLS-like implementations but with a significant accuracy increase, achieved by mitigating AI model inaccuracies and avoiding the need for specific hardware support. This scheme applies input transformations (e.g., horizontal flip or Gaussian noise) and uses merging algorithms to fuse detections from redundant components. We further evaluate its ability to mitigate adversarial attacks, allowing a single mechanism to simultaneously address random hardware faults, DNN model inaccuracies, and adversarial attacks. Finally, we show that the scheme can be generalized to other AI models and tasks, confirming that the observed conclusions and trends hold across different AI modalities.Overall, this thesis studies approximation techniques that can significantly optimize AI models for CRTES and proposes two enhanced diverse redundancy techniques: one targeting energy efficiency and another focusing on improving the accuracy of the diverse redundant system with negligible overhead.
  
• GÜEMES PALAU, CARLOS: Performance Modeling of Computing Infrastructure Through Deep Learning
  
  Author: GÜEMES PALAU, CARLOS
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
  Department: Department of Computer Architecture (DAC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 16/09/2026
  Reading date: 21/10/2026
  Reading time: 10:30
  Reading place: Sala C6-E106
  Thesis director: CABELLOS APARICIO, ALBERTO | BARLET ROS, PERE
  Thesis abstract: Network performance models, which can predict the expected performance of both existing and hypothetical networks, are a fundamental tool of the toolset of any network operator. These models can be used to operate and troubleshoot existing networks and to design new ones.Traditionally, network performance was estimated using simulators, specifically Discrete Event Simulation (DES). These kinds of simulators thoroughly encode the entire state of the network, and examine how it evolves as packets are transmitted through it. DES is sought after for its accuracy and completeness, but struggles to simulate larger networks. Alternatively, network performance can be estimated using analytical methods, such as Queuing Theory (QT) and Network Calculus (NC). These methods aim to describe the network performance through a system of equations. They offer approximate predictions at a low computational cost, but their limitations ultimately condition the use cases to which they can be applied.Recently, a new approach to network performance modeling has been gaining popularity, based on Deep Learning (DL) architectures. These can be trained on preexisting network data and, once trained, offer accurate predictions at low computational cost. Newly proposed architectures, such as those based on Graph Neural Networks (GNNs), enable more accurate models while addressing existing drawbacks. However, currently most DL network performance models struggle when deployed in real production networks. In part, this is because these network models have been designed, trained, and evaluated on simulated data. On the one hand, these models may rely on design decisions and assumptions that hold in simulated data but not in production networks, thus affecting their performance. On the other hand, simulators' predictions, while accurate, still carry a degree of error. Network performance models then propagate this error when learning from simulated samples.Thus, in this thesis, we address the challenges of deploying DL network performance models to production networks. To this purpose, we have built a testbed network to both train and evaluate our network performance model. This setup allows us to train our model with more accurate data and makes our evaluation more faithful to reality. In particular, we aim to address the following three challenges:1. How to model unknown traffic patterns: The majority of network performance models assume network traffic is described by one or several known parametric traffic distributions. However, in production networks, traffic traces are more complex, and their distribution may be unknown. In this thesis, we propose a new approach to modeling traffic traces based on signal analysis that is compatible with preexisting DL-based network modeling approaches while not assuming their distribution.2. How to model non-stationary traffic conditions: Many DL network performance models ignore the evolution of the traffic and network state over time, instead predicting the aggregate network behavior under the assumption that the network's state is stationary. This view is overly simplistic and makes these network models unsuitable for modeling more complex traffic patterns. In this thesis, we propose a new Spatio-Temporal GNN (STGNN), that enables for efficient and accurate network performance predictions whilst considering the evolution of the network state.3. How to address the lack of real data: The main driver behind the prevailing use of simulated data to train network performance models is the scarcity of captured production network data. In this thesis, we propose a novel training schema that leverages the large volume of available simulated network data to complement the limited quantity of real-world data, while minimizing the error that the former introduces in the model's predictive accuracy.
  
• LEYVA SANTES, NEIEL ISRAEL: High Performance Network-on-Chip Designs for Open Manycore Systems
  
  Author: LEYVA SANTES, NEIEL ISRAEL
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
  Department: Department of Computer Architecture (DAC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 16/09/2026
  Reading date: 26/10/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: Sala C6-E106
  Thesis director: ÁLVAREZ MARTÍ, LLUC | VALLEJO GUTIÉRREZ, ENRIQUE
  Thesis abstract: The transition from multicore to manycore architectures is a direct consequence of the limitations of frequency scaling and the need to sustain performance growth through parallelism. As a result, modern processors integrate an increasing number of cores within a single chip, which significantly raises the demands on on-chip communication and memory systems.In parallel, open instruction set architectures such as RISC-V have enabled the emergence of open hardware ecosystems, where full-system platforms can be designed and explored at the Register-Transfer Level (RTL). Over time, open manycore platforms have evolved from simple educational designs into more complete and scalable infrastructures, incorporating coherent memory hierarchies and Network-on-Chip (NoC) interconnects. This evolution has positioned them as promising candidates not only for reproducible architectural research, but also as realistic foundations for the design and evaluation of future high-performance computing systems. However, reaching this level of applicability requires further improvements in scalability and efficiency, particularly in communication and memory subsystems.In this context, this thesis focuses on advancing the maturity of an open manycore platform to support both architectural research and the development of high-performance computing systems. The objective is to provide a flexible and scalable infrastructure that enables detailed evaluation at the RTL while remaining representative of realistic HPC workloads and supporting system design. To achieve this, the thesis focuses on improving the communication and memory subsystems, as they play a key role in determining system scalability and overall performance. The proposed approach combines methodological and architectural contributions to reduce evaluation cost, enhance system performance, and extend platform configurability. The thesis is structured around three main contributions.First, it presents SynFull-RTL, a methodology for evaluating RTL NoC designs using traffic models derived from real application behavior. By leveraging probability-weighted sampling of execution macro-phases, this approach significantly reduces simulation time while preserving representativeness, achieving up to 40x reduction in time-to-solution.Second, the thesis introduces OpenPiton4HPC, a set of architectural extensions that improve memory bandwidth, reduce communication latency, and increase system configurability. These enhancements include support for multiple memory controllers, NoC optimizations such as router bypassing and wider links, and a tunable cache hierarchy, leading to performance improvements of up to 7.2x over the baseline.Finally, the thesis proposes GS-NoC, a hardware mechanism designed to improve communication efficiency for irregular memory access patterns in vector workloads. By coalescing memory requests at different levels of the system, GS-NoC reduces the number of NoC packets by 52% on average with respect to the Bypass configuration and achieves a geometric mean speed-up of 1.18x compared to a baseline NoC configuration.All contributions are implemented at synthesizable RTL and validated through cycle-accurate simulation, ensuring realistic evaluation and practical applicability. Overall, this work advances the design of open manycore platforms, improving their scalability and effectiveness as research and development infrastructures for future computing systems.
  
• NIU, YUYAO: Hardware-Aware Algorithms for Efficient Graph Traversal on High-End Parallel Architectures
  
  Author: NIU, YUYAO
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
  Department: Department of Computer Architecture (DAC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 09/09/2026
  Reading date: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  Thesis director: CASAS GUIX, MARC
  Thesis abstract: Graph traversal is a fundamental building block in scientific computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Among traversal methods, Breadth First Search (BFS) and Depth First Search (DFS) are two core primitives for higher-level graph algorithms. As graph-structured data continues to grow, efficient traversal increasingly depends on the ability to exploit high-end parallel architectures. However, modern architectures rely on structured and throughput-oriented execution engines, such as long vector processors, dense matrix accelerators, and massively parallel GPUs, whereas graph traversal exhibits irregular memory accesses, data-dependent control flow, and dynamic workloads.This dissertation argues that the performance gap between graph traversal and modern hardware arises from three major mismatches: a structural mismatch between regular execution units and irregular graph structure, a computational mismatch between arithmetic-oriented acceleration and relation-driven traversal, and an architectural mismatch between throughput-oriented parallelism and dependency-driven traversal behavior. To address these challenges, the dissertation develops a hardware-aware design paradigm in which graph traversal algorithms are reformulated according to the characteristics and constraints of the target architecture.The first contribution is ALBBA, an algebraic BFS algorithm for long vector architectures. ALBBA reformulates direction-optimized BFS using a vector-friendly sparse representation, vectorized search, and a two-level bypass mechanism. These techniques allow the key algebraic BFS operations, sparse matrix-vector multiplication (SpMV) and sparse matrix-sparse vector multiplication (SpMSpV), to better exploit long vector execution while reducing unnecessary memory accesses and redundant computation. This shows that structural irregularity can be mitigated through hardware-aware data layout and execution design.The second contribution is BerryBees, a BFS framework for Tensor Core-based GPUs. BerryBees introduces the Binarized Row Slice format, which uses bit-level representations to support both SpMV and SpMSpV within a unified data layout while reducing memory overhead. It further employs a warp-level algorithm that leverages Tensor Core matrix-multiply-accumulate instructions to accelerate traversal. This shows that relation-driven graph computation can be reorganized to exploit hardware originally designed for dense matrix operations.The third contribution is DiggerBees, a parallel DFS algorithm for massively parallel GPUs. DiggerBees introduces a two-level stack structure aligned with the GPU memory hierarchy, warp-level DFS execution within thread blocks, and hierarchical work stealing across warps and blocks. These techniques expose scalable parallelism for dependency-driven traversal and improve load balance across the GPU. This shows that DFS, despite its inherent dependencies, can be effectively adapted to throughput-oriented parallel hardware.Together, these contributions demonstrate that BFS and DFS can be effectively accelerated when their data representations, computational formulations, and execution structures are designed with architectural constraints as first-class considerations. More broadly, this dissertation establishes hardware-aware reformulation as a general methodology for rethinking irregular graph algorithms on increasingly specialized parallel hardware.
  
• PAREDES AHUMADA, JUAN ANTONIO: Improving Data-Driven Estimations of Physical Fields in IoT Sensor Networks
  
  Author: PAREDES AHUMADA, JUAN ANTONIO
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
  Department: Department of Computer Architecture (DAC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 29/07/2026
  Reading date: 15/10/2026
  Reading time: 15:00
  Reading place: Sala C6-E101
  Thesis director: GARCÍA VIDAL, JORGE | BARCELÓ ORDINAS, JOSE MARIA
  Thesis abstract: This thesis explores data-driven strategies for monitoring physical fields using (IoT} sensor networks. In doing so, we focus on improving the estimation of physical quantities at two complementary levels. First, at the local level, measurements collected at individual nodes are used to estimate a new physical quantity not previously monitored at that location, through Machine Learning (ML)-based virtual sensors. Second, at the network-wide level, spatially distributed measurements are leveraged to determine the optimal arrangement of sensors for reconstructing the whole physical field over a large area. This is achieved by formulating and solving the sensor placement problem using low-dimensional representations of the measured signal.Thus, the first part of this thesis focuses on developing virtual sensors based on proxy models that estimate non-regulated and rarely monitored pollutants, like black carbon (BC) mass concentration, from measurements of other physical variables. The relevant environmental variables are identified and the impact of different meteorological conditions, such as seasonality, on model's performance are studied as well. The evaluation of the proxy model shows how this data-driven technique may help to reduce the infrastructure cost to improve the exposure assessment in urban Mediterranean environments. Furthermore, the black carbon proxy model is coupled with low-cost sensor (LCS) nodes, addressing data quality challenges that may impact on obtaining a reliable estimate in real-world sensing scenarios, such as data noise, missing values, and varying sampling intervals. A robust machine learning proxy (RMLP) to estimate BC mass concentrations is developed. The robust proxy model incorporates key pre-processing tasks and constitutes an improvement over basic proxy models that ignore these phenomena. The second part of this thesis addresses the optimal sensor placement for signal recovery. Using spatially distributed measurements, the values of a scalar physical field are estimated at multiple locations. To do so, the measured signal is represented in terms of a low-rank structure which is exploited to significantly reduce the number of locations necessary to infer the values of the field of interest. In particular, the sensor placement problem is formulated for multiclass monitoring networks, consisting of different classes of devices with varying accuracy. The results show how the proposed algorithm is suitable for monitoring networks that present a great disparity between device noises or scenarios with a limited number of devices. Additionally, the sizing and placement problem is re-framed to achieve a more rigorous control over the reconstruction error. In consequence, the Sizing and Placement with Coordinate Reconstruction ErrorConstraint (SP-CREC) algorithm is proposed, which bounds the per-coordinate error variance of the reconstructed signal. This allows assigning specific thresholds to certain regions of interest within the network, where the error variance can be more or less restricted, according to monitoring needs. The results show that SC-CREC successfully complies with heterogeneous thresholds while deploying a low number of devices. As a whole, the proposed methods improve the monitoring capability of IoT sensor networks by enabling accurate reconstruction of physical quantities from limited sensor data under different deployment constraints.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

• DIAZ MOTTA, ARMANDO: Large Scale Wind-Powered Offshore Ammonia Production
  
  Author: DIAZ MOTTA, ARMANDO
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Electrical Engineering (DEE)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 30/07/2026
  Reading date: 29/10/2026
  Reading time: 12:00
  Reading place: Aula 28.8 Sala Conferències - ETSEIB-UPC
  Thesis director: DÍAZ GONZÁLEZ, FRANCISCO | VILLA ARRIETA, MANUEL RICARDO
  Thesis abstract: Hydrogen and renewable ammonia can support the decarbonization of sectors where direct electrification is not feasible, with green ammonia serving as a hydrogen carrier between renewable production areas and distant demand centers.Among the large-scale pathways proposed in recent years, green ammonia production based on renewable electricity and water electrolysis has attracted increasing attention. However, limited attention has been given to the long-term feasibility of off-grid offshore ammonia production based on SOEC electrolysis and powered entirely by offshore wind. This thesis specifically addresses this knowledge gap by investigating whether large-scale, off-grid offshore green ammonia production based on solid oxide electrolysis (SOEC), a Haber-Bosch synthesis loop (HB), and offshore wind power can become a feasible pathway by 2050.This research aims to assess the technical and long-term economic feasibility of offshore wind-based ammonia production. To this end, the thesis combines a state-of-the-art assessment with a thermodynamic steady-state model of a 3 000 tpd SOEC-Haber-Bosch ammonia plant and an integrated pseudo-dynamic framework that couples the plant, offshore wind generation, battery storage, and hydrogen buffer storage. This framework includes an economic model and a capacity optimization algorithm to minimize the levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA). The pseudo-dynamic model simulates flexible plant operation over an extended load range under site-specific wind conditions. Three offshore locations with high-quality wind resources, namely La Guajira (Colombia), the North Sea (Denmark), and the Gulf of Roses (Spain), are assessed in this thesis. The results show that, at steady state and full load, the plant requires 1 030 MW and reaches an overall efficiency of 63% on an LHV-NH3 basis, while the SOEC electrolyzer achieves 87% on an LHV-H2 basis. The Haber-Bosch loop supplies 57% of the thermal power required for feedwater evaporation in the electrolysis process. Under partial-load operation, the SOEC unit reaches minimum loads of 61% and 72% for steam conversion scenarios of 70% and 85%, respectively, with stack temperature variations within ±30 °C. Under offshore operating conditions, the overall efficiency reaches 60%, and the plant capacity factor reaches 80% at the best-performing site, about 10% below that of a conventional grid-connected ammonia plant.Regarding economic feasibility, the results indicate that La Guajira and the North Sea could achieve the lowest levelized cost of ammonia by 2050, at 472 and 436 USD t-1, respectively, whereas the Gulf of Roses remains less competitive at around 720 USD t-1.A comparison across the selected sites further shows that inflexible Haber-Bosch operation, i.e., operation at 100% load, results in only marginal production cost differences relative to flexible operation over the 10-100% load range, but increases Haber-Bosch hot-standby events, revealing a trade-off between operational stability and storage requirements.The thesis provides a techno-economic assessment framework for offshore green ammonia production, while also supporting the capacity planning of offshore renewable resources. Furthermore, the results indicate that SOEC-based offshore ammonia could become cost-competitive by 2050, provided that costs decline for floating wind and solid oxide electrolysis, and that exogenous factors such as supportive market conditions and favorable policy frameworks emerge.
  
• MASSANA RAURICH, JOAQUIM: Data-driven methodologies to reduce energy consumption and increase flexibility in electric scenarios
  
  Author: MASSANA RAURICH, JOAQUIM
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Electrical Engineering (DEE)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 30/07/2026
  Reading date: 16/10/2026
  Reading time: 16:00
  Reading place: Aula 28.8 Sala de Conferències - ETSEIB-UPC
  Thesis director: SUMPER, ANDREAS | COLOMER LLINAS, JUAN
  Thesis abstract: The present thesis, entitled “Data-driven methodologies to reduce energy consumption andincrease flexibility in electric scenarios”, explores the role of AI-driven tools in advancing the operational efficiency and adaptability of distributed energy systems. It addresses the growing complexity of managing electrical infrastructures in scenarios characterized by the high integration of renewable energy sources and the increasing electrification of demand, particularly through flexible assets such as electric vehicle chargers, storage systems, and programmable industrial loads. The central aim is to develop and validate intelligent, data-oriented approaches that allow energy systems to become not only more efficient but also more responsive to market signals and grid constraints. The first article included in the thesis focuses on the implementation of an optimal scheduler within a multi-vector energy management system (MVEMS) deployed in a real-world port microgrid. This study addresses the orchestration of flexible assets: such as containercranes, EV charging stations, and battery energy storage systems, whose operations areplanned daily to minimize energy costs while maximizing the use of locally produced renewable energy. The methodology integrates forecast models, control constraints, and heuristic optimization algorithms to compute a viable hourly dispatch plan. By simulating this control strategy over a realistic dataset and infrastructure, the study demonstrates how intelligent scheduling can significantly improve local energy self-sufficiency and reduce dependency on the external grid. Special emphasis is placed on practical feasibility, using real-time data and computation-aware algorithmic configurations. The second article complements this contribution by tackling the issue of grid flexibility through demand-side participation in electricity markets. Specifically, it investigates the potential of electric vehicle charging point operators (CPOs) to act as flexibility service providers (FSPs) within local congestion management frameworks. The proposed methodology centres on forecasting the aggregated and session-level flexibility available across a network of charging stations, enabling CPOs to make market bids without compromising the quality of service offered to end users. This approach combines machine learning models with calendar, weather, and socioeconomic data, and includes user behaviour profiling to avoid reliance on private or sensitive information. Through this strategy, the study opens a pathway for urban-scale EV charging infrastructure to contribute proactively to grid stability and congestion mitigation.Together, the two studies illustrate complementary facets of how data-based artificial intelligence methodologies can be applied in practice to reduce energy consumption and enhance system flexibility. The first contributes to operational planning within a microgrid context, while the second enables strategic participation in energy markets. Despite their different focus, both approaches leverage real-world data, model system constraints, and employ machine learning or optimization to address uncertainty and enhance performance. This dual perspective reflects the multifaceted challenges of the energy transition, where operational excellence and market integration must co-evolve. Ultimately, the thesis demonstrates that artificial intelligence, when grounded in domain knowledge and implemented with practical constraints in mind, can provide robust solutions to the pressing need for more adaptive and efficient energy systems.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

• HUSSAIN, TAUSEEF: Metamaterial-inspired Flexible Microwave Resonant Structures for RFID Sensing and Shielding
  
  Author: HUSSAIN, TAUSEEF
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Electronic Engineering (EEL)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 20/07/2026
  Reading date: 10/11/2026
  Reading time: 12:00
  Reading place: Sala de Conferències TR1 – ESEIAAT, UPC
  Thesis director: GIL GALI, IGNACIO | FERNANDEZ GARCIA, RAUL
  Thesis abstract: Metamaterials are artificially engineered electromagnetic structures that enable wave–matter interactions beyond those achievable with natural materials. When implemented in flexible and textile-compatible forms, metamaterial-inspired resonant structures offer unique advantages for wearable technologies, including conformability, lightweight construction, and tunable electromagnetic responses. These characteristics make them particularly attractive for wearable radio-frequency identification (RFID) sensing platforms, where sensitivity, robustness, and user safety must be addressed simultaneously. This thesis investigates the design and integration of metamaterial-inspired flexible resonant structures with RFID systems to enable sensors with enhanced performance and improved electromagnetic safety.Conventional RFID-based sensors typically rely on antenna deformation or substrate perturbation alone to transduce physical or biochemical stimuli. While effective in controlled environments, these approaches exhibit limited sensitivity and strong dependence on environmental loading in wearable scenarios. At ultra-high-frequency (UHF) bands, proximity to the human body causes impedance detuning and reduced read range reliability, whereas at microwave frequencies, increased absorption in biological tissue raises specific absorption rate (SAR) concerns. These limitations motivate the use of engineered resonant structures that offer enhanced field confinement and improved control over antenna–environment interactions.This thesis first investigates resonator-assisted passive UHF RFID sensing for biomechanical and biochemical monitoring. Electromagnetic coupling between printed UHF RFID tag antennas and compact resonant elements is exploited to enhance sensitivity beyond conventional antenna-based sensing. Meander-line resonators are integrated with RFID tags to enable displacement sensing, demonstrating reliable respiration and knee-flexion monitoring. The coupling approach is further extended to biochemical sensing through the integration of a capacitively coupled complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR) with an H-slot RFID antenna, enabling passive wireless monitoring of glucose concentration via read-range modulation.Subsequently, the thesis addresses electromagnetic stability and user safety at microwave RFID frequencies, where shorter wavelengths enable compact resonator arrays to be realized as metasurfaces. A breathable ground-grid artificial magnetic conductor (GG-AMC) is developed to mitigate body-induced detuning, suppress backward radiation, and significantly reduce SAR while preserving wearer comfort. In addition, near-field coupled metamaterial absorbers are introduced as dual-function structures that simultaneously provide electromagnetic shielding and strain-sensitive resonance modulation, enabling respiration monitoring at microwave frequencies. The core scientific contributions of this research are documented in five JCR-indexed journal articles and two peer-reviewed IEEE conference publications, and the thesis is presented as a compendium of articles.Keywords – RFID sensing, wearable sensors, microwave resonators, metasurfaces, biomechanical monitoring, biochemical sensing, artificial magnetic conductor, metamaterial absorber, electromagnetic shielding.
  
