DOCTORAL DEGREE IN AGRI-FOOD TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

• SOLER CAMPRECIÓS, JORDI: AVALUACIÓ DELS REQUERIMENTS REPRODUCTIUS I DEL CONTROL QUÍMIC DE L’AILANT (AILANTHUS ALTISSIMA), COM A ESPÈCIE INVASORA D’ESPAIS NATURALS
  
  Author: SOLER CAMPRECIÓS, JORDI
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN AGRI-FOOD TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
  Department: Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Biotechnology (DEAB)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 13/07/2026
  Reading date: 25/09/2026
  Reading time: 10:00
  Reading place: Sala Syngenta de l'EEABB. Edifici D4, Campus del Baix Llobregat de la UPC. C. Esteve Terradas 8, Castelldefels
  Thesis director: IZQUIERDO FIGAROLA, JORDI
  Thesis abstract: Invasive plants, such as Ailanthus altissima, cause damage to biodiversity due to their high capacity for expansion and establishment. A thorough understanding of the reproductive traits of this species is essential to define eradication strategies based on effective control methods.During the literature review, insufficient information was found regarding chemical methods to break seed dormancy, resulting in low germination rates. Conversely, other studies have shown that alternating temperature regimes promote germination. However, this method involves temperature accumulation that is not compatible with base temperature experiments. The base temperature for seeds or roots has never been determined, and only a few studies have addressed the base water potential of seeds, all conducted outside our region. From the base temperature, predictive germination models can be developed—a task we included in this study to create tools that assist in planning future management actions for this invasive species.The results showed a low response in dormancy release across different treatments, with the best germination achieved through cold stratification at 10 °C for 21 days. The base temperature for seeds and roots was very similar, and under water stress conditions, both seed germination and root sprouting decreased.We focused on evaluating the effectiveness of commercially available herbicides at the time of this study. Different application periods, herbicides, and techniques were tested. Herbicide application provided better control compared to untreated trees. The most effective technique was cut-stump injection, and the most efficient herbicides were triclopyr combined with 2,4-D and/or aminopyralid. The effect of flazasulfuron on Ailanthus altissima was evaluated for the first time, showing satisfactory results.We also identified, for the first time in Catalonia, the eriophyid mite Aculus taihagensis, a species already reported in other countries as a potential biological control agent.In conclusion, Ailanthus altissima can be eradicated if the correct methods are used, while predictive models will assist managers in the management of eradication efforts.
  

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.
  
• KHAN, AHMAD KAMAL: Cell Geometrical Configurations and Extrusion at Mechanical Equilibrium in Vertex Models
  
  Author: KHAN, AHMAD KAMAL
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS
  Department: School of Mathematics and Statistics (FME)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 03/09/2026
  Reading date: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  Thesis director: MUÑOZ ROMERO, JOSE JAVIER
  Thesis abstract: Epithelial tissues maintain their structural integrity and undergo controlled shape changes through a precise balance of mechanical forces at the cellular scale. These forces, arising from cortical contractility, cell-cell adhesion, and cell-substrate adhesion determine both the equilibrium geometry of individual cells and the collective mechanical stability of the tissue. Vertex models, in which cells are represented as polygons or polyhedra whose shapes are governed by an energy functional, provide a natural mathematical framework for studying this force balance. Despite their widespread use in computational epithelial biology, analytical solutions for three-dimensional vertex models remain scarce, the quantitative consequences of the choice between linear and quadratic surface energy terms are poorly understood, and a rigorous energy-based description of basal cell extrusion incorporating substrate adhesion has not previously been developed.This thesis addresses these gaps through two interconnected contributions. The first concerns the analytical study of cell shape in three-dimensional vertex models. Closed-form expressions are derived for the equilibrium radius of a single isolated cell and for the shape factor of symmetric and unsymmetric two-cell systems, for both linear and quadratic surface energy functionals in two and three dimensions. A key result is that linear functionals give identical shape predictions in two and three dimensions, consistent with the Young-Laplace relation of classical capillarity theory, while quadratic functionals yield systematically different predictions in the two geometries. This establishes that two-dimensional vertex models with quadratic surface energy terms cannot serve as quantitative surrogates for three-dimensional configurations, a finding with direct implications for model selection and experimental parameter calibration. A variational derivation of the spherical cap solution confirms that the sphere is the energy-minimising shape for a volume-constrained cell, providing the geometric foundation for the parameterisation used throughout. All analytical results are validated against a three-dimensional discrete vertex model based on triangulated cell surfaces and Newton-Raphson energy minimisation. These results have been published in the International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering.The second contribution concerns the mechanical basis of basal cell extrusion in epithelial monolayers. A two-dimensional vertex model is developed that incorporates substrate adhesion as a mechanically distinct boundary type with its own line tension coefficient, separate from the cell-cell junction tension and the external cortical tension. Simulations of a tissue of cells resting on a substrate reveal that basal extrusion of the central cell can emerge as a spontaneous, continuous mechanical instability from the competition between substrate adhesion, junction tension, and cortical contractility, without any prescribed topological transitions or biochemical signalling. A mechanical phase map is constructed in the space of dimensionless tension ratios, and its phase boundary is confirmed to correspond to configurations of lower total mechanical energy on the extruded side. Extended parametric studies show that the extrusion threshold is lowered by stronger substrate adhesion of the extruding cell, by reduced external cortical tension, by localised dipole forces mimicking basal actomyosin contraction, and by tissue-level boundary compression mimicking proliferative crowding. A non-monotonic dependence of the extrusion threshold on tissue size is identified, reflecting a competition between local mechanical confinement by immediate neighbours and long-range stress accumulation through the tissue. This work will be submitted in the following weeks after the thesis submission.Together, these results establish a minimal mechanical framework in which both the equilibrium ...
  
• ORTEGA SÁNCHEZ COLOMER, MIQUEL: Arithmetic patterns in unstructured sets
  
  Author: ORTEGA SÁNCHEZ COLOMER, MIQUEL
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS
  Department: School of Mathematics and Statistics (FME)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 17/07/2026
  Reading date: 22/09/2026
  Reading time: 17:00
  Reading place: Sala d'Actes de l'FME, Edifici U, Campus SudEnllaç de la videotrucada: https://meet.google.com/jbq-uiua-zbi
  Thesis director: SERRA ALBO, ORIOL | RUE PERNA, JUAN JOSÉ
  Thesis abstract: The main goal of this thesis is to present a number of extremal results in additive combinatorics. In lay terms, we study questions related to the appearance of a certain arithmetic pattern in a set based on its size. We focus on two patterns, products and arithmetic progressions. In the first case, we solve the density problem for product-free sets in the free group, and study several quantitative questions regarding a multiplicative analogue of Schur's theorem. In the second case, we prove a canonical van der Waerden theorem in random sets of integers, and improve existing counting results for the number of sets of integers free of arithmetic progressions of a given length. Two recurrent themes are the use of probabilistic arguments and the hypergraph container method.
  

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: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  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 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%.
  
• RIVERA TORRES, PEDRO JUAN: Complex Engineering Systems: Expanding the Bioengineering Toolset with Biomimetic and Complexity Science-Based Solutions to Engineering Problems.
  
  Author: RIVERA TORRES, PEDRO JUAN
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Automatic Control (ESAII)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 13/07/2026
  Reading date: 02/10/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: Sala Polivalent, Edifici A, Av. d'Eduard Maristany, 16, 08019 Barcelona, Escola d'Enginyeria de Barcelona Est (EEBE)
  Thesis director: KANAAN IZQUIERDO, SAMIR
  Thesis abstract: This dissertation will seek to expand the toolset available for the solution of problems in engineering using probabilistic Boolean networks (PBN), a modeling methodology used mainly for analyzing Gene Regulatory Networks (GRN). Its purpose is validating their benefits as mechanisms of problem solving in engineering; general machine learning, reinforcement learning and fault detection and isolation in generation and transmission/distribution of electrical power and in manufacturing systems. The use of PBNs has been validated before as a mechanism of modeling of manufacturing processes and smart power. Modeling of systems using PBNs allows to construct models of multiple systems, know their respective failure modes, and incrementing their robustness using reinforcement learning to predictively react to faults and failures. We present the use of PBNs as a model constructing mechanism to determine the reliability of engineered systems and processes, and control of their evolution using machine learning. These models will enable us to study the mechanics of failure in engineered systems, making them more robust. We also present a Learning Probabilistic Boolean Network model of a manufacturing system and a Smart-grid system that can learn to preserve a healthy system state, in a way inspired by Artificial Neural Networks, but without the training that these systems require, and allowing the system to avoid faults and failures.
  

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 CIVIL ENGINEERING

• KALLINGER, MAGNUS DANIEL: Layout Optimization in Floating Offshore Wind with Focus on Subsea Components
  
  Author: KALLINGER, MAGNUS DANIEL
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
  Department: Barcelona School of Civil Engineering (ETSECCPB)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 06/07/2026
  Reading date: 02/10/2026
  Reading time: 12:00
  Reading place: UPC Campus Nord, ETSECCPB, C/ Jordi Girona 1-3, edificio C1, Sala 002, Barcelona
  Thesis director: DOMÍNGUEZ GARCÍA, JOSÉ LUIS | TRUBAT CASAL, PAU
  Thesis abstract: Floating offshore wind is regarded as a key technology for exploiting deep-water wind resources where bottom-fixed foundations become economically uncompetitive. Yet, large-scale floating wind deployments remain constrained by high cost, limited maturity, and strong multidisciplinary coupling among subsystems that jointly determine farm feasibility and performance. Subsea components are central to this coupling: station-keeping systems and dynamic/static power cables govern not only structural response and electrical performance, but also impose first-order constraints on wind-farm design (turbine placement, anchoring footprints, cable topology and routing corridors). In addition, the limited practicality of subsea instrumentation motivates monitoring strategies that can reduce O&M burden and support condition-based operation. In this context, this thesis addresses layout optimisation for floating wind with a focus on subsea components. The thesis is organised around three research lines, aligned with the subsequent contribution chapters. First, it develops an early-stage optimisation framework for station-keeping design that combines computationally efficient frequency-domain simulations with customised particle swarm optimisation to screen large design spaces (layouts, materials, and ancillary components). The framework is applied both to conventional floating wind platforms and to a single-point moored weathervaning concept. Second, it investigates virtual sensing for floating wind turbines to estimate critical mooring and structural loads from accessible measurements, motivated by the high installation and maintenance effort of subsea sensors and by the need for scalable monitoring. Third, it advances floating wind inter-array design through (i) farm-level topology optimisation that incorporates floating-specific cable length effects and techno-economic performance, and (ii) physically informed routing that explicitly accounts for floater offsets, mooring-cable interaction constraints, touchdown feasibility, and three-dimensional bathymetry. The results show, first, that early-stage station-keeping optimisation can be carried out efficiently while producing technically meaningful and cost-effective designs, and it highlights the importance of line-specific functionality, substructure type, and site-dependent choices. Second, the virtual sensing studies demonstrate that critical loads can be estimated with useful accuracy and improved robustness when physical structure is embedded into the learning process, enabling reduced reliance on subsea instrumentation. Third, in the electrical domain, the proposed topology and routing methods improve the physical consistency and feasibility of floating wind cable layouts and yield measurable reductions in cable length and investment cost, which propagate to lower levelized cost of energy. Relative improvements are modest, but the absolute savings become significant at farm scale.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE

• 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 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.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

• 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

• 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 MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

• VILELLA I CROSAS, TÀNIA: Biocompatible superelastic TiNb-based alloys produced by additive manufacturing
  
  Author: VILELLA I CROSAS, TÀNIA
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Materials Science and Engineering (CEM)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 02/09/2026
  Reading date: 01/10/2026
  Reading time: 12:00
  Reading place: ESCOLA D'ENGINYERIA BARCELONA ESTC/Eduard Maristany, 16 (08019 Barcelona)EDIFICI A planta 0, SALA D'ACTEShttps://meet.google.com/hzr-ymub-uum
  Thesis director: FARGAS RIBAS, GEMMA | RODRÍGUEZ RIUS, DANIEL
  Thesis abstract: The clinical success of load-bearing orthopaedic implants is fundamentally constrained by two major mechanical and biological limitations: the stress-shielding phenomenon induced by the high elastic modulus mismatch between standard titanium alloys (e.g Ti-6Al-4V) and human cortical bone, and the long-term risk of systemic toxicity or hypersensitivity associated with superelastic shape memory alloys like NiTi. Ni-free, β-type TiNb systems offer an ideal biocompatible alternative due to their inherently low stiffness and capacity for superelastic behaviour. However, conventional processing methods (casting and forging) lead to severe phase segregation, while conventional additive manufacturing (AM) routes remain restricted by the high cost and processing rigidity of pre-alloyed spherical feedstocks. To address this gap, this Thesis establishes novel, cost-effective AM pathways to fabricate complex, bone-mimetic architectures directly from irregular elemental powder blends using two distinct approaches: Direct Ink Writing (DIW) combined with vacuum sintering, and high-energy Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-EB).The first part of this work optimizes the extrusion-based DIW route for binary TiNb configurations. Rheological screening identified an optimal solid powder loading of 75 wt.%. This concentration maximizes green metallic density. It also maintains the shear-thinning behaviour and yield stress needed for shape retention post-printing. Pushing the loading to 80 wt.% triggers a micro-rheological jamming transition. This jamming is driven by internal friction between the irregular elemental particles. Vacuum sintering cycles were mapped to control the evolution of densification and porosity. Open, tubular pore networks successfully consolidated into isolated internal porosity. The macro-porous architecture was preserved. Nb acts as a β-stabilizer and suppresses α-phase formation. This results in a compliant body-centered cubic (bcc) β-matrix. Instrumented micro- and nanoindentation profiling evaluated the local mechanics. The macro-apparent stiffness of the porous scaffolds successfully matched human cortical boneIn the second part of this Thesis, ink formulation was expanded to ternary (TiNbZr, TiNbTa) and and quaternary (TiNbTaZr) systems. This approach achieved successful in-situ alloying. The third part of the thesis investigates single-step liquid-state consolidation via high-energy PBF-EB. A narrow process window was developed. The intense hydrodynamic mixing overcomes the large melting temperature gap between Ti and refractory Nb. The high vacuum and in-situ thermal annealing eliminate macro-segregation. This process results in homogeneous, single β-phase or metastable α’’-phases.The compliant β-phase was integrated with advanced Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS gyroid) designs to mitigate stress-shielding. Finally, in vitro biological validation using SaOs-2 osteoblast-like cells was performed across the three parts of this Thesis, demonstrating outstanding cytocompatibility in all cases.Conclusively, this Thesis demonstrates flexible, cost-effective, and versatile manufacturing strategies that bridge the gap between low-cost elemental feedstocks and high-performance functional materials. By integrating architectural complexity with precise microstructural control, this work establishes a robust pathway for the development of the next generation of bone-mimetic, superelastic implants, ultimately enhancing patient safety and long-term clinical reliability.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN NETWORK ENGINEERING

• FARAHPOOR, MOHAMMADALI: Secure and Auditable Data Management for IoT-Driven Smart Transportation
  
  Author: FARAHPOOR, MOHAMMADALI
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN NETWORK ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Network Engineering (ENTEL)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 28/07/2026
  Reading date: 25/09/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: Aula de Teleensenyament, edifici B3, campus nordhttps://meet.google.com/spx-zvbe-tbw
  Thesis director: ESPARZA MARTIN, OSCAR
  Thesis abstract: The increasing adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) in industrial transportation has enabled continuous monitoring, predictive maintenance, and data-driven decision-making in environments such as mining, construction, and other heavy-duty operations. However, the same systems also generate large volumes of critical data whose value extends beyond real-time use. Once these data are shared among multiple stakeholders, challenges related to trust, integrity, confidentiality, recoverability, and auditability become central. This thesis addresses that problem through two connected research directions.First, it presents TrackTruck, an IoT-driven fleet-management infrastructure for industrial vehicles. TrackTruck demonstrates how embedded sensing, flexible communication, cloud-based analytics, and operational decision support can be integrated into a practical smart-transportation platform for heterogeneous fleets in demanding field conditions. The results show that such an architecture can improve operational visibility, maintenance support, dispatching efficiency, and overall productivity.Second, this thesis presents FileTrust, a blockchain-based auditable backup framework designed for low-trust multi-stakeholder IoT environments. FileTrust combines an Information Dispersal Algorithm (IDA), the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), blockchain smart contracts, verifiable secret sharing, distributed key generation, and threshold encryption to protect access-enabling metadata and support verifiable, policy-driven recovery of critical data. Its design preserves off-chain storage efficiency while adding on-chain auditability and threshold-governed access control.Taken together, these contributions show that trustworthy industrial IoT requires more than efficient telemetry and analytics. It also requires secure long-term data governance. This thesis therefore proposes a broader perspective in which IoT-driven smart transportation is studied as a complete data lifecycle, spanning generation, transmission, operational use, preservation, controlled access, and recovery. The results provide both an applied industrial IoT case study and a secure decentralized backup framework, establishing a foundation for future trustworthy smart-transportation architectures.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PHOTONICS