• SOLÉ LLOVERAS, JORDI: Methods for Assessing Radiated Electromagnetic Emissions In Situ. Application to Photovoltaic Systems
  
  Author: SOLÉ LLOVERAS, JORDI
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Electronic Engineering (EEL)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 17/09/2026
  Reading date: 28/10/2026
  Reading time: 10:30
  Reading place: Aula de Graus C4-002, campus nord UPC
  Thesis director: AZPÚRUA AUYANET, MARCO AURELIO | SILVA MARTINEZ, FERNANDO
  Thesis abstract: The increasing deployment of large electrical systems, renewable energy plants and power electronic installations is creating new challenges for electromagnetic compatibility assessment. Many of these systems cannot be tested in conventional EMC laboratories because they are too large, too powerful, too distributed or too dependent on their final installation conditions. As a result, radiated electromagnetic emissions must often be assessed in situ, under real operating conditions and in uncontrolled electromagnetic environments. In these scenarios, the measurement problem is no longer limited to comparing a spectrum with a limit.This thesis develops and validates methods for assessing radiated electromagnetic emissions in situ, with photovoltaic systems as the main application case. The work proposes a structured measurement methodology covering the complete assessment process, from planning and characterization of the electromagnetic environment to the selection of measurement axes and points, emissions assessment and interpretation of results. Ambient noise is addressed as one of the most frequent and difficult challenges in practical in situ radiated emission assessments. Since the measured spectrum may contain contributions from both the equipment under test and external electromagnetic sources, the interpretation process must distinguish emissions generated by the installation from those associated with the surrounding electromagnetic environment. To support this interpretation, several complementary strategies are experimentally validated, including closer distance measurements, conducted RF current measurements, reduced RBW analysis, amplitude probability distribution analysis, etc.The thesis also addresses one of the most critical open issues in practical in situ assessments: the application of radiated emission limits when the measurement distance differs from the reference distance defined by the standard. It is shown that the conversion should be applied to the emission limit rather than to the measured field level, avoiding an unintended relaxation of the permissible level. Specific H-field distance conversion factors below 30 MHz are derived from analytical equations, numerical simulations and experimental validation, and are simplified into practical expressions and tables suitable for direct use in measurement procedures and standardization documents. For E-field emissions above 30 MHz, the classical inverse distance relation is justified and its limitations are quantified.The thesis results are applied to three real photovoltaic installations with different characteristics and measurement constraints. These campaigns demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methodology under real operating conditions and show the practical difficulties associated with in situ radiated emission assessment. The results show that robust conclusions require the use of complementary techniques to determine if an installation is prone to generate interferences.Beyond the experimental validation, the thesis has been transferred to scientific publications, industrial EMC assessment activities and standardization work. The proposed methodology, the ambient noise interpretation and the H-field distance conversion factors have been presented and discussed in technical committees involved in the development of future EMC standards. Therefore, this thesis provides not only an academic and scientific contribution, but also a practical technical reference for engineers, stakeholders and technical committees involved in the application and future development of EMC standards.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

• GARATACHEA SOLÉ, ROGER: Domestic and Transboundary Air Pollution across European countries: health impacts and policy implications
  
  Author: GARATACHEA SOLÉ, ROGER
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 07/09/2026
  Reading date: 28/10/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: UPC, Campus NordBuilding C1. Classroom: 002C/Jordi Girona, 1-308034 Barcelona
  Thesis director: PEREZ GARCIA-PANDO, CARLOS | JORBA CASELLAS, ORIOL
  Thesis abstract: Air pollution remains a major environmental and public health problem in Europe, despite decades of regulation and substantial improvements in air quality. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and tropospheric ozone (O3) remain two of the most harmful air pollutants. Their formation, transport, and impacts are shaped by complex interactions between local emissions, transboundary pollution, natural sources, atmospheric chemistry, and meteorology. This complexity makes it difficult to determine which sources are responsible for observed pollution levels.This thesis studies the geographical origins of O3 and both geographical and sectoral origins of PM2.5 across Europe, evaluating their implications for health impacts and air-quality governance. Using the CALIOPE regional air-quality modeling system, a tagging approach is applied to quantify domestic, transboundary, maritime, and hemispheric contributions to O3 concentrations and associated short-term mortality. For PM2.5, a perturbation-based approach combined with an observation-constrained methodology is used to quantify source contributions and their related short-term mortality impacts, which are further disaggregated by economic sector and natural sources. The thesis also assesses the feasibility of achieving the revised European Ambient Air Quality Directive PM2.5 standards by 2030 under both current legislation (CLE) and maximum feasible reduction (MFR) pathways.The findings indicate that European air pollution is strongly shaped by sources beyond the jurisdiction in which exposure occurs. For O3, hemispheric and transboundary contributions represent major components of surface concentrations across Europe, underscoring the importance of long-range transport. Consequently, the health impacts related to O3 are also largely driven by imported pollution, which accounts for 88% of all O3-attributable deaths in Europe. However, during high-ozone episodes, local and regional contributions become more relevant, suggesting that domestic and nearby emission reductions can be particularly important under peak O3 levels. For PM2.5, short-term mortality impacts are also strongly influenced by cross-border transport and by the sectoral composition of emissions. Anthropogenic emissions accounted for 55% of PM2.5-attributable deaths, with 35% of this anthropogenic burden resulting from cross-border transport within Europe. Residential combustion emerges as the main anthropogenic source, although agriculture, road transport, industry, and power generation can also make important contributions depending on the region and season.The PM2.5 compliance analysis shows that projected emission reductions are expected to substantially improve air quality by 2030, but important governance challenges will remain. CLE would enable many European air-quality zones to meet the revised PM2.5 limit values, with further improvements under MFR. However, a large share of zones reaching compliance under CLE reductions remain cooperation-dependent, requiring emission reductions in foreign countries rather than domestic action alone. Excluding natural-source contributions further increases attainment, highlighting the role of sources that are not fully controllable through national mitigation policies. These results show that remaining non-compliance reflects not only insufficient domestic action, but also transboundary dependencies, natural contributions, and the limitations of national policy instruments.Overall, this thesis demonstrates that source-resolved modelling is crucial to understand air quality results, estimate health impacts, and design effective compliance strategies. Achieving European air-quality standards will require not only ambitious emission reductions, but also coordinated international action and regulatory frameworks that explicitly account for the transboundary nature of atmospheric pollution.
  
• PASCUA SOLÉ, LAIA: Elucidating Structure-Activity Relationships in Bimetallic Pd-Based Catalysts for Methane Oxidation Reactions via Multi-Technique Characterisation
  
  Author: PASCUA SOLÉ, LAIA
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 28/07/2026
  Reading date: 09/10/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: UPC, ESCOLA D'ENGINYERIA DE BARCELONA EST (EEBE)Sala Polivalent, Edifici IPlanta 0. Espai I.0.1Av. d'Eduard Maristany, 16.08019 de Barcelona
  Thesis director: LLORCA PIQUE, JORDI | JIMÉNEZ DIVINS, NÚRIA
  Thesis abstract: This thesis studies two methane oxidation reactions using Pd-based catalysts: total methane oxidation (MTO) for natural gas vehicles as a transition fuel, and partial methane oxidation (POM) for efficient syngas production. MTO faces issues with water poisoning and stability, while POM suffers from coke formation and long-term instability. To address these problems, the catalysts were characterized under operando and in situ reaction conditions, evaluating the effect of a second metal (Co, Ni), the support (CeO₂ vs. Al₂O₃), and the preparation method (ball milling, BM, vs. incipient wetness impregnation, IWI). In MTO (Ch. 4), catalysts on Al₂O₃, prepared by BM, and with monometallic Pd gave the best results. Co and CeO₂ stabilize the PdO phase, but an optimal PdO:Pd⁰ ratio is required. Under water vapor exposure, the bimetallic BM samples showed a stabilizing effect. In POM (Ch. 5), the PdNi-BM and PdCo-BM systems showed synergy and outperformed their IWI counterparts. PdNi-BM exhibited better overall activity and stability. BM samples kept the metals in close proximity, while IWI samples underwent metal separation and sintering. Unique Janus particles were identified in PdCo-BM. Operando characterization (Ch. 6) revealed that bimetallic BM samples had a different arrangement, explaining the observed synergy. The PdCo system displayed unexpected self-sustained oscillations in both reaction products and oxidation states under constant reaction conditions once syngas production began, correlated with the reduction of both metals. Finally (Ch. 7), the interactions were modeled using AP-HAXPES. Methane exposure created carbonaceous intermediate species and led to metal reduction. Co-containing systems reduced faster and formed fewer intermediates than Ni-containing ones, and the CeO₂ support played an active role in preventing carbonaceous adsorption.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MARINE SCIENCES

• AGUILERA VIDAL, MARIA: Compound Rainfall-Wave Extremes in the Spanish Mediterranean: dependence structure, spatio-temporal variability, and climate change attribution
  
  Author: AGUILERA VIDAL, MARIA
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MARINE SCIENCES
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 04/09/2026
  Reading date: 08/10/2026
  Reading time: 15:00
  Reading place: Place: ETSECCPBUPC, Campus NordBuilding C1. Classroom: 002C/Jordi Girona, 1-308034 Barcelona
  Thesis director: JIMENEZ QUINTANA, JOSE ANTONIO
  Thesis abstract: Compound coastal flooding along the Spanish Mediterranean coast is primarily driven by the interaction between intense rainfall and energetic wave storms, which constitute the dominant terrestrial and marine flood drivers in this microtidal environment. This thesis develops an integrated framework to characterize rainfall-wave compound hazards by combining observational datasets, wave reanalysis, copula-based dependence analysis, synoptic weather classification, and climate-model attribution techniques. The framework examines how compound hazards vary across space, evolve over time, respond to climate change, and generate spatially connected impacts.The results reveal a pronounced spatial organization of compound hazard. Northern Catalonia and central Valencia emerge as the main hotspots, where compound events occur more frequently, exhibit stronger statistical dependence, and systematically more intense than single-driver extremes. Temporal analyses further show that rainfall-wave dependence has strengthened over recent decades along the northern Catalan coast, increasing the synchronization between both hazards and the probability of joint extremes. This evolution is accompanied by a greater likelihood of extreme precipitation. These changes are linked to an increased frequency of the dominant synoptic configurations, particularly Mediterranean cyclones and northern-blocking situations, that favour the concurrence of heavy rainfall and energetic wave conditions.Climate-change attribution demonstrate that the most severe compound events already exhibit a detectable anthropogenic signal through the intensification of extreme precipitation, substantially increasing the likelihood of rare compound extremes under present-day climate conditions. Beyond local hazard interactions, the thesis also demonstrates that compound flooding is inherently spatially connected. The same atmospheric configurations responsible for the strongest local compound events also generate widespread impacts extending from Catalonia to central Valencia, with Storm Gloria (January 2020) representing a characteristic example of this synoptic regime.Overall, this thesis demonstrates that compound coastal flood hazard in the western Mediterranean cannot be adequately understood using a single-driver, stationary, or purely local approaches. Instead, robust hazard assessment requires explicitly accounting for multivariate and evolving hazard conditions partly influenced by anthropogenic climate change, as well as for the spatial connectivity among driving processes across the region and the role of large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. The integrated framework developed here provides a transferable methodology for improving compound flood assessments, supporting climate-resilient coastal planning, and advancing the understanding of compound coastal hazards in Mediterranean and other microtidal, wave-dominated environments.
  
• MURILLO GOMEZ, NELSON ENRIQUE: COASTAL HAZARDS, RISKS AND ADAPTATION IN THE BARRA DE SALAMANCA (COLOMBIA)
  
  Author: MURILLO GOMEZ, NELSON ENRIQUE
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MARINE SCIENCES
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 16/07/2026
  Reading date: 23/10/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: Place: ETSECCPBUPC, Campus NordBuilding C2. Classroom: 212C/Jordi Girona, 1-308034 Barcelona
  Thesis director: JIMENEZ QUINTANA, JOSE ANTONIO
  Thesis abstract: Coastal sandbars are generally elongated landforms that provide protection to environmental, socioeconomic, and infrastructural ecosystems from extreme events, but are highly sensitive to morphodynamic changes driven by natural and anthropogenic processes. This is further complicated by the uncertainty Surrounding the expected sea-level rise in the coming years. These dynamics generate pressures and motivate land managers to understand the genesis of their morphological evolution, the physical agents that modulate it, the risks associated with the diversity of their exposed ecosystems within a tolerance limit, and to propose sustainable adaptation measures for the future.This research reconstructs the morphological evolution of the Salamanca coastal sandbar (Colombia), located within a national and international conservation park, over the last 40 years, the physical agents present at decadal and episodic scales, and the assessment of threats associated with erosion and flooding. Understanding the past and considering sea level rise projections to 2050, a projected area susceptible to damage was identified. Within this area, the exposure and vulnerability of the exposed elements were assessed, and this, when integrated with the threats, allowed for the estimation of environmental, physical, and socioeconomic risks. Recognizing that risk cannot be eliminated because it is intrinsic to coastal development, we have proposed a model of tolerable risk levels and a list of adaptation measures grouped into strategies according to their implications for the coastal zone. The results showed that the sandbar is decreasing its sediment transport rates, indicating a search for morphological equilibrium. However, erosion rates of around -20 m/a at the most critical points are deteriorating environmental services. This, combined with storm impacts and the increasing construction of hard infrastructure, has worsened and increased the exposure of the main land-based infrastructure connecting the region's most important towns with the interior of the country. This is putting commercial and tourism activities at risk. The communities located in these areas are in highly vulnerable socioeconomic conditions, generating pressure on the coastline that requires urgent intervention. The tolerable risk for environmental, physical infrastructure, and socioeconomic factors was established according to the degree of impact on the exposed element, its loss of natural value, and the resulting repercussions on the quality of life of the inhabitants. This criterion facilitates a balance of sustainable development between the inhabitants and their environment. The risk reduction strategies demonstrated that acting alone does not achieve tolerable risks, and only a comprehensive strategy allows us to approach the proposed objectives. Prompt action is needed to reduce uncertainty and increase objectivity about the expected future. We conclude that the methodology developed allowed us to understand what has happened, why, under what conditions the threats have evolved, the morphological evolution, the risk typologies, what could happen, and how to reduce the probability of the expected changes. We believe this methodological process can be replicated and adapted to any coastal area with the specific characteristics required. keywords: morphology, risks, adaptation measures.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MECHANICAL, FLUIDS AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

• MACERATESI, FILIPPO: Personalized musculoskeletal modeling for predictive gait simulation in individuals with spinal cord injury
  
  Author: MACERATESI, FILIPPO
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MECHANICAL, FLUIDS AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Mechanical Engineering (EM)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 09/09/2026
  Reading date: 16/10/2026
  Reading time: 15:00
  Reading place: Aula Capella de l’ETSEIB
  Thesis director: FONT LLAGUNES, JOSEP MARIA | FEBRER NAFRÍA, MÍRIAM
  Thesis abstract: Predictive simulations of human gait based on musculoskeletal models have great potential to support clinical decision-making processes. In fact, if we were able to model the effects of different treatments or assistive devices within this predictive tool, it would allow us to test various “what-if” scenarios in advance and identify the one with the greatest potential to maximize therapy outcomes for a specific patient. For patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), predictive gait simulations could help design subject-specific treatments and rehabilitation strategies. To employ predictive simulations in clinical applications, it is fundamental that the musculoskeletal models used in such simulations represent as closely as possible the studied patients. For this reason, high levels of personalization are needed when developing such musculoskeletal models. Therefore, the main aim of the thesis is to develop and evaluate personalized musculoskeletal models within predictive gait simulations to assess whether we are capable of reproducing subject-specific gait of individuals with SCI. The first study aims to investigate the effects of different muscle-tendon parameters calibration approaches in both tracking and predictive simulations in three healthy subjects. In the tracking simulations, the functionally-calibrated models led to more accurate joint torques estimations. Including gait in the calibration problems improved the knee torques accuracy, compared to the baseline calibration. Regarding the gait predictive simulations, the non-linearly scaled models consistently yielded more accurate subtalar inversion/eversion torques and knee flexion angles, compared to the functionally-calibrated models. The results suggest that, while the functionally-calibrated models led to more accurate joint torques estimations in the tracking simulations, they did not outperform the non-linearly scaled models in the fully-predictive gait simulations. The second study aims to assess whether our predictive simulation framework, combined with different levels of personalization, can capture and distinguish the subject-specific gait features of four SCI patients, rather than predicting a generic assisted gait. The results suggest that our predictive simulation framework is able to reproduce certain gait metrics of specific individuals with SCI, although the level of agreement varied across metrics and subjects. However, the predicted inter-subject variability of the kinematics was generally statistically lower than the experimental one. When comparing subjects pairwise, in some cases, the predictive simulations were able to capture the similarities or discrepancies in kinematics and gait metrics between two individuals.The third study aims to estimate and analyze joint stiffness profiles in three subjects with SCI during gait, and test muscle-tendon parameters calibrated based on reference stiffness values in predictive gait simulations. Overall, the estimated joint stiffness profiles appeared biomechanically consistent when analyzing them with respect to the gait events and EMG signals. The EMG-driven models matched more accurately the reference torques and stiffness in the ankle and hip joints compared to the knee. Furthermore, in the predictive simulations, the two musculoskeletal models yielded very similar results; however, the one calibrated with both stiffness and torque data predicted higher ankle stiffness profiles that more closely matched the reference values.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PHOTONICS

• BERTINI, RICCARDO: Optoelectronic probes of quantum geometry and out-of-equilibrium phenomena in graphene moiré superlattices
  
  Author: BERTINI, RICCARDO
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PHOTONICS
  Department: Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 04/09/2026
  Reading date: 19/10/2026
  Reading time: 15:00
  Reading place: ICFO Auditorium and online https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/37702063406311?p=EhmAHeAf87Czedf9Gy
  Thesis director: KOPPENS, FRANK | KRISHNA KUMAR, ROSHAN
  Thesis abstract: Two-dimensional moiré superlattices have opened a new era in quantum materials, as they provide a versatile platform for engineering electronic bands and accessing correlated and topological phases. Their intrinsically narrow minibands, achieved by twisting or aligning atomically thin two-dimensional crystals, favor strong electronic interactions. Additionally, electrostatic gating further enables in situ control of carrier density, bandwidth, and bandgaps, stabilizing a wide range of quantum phases, including superconductivity, correlated insulating states, ferromagnetism, and Chern and fractional Chern insulators.Most experimental knowledge of these systems has come from quantum transport, scanning-probe, or optical experiments in the linear-response regime. This work extends the experimental toolbox by employing cryogenic nonlinear optoelectronic methods. By applying such techniques to graphene moiré materials, we probe two regimes that remain difficult to access with conventional experiments: the quantum geometry of interacting flat bands and the out-of-equilibrium states generated by large in-plane currents.Using terahertz radiation resonant with the flat bands of magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG), we observe a polarization-resolved photocurrent whose principal axis rotates abruptly whenever the carrier density reaches an integer filling of the moiré Brillouin zone. We identify this response as a shift current, a second-order photocurrent governed by the interband quantum geometry. Microscopically, the effect arises from the interplay between extrinsic symmetry breaking of the moiré crystal, attributed to alignment with hexagonal boron nitride or strain, and Hartree-driven reconstruction of the MATBG flat bands. We further present preliminary mid-infrared photocurrent measurements aimed at resolving the spatial distribution of these broken-symmetry states.The second part of this work investigates the nonlinear current–voltage response of bilayer graphene aligned to hexagonal boron-nitride under large in-plane bias. Using dual-gated devices, we map the density and displacement-field dependence of the out-of-equilibrium critical transition that occurs when single-band transport breaks down, accompanied by negative differential conductance (NDC). The critical current scales with the miniband bandwidth, a relation verified across multiple devices and moiré systems. By combining temperature-dependent measurements with Boltzmann-transport simulations, we find evidence for strong electronic overheating at the transition, followed by the formation of an electron–hole plasma in which electron–hole collisions dominate the transport response. Scanning photocurrent microscopy at 4 K reveals that the transition is localized in a bulk hotspot; at the bistable threshold near the NDC regime, this hotspot also acts as the active region for single-photon detection.Together, these results demonstrate the value of optoelectronic probes for investigating moiré quantum materials, and open multiple directions for future study. Polarization-resolved terahertz photocurrent spectroscopy provides access to the quantum geometry of correlated moiré bands, whereas high-bias transport offers a direct handle on superlattice dispersion and nonequilibrium carrier dynamics. These techniques are readily applicable to a vast range of materials. Additionally, our findings pave the way for novel optoelectronic devices based on moiré materials operating at long wavelengths.
  
• HALDANKAR, RAJASHREE: Strain-Induced Buckling in Suspended Graphene–hBN and Ferroelectric Moiré Domains in Twisted hBN
  
  Author: HALDANKAR, RAJASHREE
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PHOTONICS
  Department: Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 03/09/2026
  Reading date: 13/10/2026
  Reading time: 10:00
  Reading place: ICFO Auditorium
  Thesis director: BACHTOLD, ADRIAN
  Thesis abstract: This thesis investigates the mechanical and electrostatic behaviour of van der Waals heterostructures based on graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). The work is centred on two related questions: how fabrication-induced strain affects suspended graphene–hBN devices, and how scanning-probe measurements can be used to study moiré domains in twisted hBN. The first part of the thesis focuses on suspended graphene–hBN heterostructures. These devices were fabricated by dry transfer onto pre-patterned trenches, followed by suspension release using supercritical CO2 drying. After release, the suspended stacks did not remain flat, but instead developed smooth out of-plane buckled profiles. Atomic force microscopy measurements show that this buckling is consistent with built-in compressive strain introduced during fabrication. Thermal-expansion mismatch, transfer-induced stress, and clamping at the contacts are all likely to contribute to the final mechanical state. Electrical measurements under gate bias further show that electrostatic loading softens the upward-buckled configuration and can drive a snap-through transition into a downward-buckled state. In the present devices, this transition is observed from the up state to the down state, while controlled switching back to the up state is not demonstrated. The second part of the thesis studies sliding ferroelectricity in marginally twisted hBN. In these devices, the small relative twist between the hBN layers produces a reconstructed moiré pattern formed by alternating stacking domains. Kelvin probe force microscopy was used to measure the local electrostatic response of these domains. Bias-dependent measurements show that the two domain types have distinct Kelvin- null positions, with an untwisted hBN reference region lying approximately between them. The comparison between first- and second-harmonic responses supports the interpretation that the observed domain contrast is mainly governed by local contact-potential differences rather than by purely capacitive variations. The KPFM domain image is also analysed as a real-space map of the reconstructed moiré network. Representative domain centres are extracted from the image and used to quantify the local moiré geometry. This analysis provides a moiré-scale description of local wavelength, effective twist variation, and network disorder. These quantities are interpreted as geometrical descriptors of the reconstructed domain pattern, not as direct measurements of atomic-scale strain. Overall, this thesis shows that strain, electrostatics, and interfacial polarisation are central to the behaviour of graphene–hBN and twisted-hBN heterostructures. The suspended graphene–hBN devices demonstrate how residual strain controls mechanical stability and electrostatic actuation, while the twisted-hBN measurements show how KPFM can be used to study moiré domains. Together, these results provide a basis for future studies of strain-controlled nanomechanics and electrostatic domain mapping in two-dimensional materials.
  
• RUÍZ GONZÁLEZ, JOSÉ JAVIER: Development of computational tools and pipelines for enhanced interpretation of Raman spectroscopy in biomedical applications
  
  Author: RUÍZ GONZÁLEZ, JOSÉ JAVIER
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PHOTONICS
  Department: Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 07/07/2026
  Reading date: 14/10/2026
  Reading time: 10:00
  Reading place: ICFO Auditorium
  Thesis director: LOZA ALVAREZ, PABLO
  Thesis abstract: Raman spectroscopy has gained increasing attention over the last few decades due to its ability to non-destructively extract chemical information from samples. However, despite advances in instrumentation, it has not yet become standard practice in the biomedical field. One of the main reasons is the difficulty in interpreting and extracting the chemical information encoded in Raman signal, so as to validate the technique using complementary, well established techniques.Considering this, the aim of this Thesis is to develop tools and analytical pipelines that enhance the biochemical interpretation of Raman spectra, and to demonstrate its usefulness in two relevant biomedical research lines: breast cancer resistance to neoadjuvant treatments and the diagnosis of choroidal melanoma.Firstly, we developed and validated RamanBiolib, an open-source Raman spectral library accompanied by search algorithms, aimed at providing rapid and objective identification of biomolecules. Secondly, we used RamanBiolib after spectral unmixing to identify and quantify cytochrome c molecule in breast cancer cells resistant to neoadjuvant treatments. This revealed a shift towards its reduced state to avoid apoptosis and acquire drug resistance. Then we also characterized lipid droplets in triple-negative breast cancer cells, highlighting the relevance of variable importance analysis in classification models. This approach allows for the biochemical interpretation of their classification performance and assessing possible background contributions to their accuracy. By doing so, significant changes in lipid unsaturation were detected. Furthermore, we developed RamanTF, a transformer-based algorithm that automatically quantifies key biomolecules from raw spectra.Finally, to study melanin-rich samples, we defined a pre-processing and analysis workflow to correct instrumental interferences that were observed in previous studies, but not corrected yet. With this established workflow, key melanin properties were identified, such as melanin structural disorder or defects abundance, which can be used as biomarkers to diagnose choroidal melanomas. Overall, the tools, discussions, and results presented in this Thesis advance Raman spectroscopy towards clinical application and provide a basis for its widespread adoption as a routine technique in biomedical and diagnostic research.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN POLYMERS AND BIOPOLYMERS

• NARANJO TOVAR, DAVID ALEJANDRO: Multifunctional Hydrogels for Applications in Water Purification and (Bio)Sensors: A Theoretical and Experimental Approach
  
  Author: NARANJO TOVAR, DAVID ALEJANDRO
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN POLYMERS AND BIOPOLYMERS
  Department: Department of Chemical Engineering (EQ)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 16/09/2026
  Reading date: 16/10/2026
  Reading time: 11:15
  Reading place: ESCOLA D'ENGINYERIA BARCELONA ESTC/Eduard Maristany, 16 (08019 Barcelona)EDIFICI A planta 0, SALA POLIVALENThttps://meet.google.com/pmv-fbdf-omu
  Thesis director: TORRAS COSTA, JUAN | GARCÍA TORRES, JOSÉ MANUEL
  Thesis abstract: This doctoral thesis develops multifunctional hydrogel platforms for water purification and soft (bio)sensing through the combined use of computational modeling, materials synthesis, physicochemical characterization, and device-oriented testing. The work examines how polymer-network architecture, hydration, functional additives, and interfacial transport can be deliberately coordinated to obtain properties that are not available from the individual components alone.Chapter 3 introduces SuSi, a Python-based program for constructing linear and chemically crosslinked polymer systems as physically meaningful initial structures for molecular simulations. Artificial-intelligence tree-search algorithms are used to guide chain growth and crosslink formation, while structural descriptors provide practical criteria for evaluating network connectivity and construction quality. The generated models support the molecular-level studies developed in the subsequent chapters.Chapter 4 addresses the rational design of multifunctional hydrogels. First, experimental spectroscopy and atomistic and hybrid simulations are combined to determine how PEDOT nanoparticles modify the volume phase transition and hydration microenvironment of PNIPAAm-based hydrogels. The analysis is then extended to PNnPAAm, PNIPAAm, and PNIPMAAm to establish how polymer side-chain architecture governs the interaction of thermoresponsive networks with PEDOT and water. A complementary agarose platform is also developed in which carbon quantum dots are covalently incorporated through divinyl sulfone. In this system, the quantum dots act as structural nodes, photothermal components, and local hydration-regulating interfaces, linking network organization and water state to evaporation behavior.Chapter 5 translates these design principles into water-purification technologies. PNIPAAm–alginate hydrogels containing PEDOT nanoparticles are investigated as solar-driven evaporators, with emphasis on the relationship between thermoresponsive contraction, porosity, water state, and desalination performance. In parallel, agarose–tannic acid–PEDOT:PSS hydrogels are subsequently optimized as hydrated coatings for capacitive-deionization electrodes, where their porosity, wettability, mechanical stability, and electrochemical activity promote ion transport and sustained desalination operation.Chapter 6 develops chitosan–agarose hydrogel films for sensing applications. PEDOT:PSS is used to produce recyclable resistive temperature sensors for hydrated and skin-compatible operation. In situ polymerization of polypyrrole creates percolated mixed ionic–electronic networks for metal-free hydrogen peroxide detection. Finally, hierarchical silver microstructures are incorporated to obtain mechanically tunable, antibacterial hydrogen peroxide sensors, with glycerol plasticization providing complementary control over deformability and analytical response.The central contribution of this thesis lies in showing that hydrogel performance can be rationally tuned by treating network architecture, hydration, and functional additives as interdependent design variables. By combining molecular modeling with experimental validation, the work connects microscopic interactions with macroscopic behavior across solar desalination, capacitive deionization, temperature sensing, and hydrogen peroxide detection. This integrated perspective provides a basis for developing adaptable hydrogel systems in which transport, mechanical compliance, photothermal activity, and electrochemical response can be deliberately balanced for water-treatment and soft-sensing technologies.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS

• MA, ZHONGMIN: Flood Extent, Water Level, and Surface Water Storage Retrieval Using Spaceborne GNSS Reflectometry
  
  Author: MA, ZHONGMIN
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS
  Department: Department of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC)
  Mode: Change of supervisor + Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 08/09/2026
  Reading date: 16/10/2026
  Reading time: 09:00
  Reading place: Conference Room, Center for Earth Science and Satellite Big Data, 2nd Floor, Yanbo Garden, Yanta Campus.Meet: https://meet.google.com/bzw-sbac-vra
  Thesis director: CAMPS CARMONA, ADRIANO JOSE | PARK, HYUK | ZHANG, SHUANGCHENG
  Thesis abstract: Floods are among the most frequent and destructive natural hazards worldwide. Driven by climate change and increasing human activities, the frequency and severity of flood events have increased significantly, highlighting the need for high-resolution and all-weather flood monitoring methods to improve early warning and emergency response capabilities.Spaceborne GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R) is an emerging microwave remote sensing technique that exploits reflected GNSS signals from the Earth’s surface to retrieve geophysical parameters at a global scale. With advantages including all-weather capability, continuous observation, and low cost, spaceborne GNSS-R shows great potential for flood monitoring. However, several challenges remain, including limited studies using multi-constellation GNSS-R observations, insufficient quantitative assessment of flood severity, and relatively coarse spatiotemporal resolution of existing flood products.This thesis focuses on the retrieval of flood extent, water level, and surface water storage using spaceborne GNSS-R. The main contributions are summarized as follows:(1) The sensitivity of multi-constellation GNSS-R observations to surface parameters was investigated. Results show that reflected signals from GPS, BeiDou, and Galileo exhibit comparable quality and consistent sensitivity to soil moisture, while surface reflectivity increases nonlinearly with increasing soil moisture. The results also demonstrate that passive microwave-derived roughness parameters cannot adequately characterize small-scale surface roughness effects in spaceborne GNSS-R observations.(2) To overcome the limitation of threshold-based GNSS-R flood detection methods that only provide binary inundation information, a physically based calibration approach incorporating L-band brightness temperature data was developed. A surface water fraction retrieval model was established to quantitatively estimate flood intensity and inundated fractions.(3) A new method was proposed for water level retrieval by integrating high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) with GNSS-R-derived flood extent information. The method estimates water levels from elevations along water boundaries and has been successfully applied to both flood level retrieval and long-term monitoring of lakes and reservoirs.(4) A method for estimating surface water storage was developed by integrating topographic data with GNSS-R-derived surface water observations. Compared with traditional satellite gravimetry missions such as GRACE and GRACE-FO, this approach directly utilizes surface observations and provides surface water storage estimates with improved spatiotemporal resolution.Overall, this thesis expands the application capability of spaceborne GNSS-R for quantitative flood monitoring and provides new approaches for estimating surface water dynamics, contributing to the development of advanced Earth observation methods for flood risk assessment and management.
  
• VILÀ INSA, MARC: Noncoherent detection and spatial cyclostationarity with massive arrays
  
  Author: VILÀ INSA, MARC
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS
  Department: Department of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 07/09/2026
  Reading date: 07/10/2026
  Reading time: 12:00
  Reading place: Aula de Teleensenyament ETSETB, Edifici B3, Campus Nord, Barcelona
  Thesis director: RIBA SAGARRA, JAUME
  Thesis abstract: Since the advent of digital communication technologies, wireless systems have relied on precise and regularly updated knowledge about the physical medium, referred to as channel state information (CSI). This resource has played a central role in the deployment of modern wireless networks, enabling the monumental growth in transmission rates and data coverage demanded by the current information era. In recent times, however, emerging use cases are revealing practical scenarios in which the acquisition of reliable CSI becomes spectrally inefficient or even infeasible. Clear examples may be found in industrial internet of things (IIoT), where communication is performed through small data packets and latency requirements outweigh throughput needs. Such characteristics appear antagonistic to pilot-based coherent detection, a discrepancy which is also present in systems over high mobility environments, characterized by very short coherence blocks. This has led some authors to reassess whether coherent approaches are the most suitable solutions to implement these applications, envisioned for next generation wireless systems.This shift in state-of-the-art communication theory has rekindled an interest in alternative strategies for wireless data transmission, particularly noncoherent detection. Systems operating noncoherently are those that bypass the need for instantaneous CSI, and rely instead on a crude statistical description of fading and noise. It is precisely within this context that the present thesis is embedded. This work contributes to the noncoherent communication corpus by exploring fundamental limitations of wireless systems based on massive arrays. Most notably, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions to achieve asymptotically error-free communication by increasing transmitted power and the number of receiving antennas, and relate them to unavoidable error floors found throughout the literature. These results are obtained by leveraging first principles from detection theory, thus remaining interpretable and insightful in light of investigating codeword design.Afterwards, the theory developed is harnessed to devise energy-based noncoherent systems that employ massive antenna arrays to improve communication reliability. In particular, we study a one-shot detection problem and conceive a family of suboptimal receivers founded on quadratic statistics of data. These approaches are then used as the building blocks of an index modulation scheme over orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). The solution obtained shows promising results, with near-optimal performance in a variety of scenarios at a fraction of the computational cost of maximum likelihood detection.In parallel, we study the spectral theory of periodically correlated stochastic processes, which naturally appear in some space-time noncoherent problems under spatially stationary fading. We develop a novel treatment based on the Karhunen-Loève representation of cyclostationary processes, and relate it to classical time-frequency approaches under the same framework. As a use case of interest, these techniques are applied to draw ultimate performance limits on a variety of Wiener filtering problems from a unified perspective. Finally, we utilize this toolkit to provide insights on noncoherent codeword detection and implement low-complexity receivers that exploit spectral approximations of data.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUPPLY CHAIN AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

• VIDES PRADO, ANDRÉS DAVID: Estrategia sostenible para proyectos de suministro eléctrico en comunidades rurales. Caso de estudio La Guajira.
  
  Author: VIDES PRADO, ANDRÉS DAVID
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUPPLY CHAIN AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
  Department: Department of Management (OE)
  Mode: Change of supervisor
  Deposit date: 30/07/2026
  Reading date: 19/10/2026
  Reading time: 14:00
  Reading place: Videoconferència
  Thesis director: DOMÉNECH LÉGA, BRUNO
  Thesis abstract: This doctoral thesis develops a comprehensive strategy for planning rural electrification programs in isolated communities, using the department of La Guajira, Colombia, as a case study. Within the framework of the energy transition process, many generation and transmission projects aim to strengthen the National Interconnected System (SIN); however, they do not always consider access to energy for Indigenous communities, particularly in non-interconnected zones (ZNI). This thesis recognises electricity as a driver of human development and proposes approaching its planning as a sustainable process that integrates technical, economic, environmental, social, and institutional dimensions. The methodological framework incorporates multi-criteria decision-making tools, technical simulation, and community participation mechanisms to ensure that decision-making reflects local priorities, Indigenous worldviews, and community capacities, while also considering the expectations of stakeholders. The results constitute methodological and empirical contributions that fully address sustainable rural electrification planning. First, a review of the specialised literature identified four knowledge gaps that limit rural electrification programs. Second, a sociocultural diagnosis of the Wayuu indigenous population in La Guajira was developed through fieldwork. Third, a multi-criteria evaluation model was constructed, integrating fifteen criteria across five dimensions with weights assigned by communities, experts, and local government leaders, to select the most appropriate electrification alternative. Fourth, a four-stage redesign methodology was proposed to evaluate existing projects and develop expansion strategies that improve supply and leverage current infrastructure. Fifth, a methodology for the multidimensional impact assessment of electrification is proposed, which, through a five-stage process, gathers the benefits perceived by communities while identifying evidence-based improvement actions. Finally, a pilot rural electrification program, eligible for funding, was formulated, integrating the products of this research project into a real-world intervention for the region. Taken together, the contributions of this research seek to contribute to the planning of more robust and appropriate electrification programs, offering replicable strategies adaptable to other regions of the world.Keywords: Rural electrification, Sustainability, Energy transition, Multi-criteria decision-making, Community participation.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUSTAINABILITY

• SANCHEZ RUIZ, EDUARDO ALONSO: Governance for Sustainable Water Resources Management in Semi-Arid Regions: Evidence from Piura, Peru
  
  Author: SANCHEZ RUIZ, EDUARDO ALONSO
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUSTAINABILITY
  Department: University Research Institute for Sustainability Science and Technology (IS.UPC)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 17/09/2026
  Reading date: 07/10/2026
  Reading time: 10:30
  Reading place: UPC Campus Nord, ETSECCPB, C/ Jordi Girona 1-3, edificio C1, Sala 002, Barcelona
  Thesis director: CREMADES OLIVER, LAZARO VICENTE
  Thesis abstract: Semi-arid regions face increasing pressure on water resources due to climatic variability, unequal service conditions, institutional fragmentation, and growing demand for more reliable information and coordinated decision-making. This doctoral thesis examines sustainable Water Resources Management (WRM) in semi-arid regions through a governance-capacity perspective, using Piura, Peru, as the empirical case. The thesis is presented as a compendium of three peer-reviewed publications that address drinking water access inequalities, territorial water vulnerability, and smart technology adoption for WRM.The general objective is to analyze how governance capacity can support sustainable WRM by integrating territorial diagnosis, multidimensional vulnerability assessment, and adoption-oriented management. The research follows a sequential and integrative logic. The first publication develops a territorial and institutional diagnosis of drinking water access inequalities in Piura. The second publication assesses territorial water vulnerability through a multidimensional framework based on structural, climatic, and institutional factors at provincial scale. The third publication synthesizes peer-reviewed evidence on smart technologies for WRM in semi-arid Latin American contexts, focusing on operational outcomes, governance barriers, enabling conditions, and adoption requirements.The findings show that drinking water access inequalities in Piura are shaped by territorial disparities, service reliability, monitoring limitations, and fragmented governance arrangements. Territorial water vulnerability emerges from the interaction of structural, climatic, and institutional conditions, requiring spatially differentiated planning and prioritization. Smart technologies can strengthen WRM by improving observability, forecasting, and early warning systems. They also support water quality surveillance, leakage detection, allocation control, and decision-making processes. However, their long-term value depends on interoperability, adequate financing, technical capacity, effective operation and maintenance, sound data governance, and well-established institutional routines.The thesis contributes to sustainable WRM by framing access, vulnerability, and smart technology adoption as connected dimensions of governance capacity. It shows that sustainable WRM in semi-arid regions requires the ability to coordinate institutions, generate and use territorial evidence, prioritize interventions, adopt appropriate technologies, and sustain management practices over time. The proposed perspective provides insights for Piura and for comparable semi-arid regions facing water stress, service inequality, hydro-climatic variability, and fragmented governance systems.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN THEORY AND HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

• TANOK, MERVE TUBA: Feminist political ecology of the right to the city: production of space in Istanbul (2000–2020)
  
  Author: TANOK, MERVE TUBA
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN THEORY AND HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
  Department: Department of History and Theory of Architecture and Communication Techniques (THATC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 09/09/2026
  Reading date: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  Thesis director: MUXI MARTINEZ, ZAIDA | HERNÁNDEZ FALAGÁN, DAVID
  Thesis abstract: Abstract This thesis examines the production of urban space in Istanbul between 2000 and 2020 through the perspective of feminist political ecology and the right to the city. The study argues that urban transformation processes in Istanbul during the examined period have been shaped by neoliberal and neoconservative urban policies together with patriarchal and hegemonic masculine relations of power. Accordingly, urban space is approached not as a neutral physical environment, but as a gendered socio spatial structure that reproduces inequality, exclusion and ecological destruction. The theoretical framework of the study is grounded on feminism, feminist political ecology and the concept of the right to the city. In this regard, the thesis analyses the relation between gender, power, ecology and urbanisation by focusing on how spatial organisation reflects and materialises ideological structures. The study also discusses the production of phallic space and examines how urban transformation processes normalise gendered hierarchies through architecture, planning policies and everyday life practices. Methodologically, the research is designed as a qualitative study based mainly on critical literature review and interpretative urban analysis. Various qualitative materials including academic literature, institutional reports, statistics, newspapers, visual materials, photographs and interviews are analysed in order to investigate the socio spatial dynamics of Istanbul’s urban transformation. Within this framework, the thesis particularly focuses on large scale urban projects and neoconservative housing developments as representative cases of the production of gendered urban space. The findings of the study demonstrate that the production of urban space in Istanbul has increasingly operated through commodification, socio spatial segregation, ecological destruction and patriarchal spatial organisation. Mega projects, gated communities and neoliberal urban policies have contributed to the transformation of the city into a fragmented and unequal urban structure. Simultaneously, these processes have reshaped everyday life, mobility, public space and relations with nature according to dominant ideological and economic priorities. Finally, the thesis discusses future perspectives regarding the reclaiming of the city through ecological awareness, equality, collective participation and emancipatory urban praxis. In this sense, the study argues for the necessity of alternative forms of urban production that prioritise care, democratic participation, ecological sustainability and socio spatial justice. Keywords: feminist political ecology, right to the city, production of space, Istanbul, gender, urban transformation, neoliberal urbanism, spatial justice
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• LI, RUILONG: Parameterization Methods for Invariant Manifolds in Non-autonomous Restricted Multi-body Systems with Applications to Low-energy Transfer Networks
  