• 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 STATISTICS AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH

• GARCÍA CARRASCO, VÍCTOR: El nexe aigua-energia de Catalunya davant la transició energètica: simulació horària, dessalinització oportunista i optimització multi-objectiu
  
  Author: GARCÍA CARRASCO, VÍCTOR
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN STATISTICS AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH
  Department: Department of Statistics and Operations Research (EIO)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 02/09/2026
  Reading date: 02/10/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: FIB Sala d'actes Manuel Martí Recober B6-planta 0
  Thesis director: FONSECA CASAS, PAU
  Thesis abstract: Catalonia simultaneously faces two structural crises: the transition towards a decarbonised electricity system and the worsening of water stress under climate change. The 2021-2024 drought, which brought Ter-Llobregat system reservoirs to emergency levels, and the accelerated renewable deployment envisaged by the PROENCAT plan highlight the need for planning tools that integrate both subsystems. This thesis provides the tools to develop the first digital twin of Catalonia's coupled water-energy system at hourly resolution, formally specified using the SDL (Specification and Description Language) framework following the DT = DM + DS paradigm.The model integrates electricity generation (nuclear, wind, solar PV, hydropower, storage and combined cycles), water management (reservoirs, desalination, reclaimed water) and drought policies (progressive restriction phases) within a single simulation framework. It has been validated retrospectively against the 2024 electricity mix (errors < 2%), prospectively against PROENCAT projections for the 2030 and 2040 horizons, and under stress through 5 hydrological perturbation scenarios. The solution space, with until 14 decision variables, has been explored using Random Grid Search and NSGA-II, enabling a methodological comparison of both multi-objective optimisation approaches.Results demonstrate that the planned desalination capacity of 160 hm³/year is necessary but insufficient under severe climate change scenarios, and that 240 hm³/year effectively provides a robust safety margin. An opportunistic desalination strategy is proposed and evaluated, linking plant operation to renewable surplus availability and achieving 49-75% of water production during surplus hours, with a 20-34% reduction in gas consumption. The model confirms the viability of PROENCAT targets for 2040 and identifies 14.8 TWh of renewable surpluses as a fundamental synergy between the energy transition and water security.This thesis contributes in three areas: the formal integration of the water-energy nexus at regional basin scale, the formulation of an opportunistic desalination strategy without precedent in the literature, and a comparative multi-objective optimisation methodology transferable to other Mediterranean basins.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUSTAINABILITY

• ACEVEDO ROCHA, ALFONSO DARÍO: Modelo de gestión para la restauración del suelo dedicados a la actividad ganadera en el departamento de Córdoba, Colombia. Un aporte de la ganadería regenerativa al desarrollo sostenible del territorio- estudios de casos comparativos
  
  Author: ACEVEDO ROCHA, ALFONSO DARÍO
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUSTAINABILITY
  Department: University Research Institute for Sustainability Science and Technology (IS.UPC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 04/06/2026
  Reading date: 24/09/2026
  Reading time: 16:00
  Reading place: Sala de Conferències, Campus ESEIAAT C/ Colom 1. Edifici TR1 Planta 0 Porta 085. 08222. Terrassa.
  Thesis director: MORATO FARRERAS, JORDI
  Thesis abstract: The impact of livestock farming on soil degradation has been widely discussed, with cattle production being attributed a significant impact both globally and locally. This research, entitled "Management model for the restoration of land used for livestock farming in the department of Córdoba, Colombia. A contribution of regenerative livestock farming to the sustainable development of the territory - Comparative case studies," analyzes the evolution of regenerative livestock farming, especially in Latin America, and adapts a methodology to evaluate the efficiency of this model on the soil using biological and spatial indicators, comparing it with a conventional model on farms in Córdoba. It also evaluates the contribution of these models to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and proposes a conceptual model for the sustainable management and restoration of livestock soils.An analysis was carried out on the progress of regenerative livestock farming worldwide and in Latin America, finding a significant increase in its adoption since 2018, especially in 2019, when the preservation of biodiversity, water, and soil health began to be valued.Macro indicators of soil condition were defined and 12 farms were selected to analyze conventional and regenerative production models. Edaphic macro and mesofauna were evaluated, satellite images were analyzed, and information on vegetation cover was collected, using biological and spatial indicators to measure the restorative capacity of the models. A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis was also conducted, concluding that the regenerative model is more efficient in grazing practices, profitability, and biodiversity, allowing for passive restoration of the ecosystem.A methodology was developed to analyze the efficiency of regenerative livestock farming, establishing methods for collecting biotic and spatial data, which facilitates continuous soil diagnosis and monitoring. The study area, the duration of the analysis, the phases of the process, the indicators, and the multitemporal analysis of the plant component were defined using remote sensing and GIS technologies, providing the necessary data for a detailed analysis. It was concluded that regenerative livestock farming is an economical and sustainable low-cost model that improves productivity without agrochemicals and prevents erosion, promoting soil restoration through sustainable practices.This model also contributes to the fulfillment of the SDGs, especially in food security, climate action, and ecosystem restoration, promoting greater biological biodiversity and vegetation cover in the study areas. The results show a positive impact on soil health, vegetation development, and macrofauna, with notable root growth and no degraded soils. Regenerative livestock farming works in harmony with nature, improving the living conditions and health of livestock.Regenerative livestock farming is presented as a key tool for addressing the environmental, social, and productive challenges of livestock farming, restoring soils and ecosystems, and reversing the damage caused by overgrazing and the use of agrochemicals in conventional models. It restores soil fertility, promotes a natural cycle of regeneration, and facilitates the recovery of native species of flora and fauna, increasing the ecosystem's resistance to external disturbances.In terms of species abundance, a total of 763 individuals were quantified between both systems, distributed across 19 taxonomic orders, with 630 individuals in the regenerative model and 133 in the conventional model. The Shannon-Wiener Index (H') under the regenerative model was 2.06, reflecting high biological diversity and efficiency in restoration and long-term sustainability.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN URBANISM