  Author: LI, RUILONG
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
  Department: Department of Physics (FIS)
  Mode: Change of supervisor
  Deposit date: 29/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 13/10/2026
  Thesis director: ZHU, ZHANXIA | MASDEMONT SOLER, JOSEP JOAQUIM
  Thesis abstract: This work focuses on invariant manifolds in the Sun-Earth-Moon-spacecraft system. The main approach is based on the parameterization of invariant manifolds and its application to the design of low-energy transfer networks through heteroclinic connections. The goal is to provide a unified and effective framework.For the computation of invariant manifolds, classical parameterization methods are explicit and general, but they face limitations in terms of accuracy, practicality, and usability. To address these limitations, several improvements are developed. First, a high-accuracy linear parameterization method is proposed for non-autonomous systems. Special attention is paid to the fact that high-order results strongly depend on low-order accuracy. New refinement methods for zero-order and first-order parameterizations are introduced to provide a reliable foundation for higher-order expansions. Second, a high-order parameterization method is constructed, in which the invariance equations are solved using dense multivariate power series. In addition, a realification algorithm for high-order expansions is proposed, allowing a high-order description of local nonlinear dynamics. Third, to reduce the computational cost in high dimensions and at high truncation orders, a mixed-order parameterization method based on pruned series is proposed. This approach allows different components to use different truncation orders, thereby removing unnecessary terms and improving efficiency with almost no loss of accuracy. Finally, an action-angle parameterization method is introduced to improve usability in orbit design. It transforms invariant tori in flows into invariant curves or surfaces in maps, and reformulates abstract parameters in terms of physically meaningful phase variables.For low-energy transfer design, the improved parameterization methods are used to compute unstable manifolds at departure and stable manifolds at arrival. Both intra-system and cross-system heteroclinic connections are studied in non-autonomous settings, where time dependence, coupling, and high dimensionality introduce significant challenges.First, for both types of connections, the coupling between state and phase constraints is addressed. In the quasi-bicircular model, a unified Poincare section is introduced, together with the concepts of mean curves and mean manifolds. These tools reduce the dimension of the search space and improve computational efficiency. Combined with single shooting and two-parameter continuation, they enable the computation of families of heteroclinic connections, revealing new dynamical features induced by lunar motion and its gravity.Second, for cross-system connections, a unified change of coordinates is developed directly in the quasi-bicircular model. This transformation brings states, invariant objects, Floquet objects, and high-order expansions into a common global frame, thereby unifying the Sun-Earth and Earth-Moon subsystems within a single framework. As a result, cross-system connections can be treated in the same way as intra-system ones.Finally, for practical applications, planar connections are extended to spatial ones. Two methods are proposed: continuation from planar solutions and direct construction using whiskers. Their extension to high-fidelity ephemeris models is also discussed.The main contributions of this work are twofold. First, the accuracy, practicality, and usability of parameterization methods for invariant manifolds are improved. Second, key challenges in non-autonomous multi-body systems, including time dependence, coupling, and high dimensionality, are addressed in the design of low-energy transfer networks.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURAL, BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND URBANISM TECHNOLOGY

• COLOM BARCELONA, EMMA: Les remuntes en edificis residencials històrics a l'Eixample de Barcelona
  
  Author: COLOM BARCELONA, EMMA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURAL, BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND URBANISM TECHNOLOGY
  Department: Department of Architectural Technology (TA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 23/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 07/10/2026
  Thesis director: DIAZ GOMEZ, CESAR | CORNADÓ BARDÓN, CÒSSIMA
  Thesis abstract: The uniformity of the urban tissue of Ildefons Cerdà’s Plan for the Eixample of Barcelona has undergone a constant transformation since its inception, due to the different difficulties, private interests and a reinterpretation from the city itself. The different volumetric variations in the buildings in the Eixample and the varied heights of the lines of the cornices or the crowning of the buildings are the result of an evolution in history, the numerous regulatory changes (progressive increase in the regulatory height and the buildable depth), and the progressive densification of the city. In front of a deformed or distorted built park, the main objective of the thesis is to provide knowledge of the story adding on the historic residential buildings in the Eixample of Barcelona.For this purpose, a representative sample of its count is based on the whole plot that comes mainly from primary sources, licenses of major works consulted in the Contemporary Municipal Archive and the Municipal District Archive. The sample contains both buildings located in bands and chamfer.The study investigates the construction of the Eixample in Barcelona from its origin to the present day, with the recognition of the regulatory framework of reference and the possibilities of growth, as well as its degree of protection, since many of these are discordant volumes. From the sample, a typological classification of the morphological variations presented by the story addings is carried out, and they are characterized in relation to the growth possibilities that the original building had at the time of construction, and the representative volumetric model is detected. It also studies the functional and constructive aspects, the materials used, as well as the different contact or encounter solutions with the existing building. Finally, it analyzes the stylistic and compositional characteristics of the story adding, and its impact on the landscape. Its singularities and main modifications are defined. Its analysis allows a more objective evaluation of the patrimonial value and a greater appreciation of the degree of sensitivity of the architectural actions carried out to date, providing tools for future interventions.The conclusions and contributions of the doctoral thesis cover the following areas: knowledge of the regulatory framework, degree of protection of the historical building, sampling, typological analysis and concretion of the number of existing story addings, volumetric study, functional characterisation, constructive recognition and stylistic, compositional and patrimonial characteristics. Transversal contributions that deepen knowledge of the Eixample of Barcelona and provide final reflections, as well as a knowledge base and future lines of research.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

• PESQUERA HERREJÓN, VÍCTOR JOSÉ: Evaluación comparativa de modelos hídricos urbanos mediante indicadores de internalización y externalización energética
  
  Author: PESQUERA HERREJÓN, VÍCTOR JOSÉ
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
  Department: Department of Architectural Technology (TA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 15/10/2026
  Thesis director: CUCHÍ BURGOS, ALBERTO
  Thesis abstract: This doctoral thesis presents the development of a calculation methodology for the comparative evaluation of urban water management models at the municipal scale. The overall approach is based on the use of energy internalization and externalization indicators, as well as the relationships between these indicators when comparing different water management models within the same system.The methodology consists of collecting data on water flows and energy consumption for a given system, processing the data, and performing simulations using spreadsheet models to comparatively assess different management strategies.The results confirm what might be intuitively expected: the lower the degree of internalization of water management costs, the greater the externalization of costs -albeit indirect ones- to the environment. The proposed methodology therefore enables these indicators to be used to compare alternative water management models within a system and to identify not only the option with the lowest energy intensity, but also the one with the lowest environmental impact.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN AUTOMATIC CONTROL, ROBOTICS AND VISION

• PEÑA CAMPOS, JOHAN SEBASTIAN: Interpretable Decision Support Systems for Early Cancer Diagnosis and Personalized Treatment
  
  Author: PEÑA CAMPOS, JOHAN SEBASTIAN
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN AUTOMATIC CONTROL, ROBOTICS AND VISION
  Department: Department of Automatic Control (ESAII)
  Mode: Change of supervisor
  Deposit date: 22/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 06/10/2026
  Thesis director: OCAMPO MARTINEZ, CARLOS AUGUSTO | PATIÑO GUEVARA, DIEGO ALEJANDRO
  Thesis abstract: Cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide, with gastric and metastatic prostate cancer imposing substantial burdens, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This thesis develops interpretable Decision Support Systems (DSS) for two phases of cancer care: early diagnosis and personalized treatment optimization.The first stage targets early diagnosis of gastric cancer using routinely collected data from the Colombian health system (SGSSS). A deep learning architecture combines bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks and multi-head attention to process sequences of diagnostic codes and procedures from over 4.9 million patient trajectories, with Spanish biomedical embeddings, intelligent undersampling and Focal Loss addressing the extreme class imbalance (5103:1). It is then reformulated as a more parsimonious 2D convolutional network (CNN-2D) with demographic features, adopted as the final model for its interpretability, parsimony (~176k vs ~4.5M parameters) and competitive performance (AUC-ROC ≈ 0.835). The Nonlinear Oblique Subspace Projections (NObSP) methodology is extended to dynamic systems to interpret the model, decomposing predictions into clinically meaningful components (reconstruction error below 5%) and separating genuine clinical signal, an enriched upper-gastrointestinal pattern and a coherent age threshold, from geographic and utilization confounds.The second stage addresses personalized treatment for metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) by integrating Evolutionary Game Theory (EGT) and Model Predictive Control (MPC). Lotka-Volterra competition models capture frequency-dependent selection among phenotypically distinct cell populations under therapy, and MPC optimizes adaptive schedules balancing tumor burden, resistance, toxicity and parsimony. For single-agent Abiraterone, it extends the median Time to Progression (TTP) from 275 days under continuous Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD) to 420 days, roughly a 50% improvement over continuous MTD, while using about one fifth of its cumulative drug dose, and it outperforms statically optimized schedules (344 and 340 days). Dual-agent formulations coordinating Abiraterone and Docetaxel delay resistant-population dominance beyond 8,000 days, about 50% longer than the best adaptive-therapy baseline of West et al., while a blocking strategy cuts computation by over 98% versus recomputing at every step.The framework is further extended by introducing replicator dynamics, the canonical equation of EGT, as an alternative prediction model, deliberately creating a structural mismatch with the Lotka-Volterra plant while keeping the controller, objective and decision criteria unchanged. The replicator-based controller yields smoother single-agent dosing with equivalent clinical outcomes, and a minimal intervention, an 81% reduction in cumulative exposure relative to the matched Lotka-Volterra controller, suffices for sustained tumor control over the full simulation horizon in the dual-agent case, with 94% less computation than that controller. This gain follows from the modeling choice, not a different control law.Both stages treat interpretability as a core design requirement, operate within resource-constrained settings and establish validation frameworks that open pathways toward clinical evaluation, showing how mathematical and computational methods can be applied systematically across cancer care to improve patient outcomes.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOINFORMATICS

• LLANO VILES, JOSHUA: Computational Methods for Pediatric Tumor Classification Using DNA Methylation Data
  
  Author: LLANO VILES, JOSHUA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOINFORMATICS
  Department: School of Mathematics and Statistics (FME)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 19/10/2026
  Thesis director: PERERA LLUNA, ALEXANDRE | GÓMEZ GONZÁLEZ, SOLEDAD
  Thesis abstract: DNA methylation-based molecular classification has transformed the study of pediatric tumors by enabling the identification of entities with distinct biological, clinical, and prognostic characteristics. However, its integration into clinical practice remains limited by its reliance on high-throughput technologies, specialized infrastructure, and bioinformatics expertise that are not available at all centers. This thesis presents research with a strong translational focus aimed at bridging the gap between the discovery of epigenetic biomarkers and their practical application in the molecular classification of pediatric tumors.First, EpiGe was developed as a quantitative PCR-based methyl-genotyping methodology for analyzing a reduced biomarker panel and classifying the principal molecular groups of medulloblastoma. The strategy combines bisulfite treatment of DNA, determination of the methylation status of individual CpG sites, and machine-learning models that convert experimental results into an interpretable molecular classification. The use of widely available technologies facilitates the translation of signatures identified through genome-wide methylation studies into targeted procedures that are more accessible and potentially applicable in clinical laboratories.The methodology was subsequently translated into EpiGe-App, a web service that automates data validation and preprocessing, methylation-status prediction, molecular-group assignment, and report generation. This tool reduces the need for programming and bioinformatics expertise, standardizes the interpretation of results, and makes the classifier accessible to professionals and centers with diverse technical capabilities.Building on this experience, PECO was developed as a modular and extensible platform for integrating epigenetic classifiers, analytical technologies, and heterogeneous processing workflows. The platform combines sample management, method-specific processing, predictive-model execution, result presentation, and analytical traceability. Its architecture provides reusable infrastructure for transferring new biomarkers and classifiers from research into application settings while preserving the specific validation, quality-control, and interpretation requirements of each methodology.Finally, the framework was extended to ependymoma through the identification of reduced CpG panels and the development of a probabilistic hierarchical classifier. This model integrates anatomical and molecular information, preserves uncertainty across the different classification stages, and demonstrates that a limited set of biomarkers can capture relevant patterns for distinguishing the principal disease subtypes. This extension confirms the transferability of the approach beyond medulloblastoma and provides a foundation for the future development of targeted assays applicable to other tumor entities.Overall, this thesis proposes a translational framework connecting epigenomic discovery, biomarker selection, experimental development, predictive modeling, and software implementation. The combination of reduced methylation panels, accessible technologies, machine learning, and web-based platforms contributes to bringing the molecular classification of pediatric tumors closer to clinical practice and to settings with varying levels of resources. Its consolidation will require continued progress in validation and in adapting the developed methodologies and tools to the needs of their intended application settings.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

• CASTELLS DELGADO, ANTONI: Rhythmic Emotional Stimulation and Heart Rate Variability: Exploring the Limits of Visual and Acoustic Modulation of Stress
  
  Author: CASTELLS DELGADO, ANTONI
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Electronic Engineering (EEL)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 30/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 14/10/2026
  Thesis director: GARCIA GONZALEZ, MIQUEL ANGEL | FERNANDEZ CHIMENO, MIREYA
  Thesis abstract: This study investigates the effects of Rhythmic Visual Emotional Stimulation (RVES) and Rhythmic Acoustic Emotional Stimulation (RAES) on Heart Rate Variability (HRV), specifically analyzing SDNN, RMSSD, and IBI as key physiological indicators of autonomic function. HRV is a well-established biomarker of stress and autonomic regulation, and previous research has demonstrated that rhythmic external stimuli presented at the resonant frequency of the arterial baroreflex (0.1 Hz) can enhance HRV. RVES, originally developed by Vaschillo et al. (2008), utilizes emotionally charged visual stimuli to elicit high-amplitude HRV oscillations. This study extends prior research by exploring whether RAES, using emotionally matched acoustic stimuli, can induce comparable effects.Thirty healthy participants (15 males, 15 females) underwent both RVES and RAES protocols, with HRV measured before, during, and after each intervention. The results revealed distinct patterns in autonomic responses to the two modalities. RVES significantly increased SDNN, indicating its effectiveness in enhancing overall HRV variability, with females exhibiting stronger and more sustained HRV responses than males. RMSSD showed an initial increase during RVES but declined post-intervention, particularly in males, suggesting a short-term parasympathetic withdrawal. RAES, in contrast, had a weaker effect on HRV, producing only a modest increase in RMSSD during the intervention with no significant changes in SDNN. Additionally, BMI was found to be a moderating factor, with a significant three-way interaction between stimulation, sex, and BMI (p = 0.023) for IBI in RAES, highlighting individual variability in autonomic responses.These findings suggest that RVES is a more effective tool for autonomic modulation compared to RAES, supporting previous studies on visual rhythmic entrainment of the baroreflex. The weaker effects of RAES indicate that auditory stimuli alone may not be as effective as visual stimuli in eliciting sustained HRV changes. The significant influence of sex and BMI further emphasises the importance of individual differences in autonomic regulation. Future research should explore multimodal integration (visual-auditory rhythmic stimulation), personalised stimulus design, and repeated exposure effects to optimise HRV-based interventions for stress management and autonomic health.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CHEMICAL PROCESS ENGINEERING

• MOGHADAMFAR, TANAZ: Advanced membrane modification strategies to improve the ion selectivity of nanofiltration membranes for developing circular processing of brackish water
  
  Author: MOGHADAMFAR, TANAZ
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CHEMICAL PROCESS ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Chemical Engineering (EQ)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 22/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 06/10/2026
  Thesis director: REIG I AMAT, MÒNICA | DEL VALLE MENDOZA, LUIS JAVIER
  Thesis abstract: Water treatment has become a critical global challenge due to increasing water scarcity while supporting the European Union's transition toward a circular economy and the objectives of the European Green Deal. Besides water reuse, treatment technologies are increasingly expected to recover valuable resources, including critical raw materials such as Mg²⁺, from water and wastewater streams. Membrane technology plays a central role in this transition because of its energy efficiency and high selectivity toward ionic species. Among membrane-based processes, nanofiltration (NF) has emerged as a promising technology for water treatment and selective ion separation. However, conventional NF membranes still suffer from limited ion selectivity, membrane fouling, and insufficient control of ion transport, particularly for challenging separations between monovalent and divalent ions.This thesis focused on the development of advanced NF membranes through surface modification and nanocomposite fabrication strategies to improve ion selectivity, permeability, and stability. The main approach involved layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly using poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)/poly(styrene sulfonate) (PDADMAC/PSS) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride)/poly(styrene sulfonate) (PAH/PSS). The influence of polyelectrolyte type, concentration, and the number of bilayers (1.5–6.5) was systematically investigated on polyamide- and sulfonated polyether sulfone-based NF membranes. A comprehensive characterization using field emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman imaging, ellipsometry, contact angle measurements, and chemometric analysis was performed to establish relationships between membrane chemistry, morphology, multilayer formation, and separation performance.LBL modification significantly enhanced membrane selectivity and transport properties. For polyamide-based membranes, the best performance was obtained at 5.5 bilayers for PDADMAC/PSS and 6.5 bilayers for PAH/PSS, providing improved Na/Ca, Na/Mg, K/Ca, and K/Mg selectivity together with high water permeability. For sulfonated polyether sulfone membranes, lower polyelectrolyte concentrations (0.01 wt.%) produced more compact, homogeneous, and chemically stable multilayers than higher concentrations, demonstrating the importance of precise fabrication conditions.The thesis also explored thin-film composite and ultra-loose NF membranes incorporating metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles. ZIF-8-NH₂ and UiO-66-NH₂ nanoparticles were synthesized and incorporated at different concentrations (0.075 and 0.15 wt.%) into the interlayer and active layer. Membrane performance strongly depended on MOF type, loading, and location within the membrane. A novel configuration combining UiO-66-NH₂ in the interlayer with ZIF-8-NH₂ in the active layer provided the best balance between permeability and ion separation.To summarize, this work demonstrates that LBL surface engineering and MOF incorporation are effective strategies for tailoring NF membrane properties. The modified membranes exhibited enhanced ion selectivity, permeability, and stability compared with commercial membranes while providing new insights into membrane structure–performance relationships. These findings contribute to the development of next-generation NF membranes for sustainable water treatment, hard water softening, and selective recovery of valuable ions, while providing a framework for future membrane design and characterization.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

• FARSHBAF, SIMA: Computational and Data-Driven Design of Additively Manufactured Auxetic Metamaterials for Enhanced Energy Absorption
  
  Author: FARSHBAF, SIMA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
  Department: Barcelona School of Civil Engineering (ETSECCPB)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 29/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 13/10/2026
  Thesis director: DIALAMISHABANKAREH SOLTANI, NARGES | CERVERA RUIZ, LUIS MIGUEL
  Thesis abstract: This doctoral thesis presents a computational-experimental framework for the analysis, design, and optimization of auxetic metamaterials with enhanced energy absorption performance. The proposed methodology combines experimental characterization, nonlinear finite element analysis, additive manufacturing, structural design, and machine learning to enable the efficient development of lightweight metamaterials with tailored mechanical properties.The thesis first investigates the mechanical behavior of conventional and auxetic cellular structures through experimental testing and validated nonlinear finite element simulations. The analyses provide insight into the influence of cellular topology, loading direction, and deformation mechanisms on the mechanical response, demonstrating the superior energy absorption capability of re-entrant auxetic structures over conventional honeycomb architectures.Building on these findings, novel geometrical modifications of the conventional re-entrant unit cell are proposed to enhance its auxetic response and energy absorption capacity while preserving its characteristic deformation mechanisms. The numerical predictions are experimentally validated, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed designs. Compared with the base design, the modifications achieve improvements of up to 1250\% in energy absorption capacity and 860\% in specific energy absorption.To accelerate the design process, a machine learning-based forward and inverse design framework is developed using datasets generated from validated finite element simulations. The proposed methodology enables efficient prediction of nonlinear mechanical responses and inverse identification of unit-cell geometries for both uniform and thickness-graded auxetic structures with prescribed mechanical performance. Furthermore, a physics-guided machine learning framework that combines a layer-wise response decomposition strategy with deep neural networks is developed to substantially reduce the computational cost of dataset generation while enhancing predictive performance. The proposed framework achieves prediction errors below 2.5\%, including in extrapolation scenarios, using only 10 training samples, compared with 2,145 samples required by the conventional deep neural network.Overall, this thesis establishes a framework integrating computational mechanics, experimental validation, structural optimization, and physics-guided machine learning for the efficient design of advanced auxetic metamaterials. The proposed methodologies provide practical tools for developing lightweight structures with tailored mechanical performance and enhanced energy absorption, while providing a methodological basis for extending data-driven design approaches to other metamaterial systems.
  
• REIHANIFAR, MASOUD: Smart Airport Management Systems: Some Advanced Optimization Approaches for Bottleneck Landside Operations
  
  Author: REIHANIFAR, MASOUD
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
  Department: Barcelona School of Civil Engineering (ETSECCPB)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 29/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 13/10/2026
  Thesis director: ROBUSTÉ ANTÓN, FRANCESC
  Thesis abstract: Airport security checkpoints constitute a critical capacity-constrained stage of the landside departure process, where time-varying passenger demand and finite processing capacity interact to produce queue formation, extended waiting times, and risk of missing flights. This dissertation develops and evaluates three complementary analytical and optimization approaches that address this congestion problem across successive dimensions: the physical reconfiguration of the checkpoint and optimization analysis, the temporal distribution of passenger arrivals, and the behavioral uncertainty that conditions the performance of any demand-side control policy.The first study models the security checkpoint at Barcelona El Prat Airport Terminal 1 as a three-node tandem queueing network, representing tray preparation, baggage X-ray screening, and passenger body screening as sequential finite-capacity service stages. A discrete-event simulation, parameterized using morning-peak demand derived from scheduled flight data and an 80% load factor, demonstrates that a geometrical reconfiguration of the existing checkpoint layout, extending tray-preparation capacity from 80 to 160 simultaneous passengers and adding an additional body-screening unit, reduces average total system time from 37.85 to 19.34 minutes, a reduction of approximately 48.9%, without expanding the terminal footprint. A cost-benefit analysis yields a net present value of €576.85 million under base-caseassumptions, 20-years life span and 3% discount rate. The second study formulates passenger time-slot assignment as a minimum-cost network flow problem. Applied to the full-day departure schedule of 260 flights and 49,034 scheduled seats under a 100% load-factor assumption, the optimized policy reduces total assignment cost by approximately 70% relative to the first come first served (FCFS) baseline and eliminates queue accumulation in the nominal case. An extension to time-varying capacity demonstrates that jointly optimizing reassignment and staffing improves resource utilization without generating operationally unrealistic staffing transitions.The third study reformulates the arrival-management problem as a second-order cone program with chance constraints, treating the passenger compliance rate as a normally distributed random variable. Applied to the same schedule with a processing capacity of 800 passengers per 15-minute interval, the chance-constrained policy reduces total waiting time by approximately 85% relative to the uncontrolled baseline, compared with a 65% reduction obtained from the deterministic assignment model. The difference reflects the more dispersed arrival profile produced when compliance uncertainty is explicitly represented.Taken together, the three studies constitute an integrated body of research that addresses the management of critical landside airport operations as a multi-dimensional optimization problem, progressing from physical capacity and layout, through temporal demand redistribution, to robust optimization under behavioral uncertainty. The Transportation System Management framework that unifies them demonstrates that significant improvements in passenger throughput, waiting time, and system reliability can be achieved within existing infrastructure constraints, without recourse to terminal expansion. The analytical methods developed in this dissertation are not restricted to the airport setting and offer a transferable foundation for the study of other capacity-constrained, interdependent service systems in which facility configuration, demand management, and user behavior jointly determine operational performance.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED PHYSICS

• MUKHOPADHYAY, SHRODDHA: Nonlinear optics at the nanoscale: harmonic generation in resonant metasurfaces
  
  Author: MUKHOPADHYAY, SHRODDHA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED PHYSICS
  Department: Department of Physics (FIS)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 30/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 14/10/2026
  Thesis director: COJOCARU, CRINA MARIA | TRULL SILVESTRE, JOSE FRANCISCO
  Thesis abstract: This thesis aims to contribute to two important research areas in photonics: nonlinear optics and nanophotonics (in particular metasurfaces).These interconnected fields underpin the development of next‑generation nonlinear nanophotonic devices. As modern photonic technologies increasingly rely on nanomaterials, their reduced dimensionality gives rise to new physical regimes, and we require refined theoretical tools and experimental strategies to understand and harness the behavior of sub‑wavelength structures. The work integrates concepts from nonlinear optics, condensed‑matter physics, and nanophotonics. While nonlinear optics was historically explored in bulk crystals under phase-matching conditions, recent advances in nanofabrication have shifted the focus toward nanoscale platforms where light–matter interactions are dominated by strong confinement, surface effects, and nonlocal corrections. In this regime, under ultrafast and intense light excitation, traditional bulk descriptions of nonlinear polarization are insufficient, and microscopic models become necessary. The Maxwell-hydrodynamic theoretical framework used throughout this thesis fulfills this need for a unified description. This theoretical foundation is complemented by nonlinear simulations performed using FDTD and FEM numerical methods. Experimentally, the thesis implements table-top optical setups for high-precision measurements of the efficiencies of the nonlinear harmonic generation processes, and their enhancements in the abovementioned material platforms. In this regards, we reach detection deep into the UV, a limit of far field optical measurements, as well as report two and three orders of magnitude enhancements in the harmonics generated, direct implications of resonant light localization in investigated metasurfaces.Within this framework, this thesis examines harmonic generation in two representative classes of nanomaterials: ultrathin films of semiconductors and metals, and their corresponding one‑ and two‑dimensional periodic metasurfaces. Although the geometries and fabrication strategies differ across these systems, their nonlinear optical response can be interpreted and validated using our combined experimental-theoretical methodology, which applies seamlessly across the different materials and geometries investigated. This consistent approach across disparate platforms has been a guiding principle of the work, as it enables a systematic understanding of how free and bound electrons, surface contributions, and nonlocal effects jointly shape nonlinear emission at the nanoscale.A major component of the work is the study of resonant metasurfaces in plasmonic, dielectric and hybrid-plasmonic platforms, understanding of the material properties at the nanoscale along with the strong electromagnetic field enhancement to compensate for the reduced interaction volume at the nanoscale. How these resonances arise, how they hybridize, and how they shape nonlinear emission has been central to the progression of this work. The interplay between material dispersion, geometry, and electromagnetic coupling has revealed a rich landscape of phenomena that bridge classical and emerging regimes of nanophotonics. By unifying nonlinear optical theory with nanoscale material physics, this work provides a foundation for the design and optimization of nonlinear metasurfaces, compact frequency converters, and emerging quantum photonic platforms. The results demonstrate that ultrathin films and nonlinear metasurfaces are not simply miniaturized versions of bulk materials, but fundamentally distinct systems governed by additional physical mechanisms that dominate at nanometric scales. By integrating theory, simulation, and experiment, this work provides both conceptual clarity and practical methodologies for understanding and engineering nonlinear processes in next‑generation nanophotonic devices.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTING

• JAVADIHA, MOHAMMADREZA: Virtual Padel Coaching through Player Motion Analysis: Study and Exploitation of Player Data
  
  Author: JAVADIHA, MOHAMMADREZA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTING
  Department: Department of Computer Science (CS)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 15/10/2026
  Thesis director: ANDUJAR GRAN, CARLOS ANTONIO
  Thesis abstract: This thesis introduces a framework for the capture, analysis, and visualization of padel matches through computer vision, machine learning, and interactive visualization tools. Padel is a rapidly growing racquet sport that has gained significant popularity in recent years. Unlike similar sports such as tennis and badminton, padel matches have unique characteristics, such as being played in doubles, taking place within glass-enclosed courts, and featuring structural elements that pose challenges for computer vision tasks. Advancements in sensor technologies have enabled the analysis of sports videos, whether live-streamed or pre-recorded, at both professional and amateur levels. The primary objective is often to evaluate player and team performance, encompassing individual movements, synchronized team dynamics, and specific actions such as ball hits and tactical strategies. Given the widespread availability and cost-effectiveness of camera sensors, this thesis relies on visual data and computer vision techniques to analyze padel matches.First, we present PadelVic, a new public multimodal dataset containing synchronized multi-view video recordings and motion-capture data of an amateur padel match to support supervised and unsupervised methods for player localization, pose estimation, and ball tracking. We propose and evaluate various computer vision methods to identify players on the court, applying pose estimation techniques to extract skeletal data and determine player positions from camera views. For this evaluation, we used a varied, manually-annotated collection of videos from professional matches, captured under indoor and outdoor conditions. Building on these findings, we develop robust tracking algorithms for the players and the ball, combining bounding-box IoU matching and improved pipelines for 3D ball estimation. We also use tracking data from professional padel to train Reinforcement Learning and Imitation Learning agents, enabling data-driven simulations of player behavior under real and hypothetical game conditions. To facilitate advanced match analysis, we design a domain-specific query language that allows users to extract frame, shot, or point-level information from padel matches. We propose a suite of visual analytics tools for exploring spatiotemporal patterns in player movement, shot distributions, tactical situations, and team behaviors. We further introduce pose-aware visualizations and state-transition representations that enhance tactical understanding through intuitive diagrams. These visualizations include frame-level representations, such as heatmaps, and event-based sequences, such as State Transition Graphs and Sankey diagrams. Finally, we introduce a VR-based padel coaching application that immerses users in simulated game situations, evaluates their tactical decisions, and compares them against expert data.
  
• PONS RECASENS, GERARD: Evolving Knowledge Graphs: Continuous Knowledge Acquisition, Adaptation, and Exploitation
  
  Author: PONS RECASENS, GERARD
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTING
  Department: Department of Computer Science (CS)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 16/10/2026
  Thesis director: QUERALT CALAFAT, ANNA | BILALLI, BESIM
  Thesis abstract: Modern systems continuously generate vast amounts of heterogeneous data. While this data contains valuable information, its full potential remains difficult to realize when it is treated as a collection of isolated observations lacking meaning and context. Unlocking its full value therefore requires enriching data with explicit semantics that capture concepts, relationships, and contextual information, transforming isolated observations into structured knowledge. This thesis argues that such semantic enrichment constitutes a fundamental step towards building more effective intelligent systems. In this context, Knowledge Graphs (KGs) provide a natural framework for representing and organizing this knowledge, while Knowledge Graph Embeddings (KGEs) transform it into latent representations that can be flexibly exploited by modern Machine Learning methods to address evolving analytical needs.As knowledge is not static, realizing this vision requires addressing challenges that span its entire life cycle. First, data originating from heterogeneous and unstructured sources must be incorporated into a continuously evolving knowledge structure, where it is enriched with semantics. Second, as this knowledge structure evolves, its latent representations must be continuously updated while preserving previously acquired knowledge. Finally, the evolving knowledge structure and its learned representations must be effectively exploited to support adaptive behavior in intelligent systems.This thesis addresses these challenges through the framework of evolving KGs. For knowledge acquisition from unstructured sources, it focuses on textual information and proposes a schema-aware entity disambiguation method that combines Large Language Models (LLMs) with the hierarchical structure of KGs, improving adaptability across domains without requiring model retraining. To maintain latent representations over time, it investigates the continual adaptation of KGEs. Within this scope, it identifies a previously overlooked phenomenon that contributes to the degradation of previously acquired knowledge and proposes an adjusted evaluation protocol to accurately capture its effects. Additionally, it introduces an initialization strategy for newly added embeddings that enhances knowledge acquisition while mitigating this performance degradation. Finally, for knowledge exploitation, it demonstrates how continuously evolving KGs and their learned representations can support adaptive recommendation and intent-aware assistance in experiment-driven data analytics environments. Together, these advancements contribute towards enabling evolving KGs to continuously acquire, adapt, and exploit knowledge.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING

• ALAHMAD, AHMAD: Joint State and Parameter Estimation for Structural System Identification: A Unified Statistical Framework across Static and Modal Data
  
  Author: ALAHMAD, AHMAD
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 29/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 13/10/2026
  Thesis director: TURMO CODERQUE, JOSE | MINGUEZ SOLANA, ROBERTO
  Thesis abstract: Assessing the condition of aging civil infrastructure rests on Structural System Identification (SSI): recovering physical parameters such as element stiffnesses and boundary conditions by reconciling a numerical model with measured responses. Every ingredient of this inverse problem is uncertain: measurements carry noise, loads and supports are imperfectly known, and the model idealizes the real structure. A trustworthy result must therefore do more than return a point estimate, yet least-squares estimation, sensitivity analysis, probabilistic uncertainty treatment, and observability theory have largely been pursued separately in structural identification rather than wired into a single estimator.The power systems community faced this challenge earlier. Since Static State Estimation (SSE) was formulated in the 1970s, it has built around the weighted least-squares (WLS) estimator an integrated statistical apparatus refined over more than five decades of operational use: pre-estimation observability analysis, covariance-based uncertainty quantification, bad-data detection through the largest normalized residual, and χ² testing of model adequacy. This thesis adapts that apparatus to structural identification and extends it from state-only to joint state and parameter estimation, with observability as a pre-estimation guard and the residual diagnostics as post-estimation guards, in a single WLS interface accepting static and operational-modal measurements.The methodology comprises five developments, validated in two experimental campaigns. A Jacobian-based observability criterion fixes parameter identifiability from the rank of the measurement Jacobian, replacing recursive symbolic methods at a fraction of their cost. The estimator is then equipped, for the first time in SSI to the author's knowledge, with covariance-based confidence intervals, χ² model-adequacy testing, and normalized-residual bad-data detection. Model-form error is treated directly: unknown loads and boundary conditions become estimable variables, removing the systematic bias they would induce, while principal-component analysis of the residuals localizes what remains. A resolution-matrix conservation diagnostic certifies in advance which property groups admit reliable integrated-stiffness recovery. Finally, static and modal residuals combined over a shared parameter vector localize a stiffness change as accurately as either modality alone, while an additive Fisher-information decomposition breaks the mass-stiffness degeneracy modal data cannot resolve in isolation.The framework is validated on a common laboratory specimen instrumented with low-cost MEMS sensors. A static campaign under an automated multi-load-case protocol confirms that the χ²-calibrated noise model transfers unchanged to an independent test, that sparse rotation measurements under diverse loading resolve a spatially detailed stiffness profile, and that the conservation integral recovers a reinforced section's stiffness to within a fraction of a percent of theory. A second campaign re-instruments the same specimen for output-only modal testing; with only the modal residual rows added, the same solver and diagnostics recover the same reinforcement, and the static and modal estimates agree with the theoretical reference to within about two percentage points. It also maps a limit of the self-diagnosis: an unmodeled support compliance, nearly collinear with the boundary stiffness, biases the boundary parameters without a signature in the diagnostics, surfacing only when the supports are modeled explicitly.
  
• BASAR, IMREN: Sustainable Repair Mortars for Historic Masonry: Design, Characterization and Performance Assessment of Natural and Recycled Materials
  
  Author: BASAR, IMREN
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 29/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 13/10/2026
  Thesis director: FERNANDEZ CARRASCO, LUCIA | TORRENS MARTÍN, DAVID
  Thesis abstract: This thesis presents a comparative and conservation-oriented investigation of lime-based mortars employed in architectural heritage, with particular emphasis on material compatibility, durability, and long-term performance. Historical mortars sampled from two representative sites in Catalonia: the Roman archaeological site of Altafulla and the Edifici de l’Hivernacle in Barcelona, were studied alongside commercial restoration mortars and laboratory-designed lime-based formulations in order to evaluate technological choices, performance limits, and conservation suitability.A comprehensive multi-analytical methodology was adopted, integrating mineralogical, granulometric, mechanical, physical, and visual characterization techniques. This approach enabled the assessment of binder–aggregate relationships, microstructural features, mechanical response, and aesthetic behaviour, with special attention to parameters relevant to heritage conservation practice. The characterization of historical mortars revealed distinct technological strategies in raw material selection, aggregate grading, and binder composition, closely linked to the functional requirements and environmental exposure conditions of each site.Comparative analysis demonstrated that standardized commercial repair mortars, despite exhibiting higher mechanical strength, do not necessarily ensure improved compatibility with historic masonry substrates. In contrast, laboratory-prepared lime mortars, particularly CL90 air-lime-based systems, showed greater adaptability in balancing mechanical performance and deformability when curing conditions and environmental exposure were carefully controlled.Durability-related conditioning tests highlighted the critical influence of carbonation regime, moisture interaction, salt presence, and thermal cycling on mortar behaviour over time, underscoring the necessity of long-term evaluation beyond early-age mechanical performance. In situ qualitative observations conducted at the Monestir de Sant Joan les Fonts further confirmed satisfactory workability, adhesion, and visual integration of both reference and PDMS-modified lime mortars during the initial post-application period.Taken together, the results support an integrated and context-sensitive approach to the design and assessment of compatible lime-based repair mortars, providing experimental evidence that emphasizes the importance of aesthetic or integration considerations, material compatibility, durability, and environmental interaction in the conservation of architectural heritage.Keywords: Lime-based mortars, heritage conservation, material compatibility, durability, long-term performance, carbonation, CL90 air lime, repair mortars, microstructure, environmental exposure, thermal cycling, salt interaction, aesthetic considerations, architectural heritage. 
  
• NORIEGA BARRUETO, RENZO: Degradación de elementos de hormigón bajo el efecto de cargas cíclicas y de corrosión
  
  Author: NORIEGA BARRUETO, RENZO
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 22/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 06/10/2026
  Thesis director: BAIRÁN GARCÍA, JESÚS MIGUEL | DUARTE GÓMEZ, NOEMÍ
  Thesis abstract: Existing reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete structures are subjected to deterioration processes that can significantly modify their load-bearing capacity and stiffness over time. Among the most relevant mechanisms are cyclic loading associated with earthquakes and corrosion processes affecting the reinforcement, whose interaction can compromise structural performance, especially under near-collapse conditions.The present thesis aims to analyze the degradation of reinforced and prestressed concrete elements subjected to cyclic loading and corrosion, combining theoretical, experimental, and numerical approaches. Regarding cyclic loading, a methodology is proposed for generating loading protocols representative of short- and long-duration earthquakes, based on incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) up to collapse. These protocols are subsequently validated through an experimental campaign on reinforced concrete columns, allowing the influence of the number of cycles, their amplitude, and the duration of the seismic event on stiffness and strength degradation to be analyzed.In parallel, an experimental program is developed focused on the study of corrosion in prestressing strands. Tensile tests are performed on naturally corroded strands, allowing simplified models to be proposed to estimate the loss of strength and ultimate deformation as a function of the corrosion level. Furthermore, bond degradation is studied through pull-out tests, both monotonic and cyclic, on specimens with induced corrosion, analyzing the effect of prior concrete damage and the associated failure mechanisms.Based on the experimental results, degradation models are implemented in numerical analyses, evaluating their ability to reproduce the structural response at both element and system levels. As a case study, a bridge structure with prestressed beams and reinforced concrete columns is analyzed, considering different levels of corrosion and static and dynamic loading conditions.The obtained results show that degradation due to cyclic loading is primarily governed by the amplitude and number of inelastic cycles, with long-duration earthquakes inducing higher damage levels due to the accumulation of hysteretic energy. On the other hand, corrosion produces significant reductions in load-bearing capacity, potentially generating brittle failure mechanisms, especially in prestressed elements. At system level, it is observed that stress redistribution can partially mitigate localized degradation, although it increases global sensitivity to progressive deterioration.Overall, the research highlights the need to explicitly consider both cyclic loading history and corrosion level in structural performance assessment and in the estimation of residual capacity, providing experimental and analytical tools that contribute to a better understanding of degradation mechanisms in concrete structures.
  
• VERGÉS EIRAS, ROGER: Artificial Intelligence for Circular and Sustainable Product Decision-Support in Construction
  
  Author: VERGÉS EIRAS, ROGER
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 16/10/2026
  Thesis director: FORCADA MATHEU, NURIA | GASPAR FÀBREGAS, KÀTIA
  Thesis abstract: Construction's environmental footprint and the regulatory targets now set to reduce it have made the sector's transition toward sustainability and circularity an urgent priority. Decisions about which products and materials to specify, made while a building is still only partially defined, carry the most significant influence over its material and environmental trajectory. Yet, the tools developed to support such decisions, life cycle assessment chief among them, presuppose levels of data completeness that early design is structurally unable to provide. This gap is often bridged by cost and availability alone; if sustainability is considered at all, product selection typically involves expert judgement applied on a case-by-case basis, a response that scales poorly and leaves little traceable reasoning behind. This mismatch between decision-making conditions and tool assumptions defines the problem this thesis addresses.This thesis develops an integrated, end-to-end pipeline that pursues four objectives in sequence, realised through five interconnected contributions reported as journal articles: a product-level decision framework establishing the indicators, product information model, and relative evaluation logic against which construction products are compared under early-design uncertainty; a large-scale empirical characterisation of how environmental and circularity information is reported across construction product declarations, together with strategies for handling heterogeneous, inconsistent, and missing data; a human-in-the-loop screening agent that filters candidates against regulatory and project-specific requirements; an inference model that estimates product-relevant attributes where declared data is absent; and a context-adaptive recommender model that completes the available evidence and adapts to the stakeholder priorities and application requirements of each decision context.The pipeline establishes several findings that extend beyond the individual contributions. Relative comparison, applied consistently across environmental, circularity, economic, and performance dimensions, emerges as the evaluation logic early design can sustain: it depends only on the evidence assembled across alternatives being consistent, so a partial or uneven data landscape does not invalidate the comparison the way it would an absolute method such as life cycle assessment. Incomplete product data is treated as an expected feature of early design, characterised empirically, partially resolved through inference, and carried forward as a legible signal in the output, so the comparison remains trustworthy when product choices are still open. The resulting recommendation system is relational and learned directly from data, adapting to each decision context. Validation with concrete as case-study product category demonstrates that extraction quality, compliance outcomes, and inferred attributes propagate coherently through to the final recommendation, a property none of the five contributions could establish in isolation.For designers and procurement teams, the implication is that environmental and circularity performance become specification criteria from the outset, before cost and availability alone have narrowed the field, because product data has been structured into a standardised, machine-readable form. When multiplied across the volume of decisions the sector makes, that shift turns individual product choices into measurable progress on both fronts, without cost or availability having to give ground.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

• ALI, SALMAN: ANALYSIS OF THE INTEGRATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS IN SERIES-CASCADED MICROGRIDS
  
  Author: ALI, SALMAN
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Electrical Engineering (DEE)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 29/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 13/10/2026
  Thesis director: BOGARRA RODRIGUEZ, SANTIAGO | CORCOLES LOPEZ, FELIPE
  Thesis abstract: The increasing integration of renewable energy sources has transformed power distribution networks into decentralized energy systems. Distributed generation (DG) sources, including solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, fuel cells, hydropower, and other renewable resources, enable localized power generation and reduce dependence on centralized infrastructure. Microgrids (MGs) have emerged as a solution for integrating DG units. MG structures are widely adopted due to their control and protection characteristics. However, the low-voltage output of DG sources requires boost conversion stages, increasing system complexity and losses. Consequently, series-cascaded microgrids (SCMGs) have attracted attention.Despite their advantages, SCMGs face challenges in power sharing, voltage regulation, and integration of non-dispatchable DG (ND-DG) sources. Existing power routing controls generally assume ideal DC sources, limiting their applicability under renewable intermittency. Conventional approaches such as fundamental voltage reconstruction and third-harmonic voltage injection exhibit limited power sharing capability, constrained DC-link voltage margins, overmodulation risks, and degraded dynamic performance. To address these limitations, this thesis investigates an SCMG topology integrating ND-DG units and battery storage systems. A multi-power-carriers based control strategy incorporates third-harmonic current injection alongside fundamental component to enable inter-module power routing under reduced or zero ND-DG output. The proposed approach maintains desired multilevel output voltage while satisfying voltage and modulation constraints. In addition, proportional DC-side power utilization coordinates battery charging and discharging, supporting voltage stability and power sharing. Although the proposed methodology extends the power routing range, injected third-harmonic current appears in the grid current, affecting grid compatibility.To overcome this limitation, the SCMG architecture is extended to a delta-connected configuration. In this topology, third-harmonic current circulates within cascaded clusters, enabling inter-module power routing without propagating harmonics to the grid. Zero-sequence current injection is employed for inter-cluster power routing and symmetrical three-phase currents. The proposed framework determines optimal third-harmonic current, third-harmonic voltage, and zero-sequence injection, together with proportional DC-side power utilization control. Under adverse operating conditions, the fundamental component governs grid-compliant power exchange, the third-harmonic component enhances inter-module power redistribution, and the zero-sequence component ensures inter-cluster balancing.The proposed methodology is validated through MATLAB/Simulink simulations, hardware-in-the-loop experiments, and a laboratory-scale prototype. The results confirm stable multilevel voltage generation, effective DC-link stabilization, and robust inter-module and inter-cluster power routing. Overall, this thesis advances the state-of-the-art in SCMGs by introducing a scalable control framework that enables reliable operation under realistic microgrid conditions and supports renewable energy and energy storage integration in future smart power systems.
  