• FREIRE SILVA, MARÍA JOSÉ: Trazando la ciudad más allá del damero. Estudio histórico-morfológico de las ciudadelas o nuevos barrios en la primera expansión urbana de Quito (1908 - 1942)
  
  Author: FREIRE SILVA, MARÍA JOSÉ
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN URBANISM
  Department: Department of Urbanism, Territory and Landscape (DUTP)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 20/07/2026
  Reading date: 28/09/2026
  Reading time: 16:00
  Reading place: ETSAB (Esc.Téc.Sup.Arquit.Bcn)-Pl. Baja-Sala GradosAv. Diagonal, 649Enlace a videoconferencia: https://meet.google.com/uyr-iion-imtConnexión 15:30h
  Thesis director: MARTI CASANOVAS, MIQUEL | PESOA MARCILLA, MELISA
  Thesis abstract: Between the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century, the first manifestations of Latin American modernity drove a process of urban expansion that profoundly transformed the structure of many cities. Whilst this phenomenon has been extensively studied from a socio-cultural perspective, analysis of its spatial and morphological dimensions has received less attention, particularly in the case of Andean cities. This study examines the case of Quito (Ecuador) with the aim of analysing how the first urban subdivision projects, known locally as “ciudadelas” (citadels), contributed to the city’s expansion during the first half of the 20th century.The research is based on a systematic review of historical archives and newspaper sources relating to these land-parcelling projects. The information gathered was georeferenced and analysed in relation to the physical environment (topography and hydrography) and its pre-existing features (roads and buildings). Based on this, a morphological analysis was carried out of the urban layouts and their components (streets, blocks, plots, buildings, public spaces and facilities), taking into account their shape, dimensions and organisation. In parallel, the promotional material for these projects was examined through a semiotic study of the promotional discourse found in the press of the time, with the aim of identifying the actors and urban imaginaries associated with this process of urban expansion. The results show that the geographical conditions of the Andean valley in which Quito was established had a significant influence on the layout of the first neighbourhoods to emerge during the city’s expansion, leading to specific adaptations in the street plans and the resulting organisation of the land parcels. Furthermore, they demonstrate that the citadels constituted an important form of urban growth through the parcelling and subdivision of land, the promotion of which was underpinned by urban imaginaries associated with modernity, exclusivity, hygiene and proximity to the countryside and nature. These findings help us understand how Quito’s urban expansion was not solely driven by social or economic dynamics, but also by the interplay between territorial conditions, urbanisation strategies and discourses legitimising the new peripheries.The research proposes a methodological approach that integrates a historical-morphological study through spatial analysis and the examination of promotional discourses, offering replicable tools for the comparative analysis of urban expansion processes in other Andean or Latin American cities that have experienced expansion in a similar territory with fragmented characteristics.
  

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
  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 AGRI-FOOD TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
  Department: Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Biotechnology (DEAB)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 11/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 28/09/2026
  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 ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

• GONZALEZ VIROS, MARIA ITZIAR: El rescat de "Les Rambles" de Barcelona. Arquitectura Social i Cooperació Ciutadana en l'espai urbà
  
  Author: GONZALEZ VIROS, MARIA ITZIAR
  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 DESIGN
  Department: Department of Architectural Design (PA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 16/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 30/09/2026
  Thesis director: MÀRIA SERRANO, MARIA MAGDALENA
  Thesis abstract: This doctoral thesis organizes the theoretical knowledge and practical experience of a thirty-year ongoing action-research project. The result is a methodology for Citizen Cooperation in urban spaces and Social Architecture that, through diagrammatic, dialogical, and procedural tools, concretizes the transformative action that has the unanimous acceptance of all participating stakeholders. This methodology is transferable to all those who, from diverse positions and roles, participate in processes that define and design socio-urban transformations.Given the complexity of the stakeholders involved in this type of transformation scenarios, and the current disconnect between citizens, politicians and the administration, it is urgent to provide professionals responsible for implementing projects with tools that (i) help them promote dynamics of trust and cooperation among all parties and (ii) solidify the definition of the general interest as a common good and as a space for convergence.The case study described in detail is the Cooperative Process conducted with the Km-Zero Joint Venture for defining the Action Strategies and the Preliminary Project for the Comprehensive Intervention on La Rambla in Barcelona (2017-2018).The aim is to demonstrate:1) The need for a method that legitimizes collective decision-making and establishes what constitutes the general interest for specific communities, as opposed to private interests or the clientelism of a few.2) The greater impact on social cohesion of citizen cooperation processes compared to formal participation in urban projects and planning, as they simultaneously achieve the realization of a project and the construction of a citizen community that will advocate for it before institutions and private interests, thus ensuring its proper implementation over time.Beyond citizen cooperation in urban planning and space, other applications of the method include: Social Architecture for the comprehensive regeneration of neighbourhoods, the co-production of public policies, the prevention of corruption in urban planning, the democratization of decision-making and the improvement of governance, a new disciplinary specialization in Social Architecture within university studies, a scientific methodology for participatory research processes, legislative contributions to the Spanish Urban Planning Law 3/2012, as well as the creation of observatories and citizen empowerment.The inspiration and theoretical foundations of this proposal are: libertarian urbanism and proposals for degrowth and eco-social transition; the deeply applied and socially connected tradition of numerous researchers, architects, and thinkers; the theoreticians of social, political and the right to the city sciences; the participatory and urban planning practices of new professional and academic groupings; and the proposals of artists who have worked on building the relational fabric of urban spaces in transformation.
  

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
  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, CIVIL AND URBAN HERITAGE AND REFURBISHMENT OF EXISTING BUILDINGS
  Department: Departamento de Representación Arquitectónica (RA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 09/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 23/09/2026
  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 AUTOMATIC CONTROL, ROBOTICS AND VISION

• CRUZ RANGEL, DAVID ANTONIO: Electrical-Current-based Physical Feature Extraction and Online Condition Assessment for Rotodynamic Systems Monitoring
  
  Author: CRUZ RANGEL, DAVID ANTONIO
  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: Normal
  Deposit date: 17/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 01/10/2026
  Thesis director: OCAMPO MARTINEZ, CARLOS AUGUSTO | DÍAZ ROZO, JAVIER
  Thesis abstract: This dissertation investigates the use of electrical current measurements as a non-intrusive observation tool for industrial systems. The work is motivated by the need for scalable, cost-effective, and online monitoring solutions able to extract meaningful information from industrial assets without extensive dedicated instrumentation. The thesis focuses on rotodynamic systems and nonlinear electromechanical processes, where mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, and process-related phenomena are indirectly embedded in current signals.Conventional condition monitoring commonly relies on dedicated sensors such as accelerometers, pressure transducers, flow meters, acoustic sensors, or temperature probes. Although these sensors provide valuable information, their deployment may increase cost, complexity, maintenance requirements, and intrusiveness, particularly when many assets must be monitored continuously. In contrast, electrical current can be acquired non-intrusively using clamp-on sensors and is widely available in electrically driven systems, making it a promising information source for industrial monitoring.The central hypothesis of this thesis is that current signals contain information beyond energy consumption. Through electromechanical coupling, variations in mechanical load, hydraulic disturbances, operating regimes, degradation processes, and process dynamics can modify the electrical response of the system. Therefore, with suitable signal-processing, feature-extraction, and condition-assessment methods, current measurements can be transformed into a practical observation modality for online monitoring.The thesis is organized into four parts. Part I introduces the motivation, research questions, and state of the art in online Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) and current-based industrial monitoring, emphasizing limitations related to physical interpretability, non-stationary operation, computational cost, scalability, and edge deployment. Part II develops the core methodologies for physical feature extraction, characterization, and identification from current measurements. First, a PSD-based current signature analysis method is proposed for variable-speed rotodynamic systems, enabling the extraction of mechanically meaningful degradation indicators under non-stationary conditions. The framework is then extended to hydraulic phenomena in centrifugal pumps by combining positive-sequence magnitude analysis and rotational-frequency-normalized PSD representations for cavitation detection. Finally, a non-intrusive framework is developed for coupled electromechanical systems operating under aggregated electrical measurements, enabling load identification, activation tracking, and health-state assessment.Part III integrates the proposed methodologies into online monitoring frameworks for industrial deployment. An online current-signature-based condition assessment approach is developed for HVAC water pumps, demonstrating the feasibility of cavitation monitoring under real operating conditions. The final framework is deployed in an industrial hydroelectric turbine, where electrical, mechanical, and hydraulic phenomena are monitored using only three-phase current measurements. This deployment demonstrates the practical applicability of the proposed methodology within an edge-computing architecture and under realistic constraints.Overall, this dissertation advances a unified, scalable, and physically interpretable current-based monitoring framework for industrial systems. The developed methodologies show that electrical current measurements can go beyond energy monitoring or load identification, serving as a rich source of information about mechanical degradation, hydraulic anomalies, process dynamics, and condition assessment. These findings support current signals as a versatile, non-intrusive diagnostic tool, especially where traditional sensors are costly, impractical, or difficult to maintain.
  