• CABRERA REDONDO, ÓSCAR: From Optimisation to Artificial Intelligence Solutions for Modern Power Systems
  
  Author: CABRERA REDONDO, ÓSCAR
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Electrical Engineering (DEE)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 30/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 14/10/2026
  Thesis director: ARAGÜÉS PEÑALBA, MÒNICA
  Thesis abstract: Modern power systems are being transformed by decarbonisation, renewable generation, distributed energy resources, electrification, digitalisation, and the participation of new agents. These changes increase operational complexity and require faster, adaptive, and distributed decision-making tools. In this context, optimisation provides the structure to enforce physical and operational constraints, while artificial intelligence contributes prediction, approximation, adaptation, and privacy-preserving learning capabilities.This thesis investigates the transition from optimisation-based formulations towards artificial-intelligence-assisted solutions for modern power systems through three contributions at grid, community, and user levels. At the grid level, a physics-informed graph-based Lagrangian neural network is proposed for direct current optimal power flow approximation. By combining a graph neural network with an augmented Lagrangian loss, the model improves physical consistency under limited training. The approach is evaluated on benchmark electrical networks from 3 to 118 buses, including normal and stressed variants. Under normal conditions, the mean equality-constraint residual is reduced from 0.0219 p.u. to 0.0137 p.u., corresponding to a 37.44% improvement over a purely data-driven graph neural network, while achieving average speed-ups of 94 and 15 times over a widely used nonlinear optimisation solver under normal and extreme conditions, respectively.At the community level, the thesis analyses the smart operation of local energy communities under organisational and operational constraints. The results show that collective self-consumption can create substantial aggregate value, but that user composition and allocation rules strongly influence benefit distribution. In the evaluated case studies, configurations with 50% of users owning private photovoltaic generation reach the highest average total savings, 97.42€, while surplus reallocation increases total savings by up to 45.14€. However, fairness-aware mechanisms remain necessary to reduce negative individual outcomes.At the user level, the thesis proposes personalised federated learning strategies for household electricity demand forecasting. The proposed model-based clustering approaches improve personalisation without centralising private smart meter data. Compared with conventional federated learning, FedEC and FedKM reduce the mean squared error by 0.27% and 0.67%, respectively, with FedKM achieving the lowest aggregate error among the personalised methods considered.Overall, this thesis shows that optimisation and artificial intelligence are complementary components of modern power systems. Their responsible integration requires methods that are accurate, efficient, physics-aware, regulation-aware, and user-centred.
  
• CAPRARA, ADRIANO: Demand-Side Flexibility Algorithms for Industrial Loads and Data Centers
  
  Author: CAPRARA, ADRIANO
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Electrical Engineering (DEE)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 30/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 14/10/2026
  Thesis director: ARAGÜÉS PEÑALBA, MÒNICA | BULLICH MASSAGUÉ, EDUARD
  Thesis abstract: The decarbonisation of electricity systems, the disruption of fossil-fuel supply chains, and the rapid growth of new digital loads such as artificial-intelligence data centres are together making generation-led flexibility insufficient. Meeting the energy transition is increasingly an operational problem: the power system needs resources that can adjust their consumption in response to market and system signals. This thesis studies demandside flexibility from two families of large consumers —energy-intensive industrial loads and data centres— and argues that their latent flexibility becomes useful only when it is converted, through the explicit modelling of operational and market constraints, into actions that can be scheduled, activated, and valued. The thesis develops this conversion idea through a set of algorithms. For industrial loads, it introduces a day-ahead flexibility service in which a balance responsible party combines electricity-price forecasting with the optimal activation of alternative, production-preserving consumption schedules, lowering procurement costs without curtailing output. This approach is then extended to a cooperative cluster of industrial sites that share on-site renewable generation and storage, coordinating their schedules, fairly distributing the resulting benefit, and assessing how much of their residual flexibility is genuinely admissible in balancing markets. For data centres, it uses the observed latency of computational tasks to identify deferrable workloads and to activate them under realistic market conditions while preserving quality of service. Across all cases, deliverable flexibility proves smaller than its theoretical potential, aggregation is essential to reach market thresholds, and value concentrates in the moments of greatest system stress. The thesis thus provides methods and evidence for turning the demand-side flexibility we already have into a dependable contribution to the energy transition.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

• VAQUERO GALLARDO, NOELIA: Contribution to Advanced Electrical Sensing and Predictive Control for Enhanced Safety in Cryolipolysis Applications
  
  Author: VAQUERO GALLARDO, NOELIA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Electronic Engineering (EEL)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 15/10/2026
  Thesis director: MARTINEZ GARCIA, HERMINIO | MILLÁN BLASCO, OLIVER
  Thesis abstract: Active medical devices based on energy application, such as radiofrequency, cryotherapy, or electrosurgery, are widely used due to their therapeutic effectiveness in non-invasive treatments. However, one of their main side effects is the occurrence of thermal injuries and skin burns, associated with inadequate energy delivery or insufficient monitoring of tissue status. In clinical practice, many of these devices do not integrate advanced sensing and control techniques, operating with fixed parameters regardless of patient-specific characteristics, which leads to significant variability in therapeutic outcomes. Therefore, monitoring mechanisms are required to assess tissue status and dynamically adjust treatment parameters, ensuring both efficacy and safety.This Ph.D. Thesis addresses this challenge through a multidisciplinary approach based on fractional electrical modeling, early detection of tissue freezing, and adaptive process control derived from the electrical and dielectric variations of biological tissues. First, a modeling framework based on fractional-order systems is established to describe the electrical behaviour of technical coatings and biological tissues. Using Cole-family models fitted to experimental impedance data, it is demonstrated that fractional models accurately reproduce the complex electrical response while using a reduced number of parameters, thereby simplifying instrumentation and facilitating the miniaturization of embedded systems. Building on this framework, the use of bioimpedance and capacitance is explored as tools for the early detection of tissue freezing, providing alternatives to methods based solely on temperature. Bioimpedance enables freezing detection by measuring the increase in resistance and the decrease in conductance that occur when water within the tissue turns into ice, whereas capacitance reflects the reduction in dielectric constant associated with ice crystal formation, thereby identifying early changes in water structure. Finally, a predictive model based on Random Forest is developed, integrating bioimpedance, capacitance, and temperature signals to anticipate freezing events.The results of this Ph.D. Thesis show that predictive detection occurs, on average, 16 seconds earlier than capacitive detection and 63 seconds earlier than temperature–bioimpedance-based detection. This model enables the implementation of a real-time adaptive control strategy over the cooling system, reinforcing operational safety. In summary, this Ph.D. Thesis demonstrates that the electrical properties of tissues allow freezing events to be identified before conventional temperature indicators, establishing a clinically relevant framework for intelligent, non-invasive cryotherapy devices that improve efficacy, safety, and regulatory compliance.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ENGINEERING, SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

• FREIXANET DE LA IGLESIA, MARIA JOSEP: Teaching statistics through environmental inquiries: the problematisation process
  
  Author: FREIXANET DE LA IGLESIA, MARIA JOSEP
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ENGINEERING, SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION
  Department: Institute of Education Sciences (ICE)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 29/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 13/10/2026
  Thesis director: ALSINA AUBACH, MONTSERRAT | BOSCH CASABÒ, MARIANNA
  Thesis abstract: Against the background of the growing role of data and of socially relevant, real-world problems in statistics education, this doctoral thesis investigates the teaching and learning of statistics through inquiry-based instructional formats at the secondary and university levels, with a specific focus on the problematisation process: the transition from a broad, vague generating question to precise statistical investigative questions and, from these, to the design of data collection. The research is framed within the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic (ATD) and the proposal of study and research paths (SRPs) to facilitate the change of educational paradigm, from visiting works to questioning the world.The thesis is articulated through three studies. The first analyses the shift from traditional Project-Based Learning (PBL) to the SRPs proposal and its consequences in the reorganisation of the responsibilities (topogenesis) of teachers and students, while also examining its effects on students' perceptions and engagement. The second study addresses the problem of the teacher management of the problematisation process at the secondary school level, distinguishing the passage from the generating question to the investigative question and the passage from the investigative question to the data-collection instrument. The third study moves to the tertiary level, where it examines how the problematisation process unfolds with real-world sustainability data, differentiating two ways of starting the inquiry: when data are provided or when data needs to be found to answer a question. It also identifies the teaching practices and instructional devices that teachers mobilise to sustain the inquiry.The studies draw on five empirical implementations organised around environmental and sustainability themes. Three were carried out at the secondary level — an initial project-based activity on noise pollution, a first SRP on waste separation, and a collaborative cross-year SRP on air pollution — while two took place within a first-year statistics course for engineering students, addressing water and the building's electricity consumption using real institutional datasets.Across educational levels, the results converge in showing that problematisation is a teachable but non-spontaneous competence that must be explicitly designed and engineered, and that the shift of responsibility from teacher to students depends on enabling conditions such as a legitimising external organisation, a deliberately insufficient initial milieu, structured moments for classifying and refining questions, and the progressive enrichment of the milieu. It also identifies constraints mostly originated by the persistence of the paradigm of visiting works and the lack of adequate pedagogical and didactic infrastructures to sustain the management of inquiry processes. A central, transversal finding is an initial characterisation of teaching praxeologies that help manage different types of problematisation processes and, beyond them, the inquiry dialectics, paying particular attention to the shift of responsibilities between teachers and students. In doing so, the thesis offers a concrete didactic account, within the ATD, of how the responsibility for posing and refining statistically studiable questions can be transferred to students, contributing to current efforts to connect statistics learning with authentic, socially and environmentally relevant inquiry and with the development of students' civic awareness.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

• GUO, TIAN: Reducing the uncertainty on subsurface heterogeneity from microseismicity and geodetic data
  
  Author: GUO, TIAN
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 16/10/2026
  Thesis director: VILARRASA RIAÑO, VÍCTOR | WU, HAIQING
  Thesis abstract: Ensuring geological CO₂ storage (GCS) at scale requires more than just the availability of pore space. Thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, and chemical interactions during and after CO₂ injection pose challenges due to limited access to the subsurface. Reducing subsurface uncertainty is one of the most critical challenges for the safe deployment of GCS. This thesis aims to reduce this uncertainty by linking ground deformation and induced microseismicity with data-driven inversion, stress analysis, and numerical hydromechanical modeling. Specifically, this thesis evaluates (1) how ground deformation can be predicted and used to infer subsurface and fault properties, (2) how microseismic focal mechanisms can constrain the stress state and fault reactivation, and (3) how coupled simulators can support the long-term interpretation of the hydromechanical responses of Opalinus Clay to the injection of CO₂-rich brine.First, we develop a multi-stage, data-driven workflow to predict ground deformation caused by fluid injection into fault-intersected reservoirs. Synthetic poroelastic solutions are used for training and verified against CODE_BRIGHT simulations. Deep neural networks outperform linear regression and tree-ensemble-based models. Pressure change, shear modulus, and fault geometry are dominant controls on surface displacement, enabling rapid assessment of subsurface conditions. Secondly, we propose a probabilistic inversion framework based on conditional invertible neural networks (cINNs) to estimate subsurface parameters from geodetic data and quantify the non-uniqueness of the characterization. Synthetic tests demonstrate that the reservoir width is well-constrained and the throw-to-thickness ratio is partially constrained, whereas the fault dip is only weakly identifiable due to its subtle surface expression. Application of this framework to the Illinois Basin-Decatur Project (IBDP) reveals an equivalent reservoir width that increases over time, consistent with the lateral migration of the pressurized region.We also constrain the stress state and fault stability at the IBDP by integrating microseismic focal mechanisms with borehole data, vertical stress estimates, and instantaneous shut-in pressure (ISIP) measurements. Slip-tendency analysis of 26 focal mechanisms suggests a maximum horizontal stress (SHmax) magnitude of approximately 93 MPa, oriented at ~110°. Fault reactivation thresholds prove to be highly sensitive to ISIP, SHmax magnitude, and the fault friction coefficient.Finally, we present hydromechanical benchmark simulations based on the CO₂LPIE experiment at the Mont Terri Underground Rock Laboratory in Switzerland, comparing CODE_BRIGHT and OpenGeoSys in axisymmetric, anisotropic, and stratified configurations. Both codes reproduce consistent patterns of pressure diffusion and dissolved CO₂ transport, whereas the geomechanical fields (deformation, displacement, and stress) exhibit strong sensitivity to bedding anisotropy and constitutive models, highlighting the need for careful calibration against field data.Overall, this thesis demonstrates that GCS safety benefits from addressing monitoring, modeling, and uncertainty quantification in an integrated manner. Ground deformation provides spatial information on reservoir pressurization, microseismicity constrains stresses and fault reactivation, and machine learning models enable rapid prediction and probabilistic inversion for subsurface characterization. The proposed framework improves the characterization of subsurface structures and properties while supporting an adaptive assessment of GCS safety.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

• RAZAVI, SEYED ALI: 3D-printed alumina and zirconia ceramic-based monoliths for catalytic applications
  
  Author: RAZAVI, SEYED ALI
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Materials Science and Engineering (CEM)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 23/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 07/10/2026
  Thesis director: FARGAS RIBAS, GEMMA | MORALES COMAS, MIGUEL
  Thesis abstract: This PhD thesis explores the fabrication of structured ceramic catalysts by additive manufacturing, particularly Direct Ink Writing (DIW). It aims to establish a versatile platform integrating geometric design, active-phase incorporation, multi-scale microstructural control, and environmental sustainability in monolithic catalytic systems. Conventional manufacturing often relies on multi-step routes involving separate support shaping, slurry coating, or impregnation, limiting design flexibility, efficiency, and reproducibility. To address these limitations, this thesis develops cobalt- and nickel-based monolithic catalysts for hydrogen production via ethanol steam reforming and synthetic methane production via CO₂ methanation.The research used two ceramic supports: 3 mol% yttria-doped zirconia (YDZ) and gamma-alumina (γ-Al₂O₃). Four fabrication strategies were assessed. The first combined DIW and dip-coating to produce architected YDZ supports coated with a Co/YDZ catalyst layer. The second and third introduced cobalt or nickel precursors directly into printable YDZ or γ-Al₂O₃ hydrogels, combining monolith shaping, active-phase incorporation, and thermal treatment in a single route. The fourth addressed circularity by recycling spent Co–YDZ catalysts into conditioned powders for re-fabrication by DIW.The results show that controlled 3D-printed architectures provide a robust basis for catalytic applications. In the two-step coating strategy, support densification governed active-phase redistribution and mechanical integrity. The more porous support sintered at 1300 °C provided a larger effective surface area but promoted cobalt diffusion into the bulk. In contrast, the denser support sintered at 1450 °C retained a coherent Co–YDZ surface layer, approximately 9 ± 2 µm thick, with excellent interfacial reliability and superior ethanol steam reforming performance.In the single-step route, direct incorporation of metallic precursors generated active surface environments while simplifying manufacturing. For the Co/YDZ system, rectilinear monoliths printed with 50% infill showed suitable rheological behavior and good printability. Among formulations containing 3.0, 5.0, and 7.0 wt% Co, the 5.0 wt% Co monolith provided the best balance between printability and structural integrity, achieving complete ethanol conversion and the highest H₂ yield. This concept was transferred to Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ woodpile monoliths for CO₂ methanation. Lowering the treatment temperature from 600 to 450 °C limited particle growth, producing Ni nanoparticles of about 8 nm with higher dispersion. Consequently, the 5.0-Ni-450 catalyst achieved the best performance, with methane selectivity close to 99% and excellent stability on stream.The sustainability and economic relevance of 3D-printed monoliths were also evaluated through direct material recycling. Spent Co/YDZ catalysts were recovered by milling and sieving below 125 µm, enabling fully recycled inks. These formulations showed improved shape stability and easier extrusion than virgin inks. While virgin monoliths exhibited high internal macro-porosity due to precursor decomposition, recycled monoliths had a more homogeneous filament microstructure and improved structural integrity, while preserving nanoscale catalyst features and comparable ethanol conversion. The recycled monolith containing 7 wt% Co increased the H₂ yield from 48% to 71% compared with its virgin counterpart.In summary, this thesis establishes an experimental framework for advanced catalyst manufacturing by DIW. The methodology distinguishes the effects of macro-geometric design and local microstructure, clarifies the roles of thermal parameters and active-phase loading, and demonstrates the mechanical and chemical validity of single-step printing and direct recycling. The work provides a microstructure-informed basis for developing sustainable, circular, and customizable industrial monolithic catalysts.
  
• VITERI LEÓN, ÁNGEL ASDRÚBAL: Biopolymer-Based Nanocomposite Hydrogels as Multifunctional Platforms for Environmental and Biomedical Technologies
  
  Author: VITERI LEÓN, ÁNGEL ASDRÚBAL
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Materials Science and Engineering (CEM)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 29/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 13/10/2026
  Thesis director: GINEBRA MOLINS, MARIA PAU | GARCÍA TORRES, JOSÉ MANUEL
  Thesis abstract: Hydrogels are highly hydrated polymeric networks that have emerged as versatile materials for environmental and biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility, tunable physicochemical properties, and structural similarity to biological tissues. The incorporation of functional nanomaterials within hydrogel matrices has further expanded their capabilities, enabling the development of multifunctional platforms that combine catalytic, magnetic, sensing, and therapeutic functionalities. However, achieving homogeneous nanoparticle distribution, long-term stability, and effective integration of multiple functionalities within hydrogel systems remains a significant challenge.This PhD thesis focuses on the design, fabrication, characterization, and application of multifunctional nanocomposite hydrogels based on natural polymers, including chitosan, agarose, and gelatin, integrated with catalytic and magnetic nanomaterials. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the interactions between polymer networks and embedded nanoparticles, establishing structure–property relationships, and tailoring hydrogel performance for environmental and biomedical technologies. The first part of the thesis investigates catalytic nanocomposite hydrogels for environmental remediation. Chitosan–agarose hydrogel membranes incorporating in situ synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles were developed as recyclable catalytic systems for the degradation of organic contaminants under Fenton-like conditions. Subsequently, dual-oxide Fe3O4/MnO2 nanocatalysts were incorporated within the hydrogel network to enhance catalytic efficiency and operational stability for sustainable wastewater treatment.The second part explores magnetically tunable nanozyme platforms for biosensing applications. Fe3O4-containing hydrogels exhibited intrinsic peroxidase-like activity and were successfully employed as colorimetric sensing platforms for hydrogen peroxide detection. Furthermore, external magnetic fields enabled modulation of catalytic activity and sensing performance, providing an additional level of control over the analytical response.The third part focuses on magnetically controlled drug delivery systems. Interpenetrated chitosan–agarose hydrogels containing Fe3O4 nanoparticles were developed for the controlled release of therapeutic agents, using vancomycin as a model antibiotic. The results demonstrated that both nanoparticle content and magnetic stimulation significantly influenced release kinetics, enabling externally controlled modulation of drug delivery profiles.Finally, the thesis investigates magnetically responsive hydrogels for tissue engineering. Chitosan–gelatin hydrogels containing Fe3O4 nanoparticles with different spatial organizations were developed to evaluate the influence of nanoparticle distribution on hydrogel properties and cellular behaviour. Dynamic magnetic stimulation promoted enhanced fibroblast proliferation and spreading, demonstrating the potential of magnetically responsive hydrogel platforms for tissue engineering applications.In summary, this work demonstrates that the rational integration of catalytic and magnetic nanomaterials within biopolymer hydrogel networks enables the development of multifunctional platforms for environmental remediation, biosensing, controlled drug delivery, and tissue engineering. The developed systems contribute to advancing the field of nanocomposite hydrogels and provide new opportunities for the design of multifunctional materials for environmental and biomedical technologies.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MECHANICAL, FLUIDS AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

• BERNÈ ARTIEDA, LUIS JAVIER: Energy Auditing of In-Service Hydraulic Systems: Methodology and Loss Diagnosis for Side-Loader Refuse Collection Vehicles
  