• GEBELLÍ GUINJOAN, FERRAN: User-centred Explainable Human-Robot Interaction
  
  Author: GEBELLÍ GUINJOAN, 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 AUTOMATIC CONTROL, ROBOTICS AND VISION
  Department: Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics (IRI)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 15/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 29/09/2026
  Thesis director: ROS ESPINOZA, RAQUEL | LEMAIGNAN, SÉVERIN
  Thesis abstract: As robots are increasingly deployed in everyday human environments, the ability to explain their actions and decisions to users becomes essential for building trust, fostering collaboration, and enabling effective interaction. However, existing approaches to explainability in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) often treat users as a homogeneous group, neglecting the diversity in knowledge, cognitive styles, and informational needs that characterise real-world deployments. This thesis investigates user-centred explainability in HRI through a series of longitudinal, in-the-wild studies that span the full lifecycle of explanation design, evaluation, generation, and personalisation. First, a participatory design methodology has been developed and implemented in a real healthcare use case, demonstrating that user expectations and requirements for explainability emerge gradually during in-situ deployment, and that involving users in the early design stages is crucial to incorporate a user-centred perspective on explainability. Secondly, we have explored the evaluation of explainability, focusing on one of the main desired outcomes of explainability for users: improving their understanding of the robots they interact with. We present a systematic literature review which identifies significant variability in how understandability is conceptualised and measured in HRI, highlighting the lack of standardised tools and longitudinal, in-the-wild evidence. This literature review also poses an open question about the relationship between objective and subjective understandability measures. Because of that, we conduct a two-month field study that demonstrates that objective and subjective understandability can evolve independently over time: users may report an increase in perceived understanding while the actual comprehension remains poor, underscoring the need to assess both dimensions separately. Finally, this thesis addresses the need for user-centred explanation generation, making use of Large Language Models (LLMs). We first introduce a modular framework that orchestrates specialised component explainers mapped to individual robot subsystems, which produces more accurate and contextually appropriate explanations compared to monolithic approaches. Building on this, and linking with the thesis topic and previous findings, a personalisation framework is developed that adapts explanation detail to each user by tracking acquired knowledge from previously received explanations over time. A one-month office deployment validates that personalised explanations are perceived as more appropriately detailed and remain concise, although their benefits depend on the criticality of what is being explained and diminish over extended periods, potentially due to predictability costs and anchoring effects. Taken together, these contributions advance the understanding of explainability as a dynamic, user-dependent property and provide concrete methods and empirical evidence to guide the design and development of explainable human-robot interaction in real-world settings.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

• GARCÍA HERNANDO, GABRIEL: Development of an advisory system for the administration of anaesthetics and analgesics
  
  Author: GARCÍA HERNANDO, GABRIEL
  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 Automatic Control (ESAII)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 18/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 02/10/2026
  Thesis director: VALLVERDU FERRER, MARIA MONTSERRAT | GONZÁLEZ PIJUAN, CARMEN
  Thesis abstract: Current technology provides valuable indices of hypnotic state, and although adverse anaesthesia effects have declined, important challenges remain. In particular, distinguishing between pharmacologically distinct anaesthetic agents and reliably predicting and detecting intraoperative nociception from physiological signals would support more personalized perioperative care.Electroencephalography (EEG) and heart rate variability (HRV), derived from RR intervals, provide complementary information on brain and autonomic responses to anaesthetic drugs and noxious stimuli. However, the optimal parameterisation of nonlinear descriptors, such as time delay, symbolic encoding, frequency band, and analytical signal representation, has not been systematically explored for drug discrimination and nociception assessment.This thesis pursues two objectives: first, discrimination between three pharmacological states, no drug (ND), propofol (P), and remifentanil (R), using EEG-based symbolic dynamics and Poincaré plot analysis; and second, prediction and detection of intraoperative nociception, defined as movement response to a noxious stimulus, using Poincaré analysis of EEG and RR signals.A total of 599 patients under general anaesthesia were analysed. For drug discrimination, 84 patients met stability criteria (28 ND, 28 P, 28 R). For nociception analysis, 163 patients yielded 329 stimulus instances (159 movers, 170 non-movers). At the patient level, 55 were consistent movers, 72 consistent non-movers, and 36 showed mixed responses.EEG signals were decomposed into seven frequency bands. For each band, three Hilbert-based representations were derived: amplitude, envelope, and phase. The first derivative was also computed for symbolic dynamics. Poincaré descriptors and symbolic features were extracted across all bands and representations, forming a multidimensional feature space applied consistently to both analyses.Symbolic dynamics parameters (number of symbols, word length, quantification factor, sampling rate) were systematically optimized. For Poincaré analysis, time delay was exhaustively evaluated across traditional, segmented (SPPA), and asymmetry-based descriptors, applied to all EEG representations and RR windows (30–60 s). Nonlinearity was validated using surrogate data. Linear EEG and HRV features were also assessed. Quadratic discriminant analysis with leave-one-out cross-validation was used throughout. In all cases, combining features across modalities and representations outperformed single-feature approaches.For drug discrimination, symbolic dynamics achieved the highest performance (AUC = 0.952 ND vs P; 0.919 P vs R; 0.837 ND vs R). Poincaré descriptors provided complementary results: traditional descriptors performed best for ND vs P (AUC = 0.836, F1 = 84.2%) and ND vs R (AUC = 0.835, F1 = 84.7%), while asymmetry-based descriptors were optimal for P vs R (AUC = 0.893, F1 = 90.0%).For nociception, prediction was best achieved using SPPA descriptors of RR intervals over a 30 s pre-stimulus window (AUC = 0.691, F1 = 68.3%), while detection was best with traditional Poincaré descriptors of EEG (AUC = 0.700, F1 = 72.9%).Overall, nonlinear analysis of EEG and RR signals, combined with systematic parameter optimisation, enables robust drug discrimination and meaningful nociception assessment from a single frontal EEG channel. Although nociception performance was moderate, reflecting the complexity of predicting behavioural responses under anaesthesia, the consistent benefit of multimodal and multi-representation features supports their use in next-generation personalized anaesthesia monitoring systems.
  