  Author: BERNÈ ARTIEDA, LUIS JAVIER
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MECHANICAL, FLUIDS AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Mechanical Engineering (EM)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 15/10/2026
  Thesis director: RAUSH ALVIACH, GUSTAVO ADOLFO | CODINA MACIA, ESTEBAN
  Thesis abstract: Legislation on fuel use and emissions has shifted the focus of hydraulic design in mobile machinery towards efficiency. The most widespread architecture is still load-sensing with a variable-displacement pump, which supplies only the demanded flow at a pressure slightly above that of the load. Even so, it retains two main sources of inefficiency: flow is regulated by throttling and, when several movements are fed simultaneously from a single pump, the most heavily loaded section sets the supply pressure and the rest throttle the difference. In addition, loads that can accelerate the motion require overcenter valves, which introduce further losses into the system.This thesis studies the loading mechanism of a side-loader refuse collection vehicle, a multi-actuator system with overrunning loads and a load-sensing architecture. With hundreds of collections a day, losses that are small in each operation can become significant at fleet scale.In this context, the losses arise from the interaction between the multi-actuator load-sensing architecture and the overcenter valves, and no single component accounts for them on its own. The literature mainly offers global figures and rarely separates these mechanisms in experimental balances on real machines. Moreover, the overcenter–load-sensing coupling is little studied, and refuse collection vehicles are among the least analysed within mobile machinery.The aim is to address this gap through a complete energy decomposition that identifies experimentally the mechanisms, components and cycle phases where the energy is dissipated, distinguishing the reducible part from the unavoidable one. The approach is deliberately applied: the measurements are taken on an in-service vehicle, which conditions the instrumentation. Pressure is measured with transducers, but the flow of each actuator cannot be obtained directly, among other reasons because of space constraints, and is reconstructed from the position and geometry of the actuators, with a single flowmeter at the pump outlet for the system balance closure. This differentiation amplifies sensor noise and becomes a significant source of uncertainty. To resolve this, a synthetic reference of known kinematics allows the filter to be selected objectively and spurious motion to be removed. From the processed signals, a quasi-static power balance is built that quantifies the losses by mechanism and is validated through its closure. The method is applied to different load conditions.The main conclusion is that the efficiency deficit has a structural origin: it lies in the system architecture and in the interaction between its components and actuators. Simultaneity is the dominant loss mechanism, and replacing components with more efficient ones recovers only a limited fraction of the dissipated energy. The analysis also shows that a view focused solely on components can lead to wrong conclusions. Despite using the same valve, the tilt and lift circuits behave in opposite ways: in tilt, the dissipation is high but mostly reducible at component level; in lift, the direct dissipation is lower, but its real cost is architectural, since it fixes the supply pressure at its maximum value.Beyond the results obtained, the thesis establishes a diagnostic framework and develops a reproducible methodology, independent of the machine analysed and applicable to other machines in the mobile and off-road machinery sector. This framework makes it possible to identify and quantify the origin of the energy losses and to assess improvement alternatives before undertaking their redesign.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN NETWORK ENGINEERING

• FERNÁNDEZ DASÍ, MIGUEL: Design, development and evaluation of adaptative and interactive solutions for high-quality viewport-aware VR360 video processing and delivery
  
  Author: FERNÁNDEZ DASÍ, MIGUEL
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN NETWORK ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Network Engineering (ENTEL)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 24/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 08/10/2026
  Thesis director: PARADELLS ASPAS, JOSE | MONTAGUD CLIMENT, MARIO
  Thesis abstract: This thesis addresses fundamental challenges in the efficient processing and distribution of interactive, high-quality 360-degree virtual reality (VR360) video across heterogeneous networks and devices. To advance the state of the art in immersive media, the research provides solutions for cross-platform interoperability, resource efficiency, low-latency delivery, and scalable synchronization. These technological contributions are structured into four key areas.First, the research develops an end-to-end VR360 framework functioning as a versatile, modular testbed built upon open-source components and web-based interfaces. This platform supports various projection formats, dynamic encoding, and HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS) protocols, alongside comprehensive monitoring of Quality of Service (QoS) and user behaviour.Second, the thesis introduces lightweight, client-agnostic viewport-aware delivery mechanisms. By dynamically allocating video resolution to specific Regions of Interest (RoI) through a single delivery stream, these strategies significantly reduce network and hardware resource consumption while maintaining a Quality of Experience (QoE) comparable to full-quality baselines.Third, the framework integrates decentralized architectures to enable scalable multi-camera services characterized by precise inter-camera synchronization and rapid viewport switching. This technology was successfully validated during a live national broadcast, effectively scaling to support tens of thousands of live and on-demand viewers seamlessly navigating multiple camera angles.Fourth, the study presents a remote rendering architecture designed to deliver premium, interactive VR experiences independent of client-side hardware or network constraints. Integrated into a multi-user holographic communication platform, this pipeline optimizes latency and scalability while drastically lowering bandwidth and GPU requirements.Ultimately, this thesis delivers meticulously validated technological solutions proven in large-scale, industry-relevant environments. These advancements have yielded high-impact scientific publications and facilitated successful technology transfer initiatives with leading industrial partners.
  
• FERNÁNDEZ LANGA, SERGI: Future Immersive and Interactive Media Experiences: Multiparty Holoportation in Social Virtual Reality (VR) Scenarios
  
  Author: FERNÁNDEZ LANGA, SERGI
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN NETWORK ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Network Engineering (ENTEL)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 29/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 13/10/2026
  Thesis director: RINCON RIVERA, DAVID | MONTAGUD CLIMENT, MARIO
  Thesis abstract: The promise of Virtual Reality (VR) is that of a medium which makes you feel like being in a place where you are not and freely explore it, potentially immersed in a plot, as well as interact with any element in it. Beyond that, Social VR aims to provide togetherness, impacting users’ sense of presence, also through embodiment, and give the possibility to bring multiple people into the same story or context, into the VEs, so the experience is not only immersive but shared among a group of humans. This thesis aims primarily to design, develop, and evaluate new technological contributions for the application and scalability of multiparty holoportation in Social VR scenarios, with the general objective of improving the quality of shared immersive experiences. In other words, this work aims at evolving and improving state-of-the-art Social VR solutions, by enabling the integration of multiple remote users into shared VEs, embodied and represented as 3D volumetric holograms, captured and reconstructed in real-time. The thesis revolves around four main hypothesis: the first hypothesis is that VEs resulting from a strategic hybridization of synthetic 3D and 2D video-based elements can provide satisfactory levels of immersion, interactions and plausibility at low costs; the second hypothesis is that low-cost full-body volumetric capture setups can enable live multiuser holoportation in Social VR, while providing satisfactory levels of interaction, presence, embodiment and togetherness; the third hypothesis is that single camera volumetric capture setups can result in pleasant group-shared experiences (e.g., virtual meetings) in scenarios where the tele-ported users are not meant to move significantly; and the fourth hypothesis is that the bottlenecks that will arise when increasing the number of tele-ported volumetric users into a single VE can be mitigated by applying network-based media processing optimizations on the server side.The results from this thesis have resulted in three main research contributions: a full-fledged multiparty VR holoportation platform; a set of VR environments through which the developed technical components can be demonstrated and evaluated; and a server-side component to optimize multiuser holoportation or communications based on volumetric video.
  
• GONZALEZ DIAZ, NESTOR: Improving the Scalability and Availability of Indoor Location Solutions based on Wi-Fi RTT (IEEE 802.11mc)
  
  Author: GONZALEZ DIAZ, NESTOR
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN NETWORK ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Network Engineering (ENTEL)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 24/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 08/10/2026
  Thesis director: ZOLA, ENRICA VALERIA | MARTÍN ESCALONA, ISRAEL
  Thesis abstract: Indoor positioning is a key enabler of location-based services, yet no technology has emerged as the indoor counterpart of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Wi-Fi Round-Trip Time (RTT), standardized in IEEE 802.11mc through the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) protocol, is a promising candidate because it reuses the Wi-Fi infrastructure already deployed in most buildings and measures distances with sub-meter error on commodity devices.However, the real-world adoption of Wi-Fi RTT is hindered by three interrelated challenges. Accuracy degrades under Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) and multipath conditions, which introduce systematic biases in the ranging estimates. Scalability is capped by the peer-to-peer nature of the FTM protocol, which requires an exchange of location-dedicated frames between the user and the access point (AP). This procedure limits each AP to about thirty users updating their position once per second. Finally, the machine-learning models required to exploit the signal often exceed the memory and the latency budget of resource-constrained devices. This dissertation argues that accuracy, scalability, and computational complexity must be optimized jointly, meeting the memory, latency, and availability requirements of Internet of Things (IoT) deployments.The system proposed in this dissertation is based on fingerprinting and combines the active RTT observable with passive observables that add no network overhead, namely the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and the standard deviation of the RTT burst. The system is organized into a clustering stage, a feature selection stage, and a multiclass classification stage. All experiments use measurement campaigns collected with commodity smartphones in two real scenarios: an open auditorium, with line of sight (Line-of-Sight, LoS) between users and APs, covered by up to seven 802.11mc-compatible APs, and a floor of corridors and offices, without line of sight (NLoS), served by three APs.The dissertation first characterizes the accuracy achievable with Wi-Fi RTT fingerprinting. Two RTT requests attain very good results in both scenarios: an accuracy above 97% in LoS when one RSSI is added, and a root-mean-square error (RMSE) between 50 and 65 cm in NLoS when three RSSI are added. It then proposes a clustering and feature selection architecture that distributes the FTM traffic overhead among the APs, increasing the potential number of concurrent users without degrading accuracy. Third, a low-complexity proximity model, which replaces the iterative clustering and the tree-based feature selection with a single sort of the observed RSSI, matches the accuracy of more complex algorithms while reducing the clustering memory to less than half and storing no persistent model; in addition, the RMSE stays below 30 cm in LoS and near half a meter in NLoS. Finally, it reveals that the RSSI from passive scanning and the RSSI from the FTM frames are systematically biased and locally uncorrelated observables that carry complementary positional information. The proposed system, evaluated with both sources, reaches an RMSE of 0.66 m at the highest user count and of 0.30 m with the three RTT requests in NLoS.Taken together, these results show that accuracy, scalability, and low computational complexity can be achieved jointly on commodity hardware, providing an integrated and reproducible framework for scalable and available indoor localization based on Wi-Fi RTT.
  
• MIRANDA PASCUAL, ÀLEX: Toward a Theory of Preprocessing and Composition in Differential Privacy
  
  Author: MIRANDA PASCUAL, ÀLEX
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN NETWORK ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Network Engineering (ENTEL)
  Mode: Change of supervisor
  Deposit date: 24/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 08/10/2026
  Thesis director: PARRA ARNAU, JAVIER | STRUFE, THORSTEN
  Thesis abstract: Personal data processing is essential to many applications from health to finance and urban development, but data may contain sensitive information, raising serious privacy concerns. Privacy-enhancing technologies therefore seek to preserve utility while limiting disclosure, creating an inherent privacy–utility tradeoff. Differential privacy (DP) has become the standard privacy notion due to its strong protection guarantees and rigorous definition. Its composition properties allow complex DP mechanisms from simpler ones, with post- and preprocessing techniques extending DP to more tasks. However, DP can struggle to achieve an acceptable privacy–utility tradeoff for complex tasks. Moreover, the central DP model requires trust in a single curator, whereas local approaches remove this assumption at a substantial utility cost. Thus, this thesis studies how the main building blocks of DP—composition and preprocessing—affect the privacy–utility tradeoff and how this tradeoff adapts to the trust requirements. Understanding these tools helps researchers develop better DP mechanisms.We study the privacy-preserving publication of human trajectory databases under DP and syntactic notions. Our systematization shows that DP suffers under the increased complexity and presence of outliers. Because these limitations are not exclusive to trajectories, we focus the remainder of this thesis in general contexts.The negative impact of outliers motivates our study on record omission in DP as preprocessing. We first analyze sampling that amplifies privacy by uniformly selecting a subset of records of the database. However, our evaluation shows that core DP mechanisms with sampling consistently yield a worse tradeoff than the mechanism without sampling over all tested scenarios. We then introduce suppression in DP and derive theorems characterizing the privacy guarantees under arbitrary suppression, showing that it can either amplify or degrade privacy depending on the setting. However, targeted outlier suppression also does not improve the privacy–utility tradeoff and is less effective than sampling. These results show that preprocessing should be evaluated based on its overall privacy–utility impact, rather than privacy amplification alone.We next study composition and its interaction with preprocessing. Existing sequential and parallel composition theorems may overestimate privacy loss when mechanisms access overlapping data, while parallel composition does not apply to some DP variants, including bounded DP. We therefore introduce a general composition theorem that accounts for deterministic preprocessing under arbitrary domains and neighborhood definitions. By modeling data access as preprocessing, our theorems provide tighter privacy estimates and enable intermediate composition settings between sequential and parallel composition.Finally, we investigate limiting data access to reduce trust requirements. We introduce the k-curators model, positioned between the central and local models, where disjoint portions of the data are randomly distributed among k non-colluding curators. To analyze this model, we introduce probabilistic parallel composition, which provides tighter privacy bounds than standard parallel composition. Our evaluation of the privacy–utility–trust tradeoff shows that the k-curators model can limit the data accessed by each entity with minimal utility cost at fixed privacy levels.Overall, this thesis advances the understanding of DP by characterizing the effects of composition, preprocessing, and their interaction. It provides new theoretical results, more accurate privacy guarantees, and evaluates their impact on the privacy–utility(–trust) tradeoff, offering new insights and tools for designing future DP mechanisms.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PHOTONICS

• MINI DAS, APARNA: Investigation of Dynamic Catalyst -Electrolyte Interfaces in Electrochemical Systems for Establishing Activity Correlations.
  
  Author: MINI DAS, APARNA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PHOTONICS
  Department: Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 28/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 09/10/2026
  Thesis director: GARCÍA DE ARQUER, FRANCISCO PELAYO
  Thesis abstract: Rising atmospheric CO2 levels, driven primarily by anthropogenic emissions, are a central contributor to global climate change and environmental instability. Electrocatalytic reactions provide a promising pathway for CO2 emission reduction through electricity-driven conversion of CO2 and/or water into value-added chemicals and fuels. In this context, catalysts are widely recognized as the key determinants of performance. This thesis takes the discussion a step further by examining how, in specific reactions, not only the catalyst itself but also the surrounding environment becomes crucial in defining performance matrices. More specifically, it investigates dynamic catalyst-electrolyte interfaces in water electrolysis and direct bicarbonate reduction, with a particular emphasis on interfacial dynamics and their correlation with activity.The thesis first outlines the fundamental aspects of water electrolysis and bicarbonate reduction, and then presents new concepts and findings on the role of dynamic catalyst-electrolyte interfaces in these systems. To do so, several in situ and operando techniques are employed, including Raman spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and quantitative bubble analysis, complemented by other electrochemical methods to establish correlations with performance.In the case of water electrolysis, the thesis focus on the oxygen evolution reaction, which represents the largest energetic penalty in the system. Correlations spanning atomic to microscale features are identified, collectively shaping the performance landscape of the reaction. Using complementary in situ probes, these correlations are shown to go beyond simple cause-and-effect relationships, highlighting the importance of uncovering the underlying mechanisms rather than relying solely on performance metrics.In direct bicarbonate reduction, performance is strongly influenced by the availability of CO2 at the interface, which is in turn linked to the local pH. Through operando Raman spectroscopy, a descriptor for the interfacial buffering state is identified, providing indirect insight into instantaneous CO2 availability. This hypothesis is further validated by engineering the catalyst-electrolyte interface to actively tune this descriptor, resulting in a threefold improvement in performance. This demonstrates how mechanistic understanding of the catalyst-electrolyte interface can guide informed hypotheses that are ultimately deterministic, reducing the experimental parameter space and improving optimization efficiency.Overall, the thesis emphasizes the importance of understanding why performance improves, rather than simply attributing progress to “better catalysts”. A deeper understanding of these systems, especially at high current densities, can lead to more coherent design principles and challenge existing assumptions about major factors governing the electrochemical performance. The results show that the catalyst surface cannot be considered a static entity, but rather a dynamic system whose structure and reactivity are continuously modulated by external factors. These insights provide a more detailed mechanistic picture of electrochemical interfaces and help identify key descriptors for catalyst design.
  
• NI CHUIREAIN, FIONNUALA: Intrinsic Randomness in Quantum Information Theory
  
  Author: NI CHUIREAIN, FIONNUALA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PHOTONICS
  Department: Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 24/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 08/10/2026
  Thesis director: ACÍN DAL MASCHIO, ANTONIO
  Thesis abstract: The unpredictability of quantum physics gives rise to an intrinsic form of randomness. We generate it by performing a measurement on a quantum state. In an adversarial scenario, we then quantify the randomness by the probability that a correlated eavesdropper could correctly guess the measurement outcomes. This thesis addresses the following question: given a known quantum state and measurement, how much intrinsic randomness can we generate?.We begin by solving the maximal intrinsic randomness of any state, optimised over all projective measurements, for four figures of merit: the conditional min, max and von Neumann entropies, and the newly introduced unambiguous randomness. The last of these describes an eavesdropper who is never wrong, but can sometimes return an inconclusive outcome. Relaxing the assumption of perfect accuracy, we also consider randomness given a fixed rate of inconclusive outcomes. We solve both of these quantities for any state and projective measurement in dimension two. If the setup is used to choose random bases for a prepare-and-measure quantum key distribution protocol, we show that the unambiguous randomness captures the knowledge gained by an eavesdropper about the secret key, without causing any disturbance. We then turn to extremal measurements beyond the projective case, which may have more outcomes. An unbiased measurement is one whose outcomes all have the same a priori probability. We characterise the randomness generated by any unbiased extremal rank-one measurement acting on any state, solving the problem explicitly in dimension two. Four-outcome measurements of this type are tomographic, such that one can fully determine the state from the outcome probabilities, so these results hold for fully source-device-dependent randomness too. The tetrahedral symmetric informationally complete (SIC) measurement, we find, has the least intrinsic randomness within this class. We also present the biased skewed SIC family of measurements, and use them to prove that 2 log d bits of randomness, the maximal amount, can be generated device-dependently (or source-device-independently) in any dimension d in which there exists a SIC measurement.Reversing the scenario, we optimise over all states to solve the maximal intrinsic randomness of two classes of non-extremal, or noisy, measurements: any two-outcome measurement in dimension two, and projective measurements in any dimension affected by isotropic noise. In a realistic implementation, however, neither the state nor the measurement is completely free of noise. Taking a simple example of a state measured in a basis of any dimension, we compare the case where only one device is affected by noise to that where both devices are noisy, such that an eavesdropper may have joint correlations with the state and the measurement. For a fixed amount of total noise, we find that, contrary to the common practice of attributing all experimental noise to a single device, the joint-noise eavesdropper strictly outperforms her single-noise counterpart, compromising the security of the randomness generated.That the outcomes of a quantum measurement are unpredictable has been known since the inception of quantum theory. This thesis presents a step forward in analytically characterising the intrinsic randomness of quantum physics. On the practical side, our results bound the functionality of quantum random number generators, under various assumptions. On a more foundational level, this work provides a new lens through which to compare quantum states and measurements and, from their vast landscape, to see which of them emerge as the most random.
  
• PONS LANAU, ROGER: Single-Molecule Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Protein Export from the Endoplasmic Reticulum
  
  Author: PONS LANAU, ROGER
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PHOTONICS
  Department: Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 06/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 20/10/2026
  Thesis director: GARCÍA PARAJO, MARÍA | CAMPELO AUBARELL, FELIX
  Thesis abstract: The secretory pathway is a crucial process for cellular homeostasis, responsible for the synthesis, processing, and trafficking of approximately a third of all proteins to their final destinations. Newly synthesized secretory proteins enter the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and, after proper folding, are sorted into and exported from specific ER subdomains named ER exit sites (ERES). As the first trafficking step, ER protein export plays a crucial role in ensuring the correct flow of proteins to downstream compartments, and defects result in a variety of pathological conditions. Unraveling its organization in space and time is essential to understanding its mechanisms. Despite the origins of this research field dating to the late 1960s, it was not until the widespread adoption of fluorescence microscopy techniques in the past three decades that rapid progress was made in how we conceptualize ER protein export in living cells. Yet, up until now, researchers have mostly relied on population-averaged measurements, which provide limited information on the molecular heterogeneity inherent in biology. Insights into molecular dynamics, transient interactions, short-lived states, or nanoscale distribution of secretory pathway proteins in living cells have largely remained veiled. Developing a complete view requires characterizing the process at the single-molecule level.In this thesis, we develop and apply a quantitative framework based on single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to dissect the dynamic organization of the early secretory pathway at the molecular level. By leveraging recent technological advances in fluorescent dyes, functional assays, gene editing, and machine learning tools, our approach enables the detection, monitoring, and analysis of individual cargo protein molecules as they are exported from ERES with high spatial precision (~20-30 nm) and temporal resolution (~10 ms). Our characterization provides novel insights into the orchestration of the early secretory pathway, allowing us to revisit conflicting ideas in the field. Overall, this thesis provides a generalizable methodology and an updated, more accurate view of a fundamental intracellular trafficking process.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS

• CHARI, SHREYA KRISHNAMA: Resource orchestration at the MEC for heterogeneous networks and services using Reinforcement learning enhanced by Generative AI
  
  Author: CHARI, SHREYA KRISHNAMA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS
  Department: Department of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 15/10/2026
  Thesis director: VERIKOUKIS, CHRISTOS
  Thesis abstract: The evolution of 5G and beyond communication has enabled rapid expansion of network capabilities, services and applications. The requirements of modern communication and computing infrastructures need to accommodate heterogeneous resource requests while maintaining service quality, resource distribution and energy efficiency. Shifting the compute-intensive applications to centralized cloud architectures has alleviated the problems related to network resource procurement. However, the geographical distance of these cloud data centers introduce communication delays, network congestion and privacy issues due to the physical distance from the source of the generated data. In light of these circumstances, edge computing emerged as a viable option to bring computation, storage, and intelligence closer to end users and other data sources. Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) infrastructure makes it accessible for the communication networks to provide computing capabilities at or near the network edge. With resources available at the network edge, low-latency communication, context-aware applications and distributed learning is enabled. Despite the advantages, several significant issues such as task offloading, efficient resource allocation, service placement, and workload scheduling remain open for improvement. Most of the use cases expected in future wireless networks will present multi-objective and multi-constrained non-trivial optimization problems which require intelligent solutions. Moreover, the large-scale data generated at the user end with millions of connected devices and rapidly changing network environment requires a flexible solution that can adapt to the variability. This dissertation investigates smart solutions for MEC resource management while simultaneously accounting for changing network environment using artificial intelligence. The main aim is to develop algorithms that can address open challenges of orchestration and allocation of edge resources to dynamic network workloads. Further, the algorithms developed should also optimize the overall network performance by bringing down latency, energy and resource allocation gaps. Reinforcement learning (RL) is selected as the primary optimization method as it has the capability to interact and learn from custom environments that can mold to varying workloads and perform multi-objective optimization. Further, the RL feedback loop continuously provides learning signals to refine the decision-making strategy to improve resource management. On the whole, the contributions from this thesis encourage using RL methods for MEC resource orchestration and is further enhanced by inclusion of GenAI components. The findings establish that intelligent techniques can be used for dynamic coordination and allocation of heterogeneous edge resources for diverse services. The research work in this thesis, provides proof-of-concept resource management framework which is scalable, energy-efficient and adaptable to evolving requirements of future wireless networks.
  
• NAVARRO GESSÉ, EDGAR: Synthesis, Design and COM-based Modeling of SAW Electroacoustic Filters
  
  Author: NAVARRO GESSÉ, EDGAR
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS
  Department: Department of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 15/10/2026
  Thesis director: COLLADO GOMEZ, JUAN CARLOS | MATEU MATEU, JORDI
  Thesis abstract: Radio-frequency filtering is a key function in modern wireless systems, where demanding requirements on selectivity, bandwidth, compactness, and integration must be satisfied within a limited physical footprint. Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices provide an attractive solution because they combine strong frequency selectivity with compact implementation. However, as filtering functions become more complex and conventional ladder architectures are complemented by multimode and hybrid configurations, the design problem extends beyond the synthesis of an equivalent electrical network: synthesized resonances, couplings, capacitances, and impedance levels must ultimately be translated into a physically realizable acoustic structure subject to the electroacoustic coupling, dispersive behaviour, geometrical constraints, and fabrication limitations of the selected technology.This thesis addresses the absence of a sufficiently systematic bridge between a prescribed filtering function and the final geometry of advanced SAW filters. The central approach is a synthesis–technology-adaptation–Coupling-of-Modes (COM) framework in which network synthesis establishes the required resonant and coupling conditions, topology-dependent circuit transformations or resynthesis enforce physical compatibility, and the resulting targets are mapped onto distributed COM structures that account for the physical dimensions of the interdigital acoustic geometry. The objective is not to replace physical modelling with an ideal equivalent circuit, but to preserve an explicit and repeatable correspondence between the prescribed response, a technology-compatible circuit representation, and the final acoustic geometry.At synthesis level, a unified driving-point extraction procedure combines finite-transmission-zero nonresonating-node sections with transmission-zero-at-infinity resonating-node sections, allowing a single filtering function to be partitioned between independent ladder resonators and multimode coupled-resonator-filter (CRF) sections. An enforced-zero deflation technique improves the numerical robustness of high-order synthesis by restoring the exact prescribed immittance root before each polynomial division. For conventional ladder filters, the Butterworth–Van Dyke-to-COM mapping is extended to a synthesis–mapping–resynthesis loop that accounts for the dispersive electroacoustic coupling of the technology.For multimode structures, a circuital Nakamura COM formulation and inverse-design procedures are developed for isolated two- and three-mode CRFs and extended to mixed ladder–CRF and cascaded-CRF architectures. The resulting design flow combines topology-specific circuit transformations with COM-based inverse design, incorporating the required impedance scalings, inverter transformations, static-capacitance compensation, technology-aware resynthesis, and physical partitioning needed to obtain realizable structures and ultimately determine their geometric dimensions. The proposed synthesis and circuit-transformation procedures are formulated and implemented as systematic and repeatable numerical procedures, while CRF inverse design and COM evaluation are implemented in a dedicated MATLAB design tool. The methodology is validated through COM simulations and measurements of fabricated ladder and two-mode CRF devices. A complementary tunable in-line filter further demonstrates the broader applicability of synthesis-based electroacoustic filter design, with measured continuous centre-frequency tuning from 0.99 to 1.03 GHz and up to 100% bandwidth control.Overall, the thesis establishes a systematic but topology-dependent methodology for translating prescribed filtering functions into physically realizable electroacoustic filter geometries, extending synthesis-driven design from conventional SAW ladders to multimode, mixed, cascaded, and reconfigurable architectures.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUSTAINABILITY

• CURTÓ PAGÈS, FERRAN: La praxis del lideratge corporatiu orientat a la sostenibilitat: context, construcció de sentit, i possibilitats de transformació sistèmica
  
  Author: CURTÓ PAGÈS, FERRAN
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUSTAINABILITY
  Department: University Research Institute for Sustainability Science and Technology (IS.UPC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 15/10/2026
  Thesis director: PARDO BOSCH, FRANCESC | CASTIÑEIRA FERNANDEZ, ANGEL
  Thesis abstract: Over the past fifty years, a model of economic development intensive in fossil energy and material extraction has driven the Earth system beyond seven of the nine planetary boundaries that delimit humanity's safe operating space. Under these conditions, corporate sustainability makes sense only if it entails systemic change, and companies seeking to contribute to it require leadership capable of activating it.This thesis asks to what extent the conceptual frameworks the discipline offers and the cognitive frames with which sustainability executives actually operate make corporate leadership oriented towards systemic change possible. The working hypothesis holds that these frames display a generalised misalignment with the demands of systemic change: they do not allow context to be conceived as an interdependent and transformable reality, nor criteria for action to be derived at the scale where the problem occurs.The research is grounded in the qualitative-interpretive paradigm and follows an abductive logic. It combines two strands. The conceptual strand, based on a narrative review of the literature, builds an analytical framework articulated around three concepts —context, sensemaking and praxis—, proposes a typology of three ontologies of context (structural, agentic and relational-cogenerative), and assesses the capacity of dominant sustainability-oriented leadership approaches to enable systemic change. The empirical strand draws on thirty-one semi-structured interviews with forty managers from twenty-nine Spanish companies, predominantly large corporations and mainly in the role of Chief Sustainability Officer, analysed through reflexive thematic analysis and documentary triangulation with corporate sustainability reports.The findings reveal a misalignment along two dimensions. In their reading of context, managers identify structural constraints with precision —capitalist logic and the configuration of global governance account for most references— yet treat them predominantly as given conditions rather than as a space open to collective reconfiguration. In sensemaking, twenty-six of the twenty-nine companies draw on paradoxical thinking, the discipline's most sophisticated frame; seven use it to move beyond the logic of the business case at the level of discourse, and only one moves beyond it in its decisions as well. What distinguishes this atypical case is not the sophistication of its interpretive frame but a governance architecture that limits exposure to capital markets.The thesis concludes that the misalignment manifests at the cognitive level and that its persistence points to the institutional conditions that frame it. Its contributions are theoretical —the analytical framework of praxis, the typology of ontologies of context, and the critical assessment of leadership approaches—, empirical —the map of contextual constraints, the limits of paradoxical thinking, and the autonomy between its reflexive and its practical use— and practical: implications for redesigning the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer and the governance conditions surrounding it, and a diagnostic model of systemic sustainability leadership built on five dimensions, eighteen indicators and four triangulated data sources.The thesis holds that systemic change is possible from within the firm, but that present conditions —cognitive, institutional and structural— render it improbable for as long as the frames through which leaders interpret their context, and the configurations that sustain those frames, remain untransformed.
  
• GOUMEIDA, KENZA: Consumer and Citizen Preferences Towards Sustainability Attributes and Practices
  
  Author: GOUMEIDA, KENZA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUSTAINABILITY
  Department: University Research Institute for Sustainability Science and Technology (IS.UPC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 28/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 09/10/2026
  Thesis director: GIL ROIG, JOSE MARIA | RAHMANI MEDDOUR, DJAMEL
  Thesis abstract: The transition towards sustainable food systems is widely recognized as one of the major challenges of our time, spanning the production, processing, marketing, and consumption of food. While research on the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of this shift is extensive on the supply side, less is known about the demand side: how consumers and citizens value and act upon sustainability attributes embedded in food products and dietary practices. This thesis addresses this gap by examining consumer and citizen preferences towards sustainability attributes and practices at three points of the food value chain: production, product/distribution, and consumption. Three specific objectives follow: i) to estimate citizens' willingness to support the environmental, social, and economic benefits of more sustainable pig production; ii) to examine consumers' valuation of sustainable, biodegradable food packaging and how it changes as information grows, identifying the underlying consumer segments; and iii) to identify the latent drivers and segments of adherence to a healthy, sustainability-relevant dietary pattern across Spain, Morocco, and Turkey, together with their explanatory factors.For the production objective, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was administered via an online survey and analyzed with a conditional logit model (CLM) to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) for ecosystem service attributes. Results show significant citizen support for a shift towards lower crude-protein pig diets that reduce environmental emissions and soybean use while improving animal welfare. Support is highest for the greatest environmental improvement and differs across sociodemographic groups, particularly by gender and rural/peri-urban residence, indicating that support for upstream production changes is real but conditional rather than universal.For the product/distribution objective, a non-hypothetical, incentive-compatible experimental auction (EA) was conducted face-to-face using a sequential information disclosure design combined with a hybrid latent class model (HLCM). Results show that consumers' WTP for sustainable packaging builds cumulatively as information progresses from an abstract environmental claim, to physical interaction to full market presentation, indicating that environmental and sensory information reinforce rather than compete with each other. Two consumer segments emerge, "Low-engagement bidders" and "Premium green adopters", differing in their adoption of the sustainable option and in how strongly information shifts their valuation.For the consumption objective, a cross-sectional online survey conducted independently in Spain, Turkey, and Morocco was analyzed using country-specific hybrid latent class models and pooled direct-effects regressions to test formally for cross-country differences in adherence to the Mediterranean diet (AMD). Two comparable segments, "High adherents" and "Moderate adherents", are identified in each country, with nutrition knowledge as the only determinant common to all three. The remaining psychosocial, household, and sociodemographic drivers differ meaningfully across countries, showing that sustainable dietary behavior cannot be explained by a single, universal set of factors.Overall, the three chapters show that sustainability is valued conditionally rather than uniformly along the food value chain. Its value depends on the scale of the benefit at stake, on how sustainability information is communicated, and on who the individual is. Combining these three perspectives within one coherent value-chain narrative provides conceptual, methodological and empirical insight into how demand-side responses to sustainability actually operate throughout the food system, with practical implications for producers, retailers, consumers, and policymakers designing more effective, better-targeted sustainability interventions.
  
• SERRAHIMA TORNEL, ALEIX: ORBITA Un modelo de ingeniería de la decisión para medir, estructurar y accionar la subjetividad individual
  
  Author: SERRAHIMA TORNEL, ALEIX
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUSTAINABILITY
  Department: University Research Institute for Sustainability Science and Technology (IS.UPC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 30/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 14/10/2026
  Thesis director: AGUADO DE CEA, ANTONIO | DE LA FUENTE ANTEQUERA, ALBERTO
  Thesis abstract: Diffuse psychological distress —the kind that does not reach a clinical threshold yet hampers the development of fully functional people— is rarely addressed with tools that respect the individual's singularity: normative psychometric instruments compare the person against a reference population and offer no path to action. This thesis designs, grounds, implements and demonstrates the functionality of the ORBITA model, which transfers tools from multicriteria decision engineering —the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and value functions in the MIVES tradition— to applied psychology in order to measure, structure and make actionable individual subjectivity.Each person builds a personalised hierarchical tree of competencies, skills and behaviours; weights are derived through AHP and the value functions are adapted to the person's demand profile —the level of demandingness they impose on themselves, which determines the shape of the function applied. The model decomposes psychological tension into two sources, expectation tension (distance to the goal) and incongruence tension (the mismatch between self-perception and a behaviourally computed reality), and integrates them into a Global Wellbeing Index (IBG, its Spanish acronym) that is turned into a prioritised, verifiable action plan.ORBITA is applied to a detailed individual case and scaled to a sample of 33 adult participants in coaching processes, whose trees comprised 93 unique competencies and 280 distinct skills. Between the initial and the final assessment, 32 of the 33 participants (97.0%) reduce their total tension: the mean falls from 51.0% to 21.5% and the mean IBG rises from 49.0% to 78.5%. The application confirms that individual subjectivity can be structured, weighted and computed under explicit, verifiable rules, and that separating the two tensions is descriptively and operationally useful, even though they evolve coupled within a real intervention cycle.The association between applying the model and the improvement in IBG is, by contrast, read as an indication of functionality and a proof of concept rather than as evidence of efficacy: the study had no comparison group and was conducted by a single facilitator. The validation is therefore preliminary and exploratory, complementing —rather than replacing— validated clinical tools. The main contributions are the engineering - psychology methodological transfer, the radical personalisation of the instrument, the calculated reality, the dual typology of tensions, and integrated actionability.
  
• ZHANG JIN, TIANYU: From policy ambition to organisational practice. Understanding food waste interventions effectiveness in healthcare, hospitality and retail.
  
  Author: ZHANG JIN, TIANYU
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUSTAINABILITY
  Department: University Research Institute for Sustainability Science and Technology (IS.UPC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 01/10/2026
  Deposit END date: 15/10/2026
  Thesis director: GIL ROIG, JOSE MARIA | RAHMANI MEDDOUR, DJAMEL
  Thesis abstract: Food waste is one of the main challenges to the sustainability of the agri-food system. However, the lack of high-resolution data and context-specific evidence limits the effectiveness of policy and management responses. This thesis approaches food waste as a wicked problem: one that is interconnected across multiple scales, resistant to universal solutions, and shaped by the organisational contexts in which it is generated. Its central argument is that these conditions determine both which interventions can be implemented and the magnitude and distribution of the changes observed.The thesis examines interventions across three contrasting organisational contexts: a tertiary hospital, two luxury hotels, and a regional supermarket chain. Drawing on Scott’s (2008) institutional framework, sector-specific literature, and empirical observations, it uses abductive analysis to develop a provisional, cross-sectoral typology of organisational constraint architectures.Each case is based on high-resolution primary data and mixed methods. The hospital study combines comprehensive direct weighing across the entire food service system during two one-week measurement campaigns, interviews, and a causal loop diagram to evaluate a digital dietary management system and an awareness-raising intervention. The hotel study combines pre- and post-intervention measurements, qualitative assessments, and sensor-based monitoring in two establishments to evaluate operational kitchen interventions. The retail study analyses 219,032 product-level food waste records collected over fifteen months, using Wilcoxon tests, two-way fixed-effects panel regression, and two co-created consumer-facing interventions.In the hospital, the intervention period was associated with an extrapolated annual difference of 48,668 kg (11.9%) and approximately 187 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, based on the study assumptions. However, attribution is limited by the uncontrolled pre-post design, the short duration of the measurement campaigns, the change in sampling strategy, and the simultaneous implementation of the interventions. In the hotels, food waste generated during kitchen preparation decreased by up to 81%, whereas customer-facing strategies were rejected because they were considered incompatible with the existing service model. Changes in plate waste demonstrate the need to assess both prevention and the potential displacement of waste at the system level. In the retail case, the consumer-facing interventions produced limited aggregate changes. Overall, 52.9% of losses were concentrated within the first two days after delivery, a pattern consistent with initial inventory imbalances and limited short-term exposure to consumer demand, although other operational explanations cannot be excluded.The thesis makes four contributions. First, it provides a comparative body of granular empirical evidence on food waste across the hospital, luxury hotel, and retail contexts studied in Spain. Second, it develops a provisional typology of constraint architectures that can be used to assess intervention feasibility before implementation. Third, it documents a structured co-creation framework that can be adapted to design context-sensitive interventions. Finally, it reframes food waste reduction as a governance problem: the relevant question is not only whether interventions work in principle, but whether they can be deployed within the organisational conditions of each context.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN THEORY AND HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

• ALAZETTA, PASCALE ISABELLE: Quartiers anciens en déshérence - pratiques et expérimentations du neutre
  
  Author: ALAZETTA, PASCALE ISABELLE
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN THEORY AND HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
  Department: Department of History and Theory of Architecture and Communication Techniques (THATC)
  Mode: Change of supervisor
  Deposit date: 29/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 13/10/2026
  Thesis director: ROSSELLO NICOLAU, MARÍA ISABEL | SANTAMARIA, FREDERIC SEBASTIEN | SCARNATO, ALESSANDRO
  Thesis abstract: Along the French Mediterranean coast, the central districts of medium-sized cities have, in recent years, seen their populations change, the mix of social classes disappear, the businesses close. They have sometimes become places of social marginalization where unsanitary conditions take hold. Attempts are being tried to reverse this trend. These attempts are often adequate in the central, vibrant parts of cities, where the refurbishment of public spaces and facilities, combined with the restoration of building facades and the renovation of historic buildings, revitalizes these historic centers and generates a certain commercial, cultural, and social vitality. The challenges lie in older working-class neighborhoods, where services and businesses rarely establish themselves, where public spaces receive little improvement, and where modest housing is difficult to adapt to contemporary living standards due to high building densities with cramped units, lack of light, ventilation, private outdoor space, accessibility, greenery, parking spaces, etc. Yet they consist of urban forms and historic buildings that possess significant spatial, aesthetic, and social qualities, as well as adaptability to topography, climate, and construction. Often, the solutions proposed trivialize the space, as interventions are strictly functional and overlook sensitive aspects of urban composition and building design. Contemporary architecture can also be controversial in these areas due to heritage constraints. And when the revitalization of these neighborhoods is successful, it often leads to their gentrification. It is therefore necessary to consider how these complexes might be adapted to contemporary lifestyles and ways of living, in an era where environmental concerns must necessarily guide solutions. The question of public tools and policies aimed at run-down historic neighborhoods—their content, implementation, complementarity, interconnection, and the issue of governance—must also be examined.This project proposes to analyze some of these situations and seek solutions that would allow for intervention and find a comfort that meet the expectations of contemporary life for a diverse population, while countering the mechanisms of gentrification. This work will be based on the specific case of four districts in medium-sized French cities with a rich urban and architectural heritage—Béziers, Narbonne, and Perpignan—which have been increasingly confronted in recent years with a marked decline in the quality of life in parts of their historic centers. Despite growing signs of poverty—which exceed national averages—these cities, unlike other struggling cities and due to their location along the Mediterranean coast, are experiencing population growth, rising real estate prices, and strong tourist appeal.In contrast, the city of Girona, in Spanish Catalonia, which has been the subject since the 1980s of an ambitious renovation plan that has led to an undeniable revitalization of its historic center, appears to be facing problems linked to gentrification and a proliferation of tourist accommodations that have altered the lives of its residents. In response to overly procedural specifications, programs, and spatial solutions, a work on neutral practices in urban planning and architecture may be explored. The neutral, as Roland Barthes understands it, can be understood here as the desire to leave spaces open, resistant to theoretical interpretations and subjective intentions that predetermine meaning and freeze the possibilities of inhabiting.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN URBANISM

• KUZMANIC, JERE: Colin Ward and the anarchist thread of planning history
  
  Author: KUZMANIC, JERE
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN URBANISM
  Department: Department of Urbanism, Territory and Landscape (DUTP)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 22/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 06/10/2026
  Thesis director: OYON BAÑALES, JOSE LUIS | SERRA PERMANYER, MARTA
  Thesis abstract: The thesis reconstructs the historical continuity of one of the major underrepresented influences on European urbanism—the anarchist thread in planning history. It does so by focusing on British planner, theorist, and writer Colin Ward (1924-2010) and the affinity network he formed part of in the second half of the 20th century.Leaning on recent research in planning history, the method of situated biography, and reconstructing a network of connections through primary sources, the research deepens geographer Peter Hall’s hypothesis presented in the seminal book Cities of Tomorrow (1988). Hall stated that many of the first ideals of the twentieth-century urban planning movement «arose from the anarchist movement, which flourished in the last decades of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century. That is true for Howard, for Geddes and for the Regional Planning Association of America, as well as for many derivatives in the European continent.» The main objective of the thesis is to offer a more panoramic, nuanced vision of these derivatives and to relate them to the formation of planning as a profession during the past century by tracing links between Ward, Hall, John F Turner, Giancarlo De Carlo, Carlo Doglio, Walter Segal, and many more. Further, the work contextualises the genealogy of regionalist, decentralist, and vernacular perspectives on territorial development that trace back to the works of the geographers Reclus and Kropotkin, and discusses these perspectives within contemporary tendencies towards ecological and socially just planning.Ward’s life and work are presented as a crucial node in this evolution of ideas. In his own words, his core interest was «an exploration of the relationship between the people and their (built) environment.» While he is mostly read as one of the most influential anarchists of the 20th century, this thesis approaches his legacy from the perspective of planning and urban studies. Working as an architect, educator and Education Officer of the Town and Country Planning Association, he was able to impact the profession ‘from inside’ by his subtle radicalism, versatile journalism and grounded studies of autonomy as a factor in the creation of the built environment. Along with his more acknowledged works like The Child in the City (1978) and Anarchy in Action (1973) he wrote, among 30 other books, Welcome, Thinner City (1990), The Allotment (1995), Talking to architects (1996), Housing: an anarchist approach (1976), and in collaboration with Hall, Sociable Cities (1998), an adaptation of Howard’s Garden City proposal to the 21st century and sustainable settlement debate. The thesis evaluates Ward’s contribution to understanding the social principle behind planning by recognising the child as a political subject, dweller control as a professional objective, and greater human autonomy as a solution to problems of everyday life in the contemporary city and countryside.This historical study draws its conclusions from primary sources—correspondence, interviews, and archival documents. The work reveals a prolific ‘affinity network’ active primarily between the United Kingdom and Italy, a transnational effort to advance a particular vision within the planning discipline. It further presents how, in a massive wave of state-orchestrated post-war urbanisation, these planners and architects viewed planning as a ‘revolutionary tool’ for grassroots social change, advocating citizen-controlled urbanism to empower local autonomy and challenge state authority. Situated biographical reconstruction and analysis of their personal, professional and scientific interaction reframes urbanism as a radically different concept—a multitude of planning cultures within a complex social ecology of the built environment.