• NAVARRO PONS, MARC: Smart materials and resonant microelectromechanical systems for bioelectronic microdevices and electroceuticals
  
  Author: NAVARRO PONS, MARC
  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: 17/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 01/10/2026
  Thesis director: MURILLO RODRÍGUEZ, GONZALO
  Thesis abstract: This thesis presents the design, fabrication, characterization, and biological assessment of two complementary piezoelectric platforms for wireless electrical cell stimulation under ultrasound actuation: aluminum nitride (AlN)-based MEMS resonators (Part I) and electrospun silk fibroin nanofiber scaffolds and microparticles (Part II). The central question is whether ultrasound-actuated piezoelectric microdevices can generate extracellular electric fields of sufficient magnitude and spatial confinement to elicit measurable cellular responses at acoustic intensities within commonly accepted diagnostic-ultrasound exposure ranges.The AlN platform is based on circular clamped membrane resonators (~90 µm diameter) fabricated on SOI substrates using Pt electrodes. A total of 24 resonators are integrated in a 3x8 array on a 1x1 cm chip, each individually routed to its own stimulation electrode pair. The devices resonate at ~3.27 MHz in air (Q = 199) and at ~1.62 MHz immersed with one side under water (Q = 13). The AlN thin film exhibits d33,f = 1.4 pm/V, e31,f = -0.34 C/m2, and εr = 10.64, as measured by DBLI with substrate clamping correction. Impedance spectroscopy revealed a low coupling coefficient (k2eff ≈ 0.5%) and dominant parasitic capacitance from the routing traces (Cpar ≈ 8.5 pF) requiring a custom polynomial baseline subtraction method for BVD parameter extraction. The acoustic sensitivity under ultrasound actuation at 1 MHz was 11.2 mV/MPa, linear across 0.1 to 2.0 W/cm2. A COMSOL model, calibrated and compared with the experimental data, predicted electric fields above the field reported to induce Ca2+ responses due to VGCC activation in osteoblast-like cells at 0.3 W/cm2.Biological validation with Saos-2 cells established a controllable, intensity-dependent operating window: cell viability exceeded 95% at 0.1 and 0.5 W/cm2, dropping to approximately 10% at 1.0 W/cm2. This sharp transition is consistent with device-mediated electromechanical activation rather than the acoustic intensity alone. Calcium imaging at 0.3 W/cm2 showed that 20 of 34 cells (59%) on exposed electrodes exhibited calcium transients, compared with ~12% off-electrode. To our knowledge, this is the first cell-scale, resonant AlN-based microdevice for direct wireless electrical cell stimulation without external rectification or amplification circuitry.The silk fibroin trades the spatial precision and remote activation control for full biodegradability and distributed piezoelectric excitation. Electrospinning from aqueous silk fibroin solutions at (21 wt%) produced random and aligned nanofiber mats. Methanol immersion was selected among three crystallization methods for its high β-sheet content (~37-38% by FTIR amide I deconvolution, from ~27% as-spun), preserved fiber morphology, and reproducibility. Crystallization increased both stiffness and strength (E = 179 MPa, UTS = 6.1 MPa for random mats; E = 206 MPa, UTS = 11.1 MPa for aligned mats) and the piezoelectric coefficient 3.3-fold, from d33 = 2.2 pC/N to 7.3 pC/N, confirming β-sheet domains as the structural origin of the piezoelectric response. Crystallized films were converted into 130x130 µm microparticles by silicon microcutting at DTU Health Tech, preserving the nanofiber architecture.Biological validation demonstrated cytocompatibility with HaCaT, NHDF, and Saos-2 (viability >90%), proliferation kinetics comparable to glass controls, CK10 differentiation on the scaffold (~80%, comparable to glass) and cell adhesion and viability on the microparticle format.The two platforms are complementary: the AlN resonators provide controlled, individually addressable stimulation with defined frequency, intensity, spatial precision, and CMOS compatibility; the silk fibroin platform provides a biodegradable scaffold with distributed piezoelectric excitation and a microparticle format for tissue integration, where biodegradability and scaffold function take priority over electrical precision.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED PHYSICS

• DYHR, SØREN ISTVÁN ADORJÁN: Optimal Metrics in Odd-Dimensional Geometry: Reeb Dynamics and Applications in Fluid Mechanics
  
  Author: DYHR, SØREN ISTVÁN ADORJÁN
  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: 11/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 28/09/2026
  Thesis director: MIRANDA GALCERÁN, EVA | GONZÁLEZ PRIETO, ÁNGEL
  Thesis abstract: Particles described by Hamiltonian mechanics tend to stay on odd-dimensional hypersurfaces of symplectic manifolds. In this thesis we study a generalization of the geometric structures appearing on such submanifolds. They all have a Reeb vector field and, in dimension three, coincide with stable Hamiltonian structures (SHS), a class which includes both cosymplectic and contact structures. We study two problems concerning metrics compatible with such structures.First we consider the Navier-Stokes equations, which describe viscous incompressible fluids. It turns out that Reeb vector fields of cosymplectic structures are stationary solutions for all compatible metrics. We create a cosymplectic plug from a construction by Cardona, Miranda, Peralta-Salas, and Presas, which realizes Turing machines as vector fields. Their construction was originally used in contact geometry to extend these vector fields to stationary solutions of the 3D Euler equations, which model ideal (inviscid) fluids. We extend their result by embedding the plug to obtain cosymplectic Reeb fields, and thus stationary solutions to the 3D Navier-Stokes equations, capable of simulating any Turing machine.Second we study an energy functional on the space of compatible metrics, originally considered for contact manifolds by Blair as well as by Chern and Hamilton. The metrics of minimal energy for contact manifolds in dimension three have been classified. We generalize the functional and the classification to three-dimensional SHSs and find that positive energy critical metrics correspond to the algebraic Anosov flows.Finally we obtain a similar result in higher dimension when there exist certain first integrals satisfying a non-degeneracy condition. We also classify a family of five-dimensional examples of critical metrics, including some not satisfying the non-degeneracy condition.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE

• CARO ROCA, MARTÍ: Efficient Tailoring of AI-based Solutions for Safety-Critical Systems
  
  Author: CARO ROCA, MARTÍ
  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 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
  Department: Department of Computer Architecture (DAC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 10/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 25/09/2026
  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
  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 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
  Department: Department of Computer Architecture (DAC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 16/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 30/09/2026
  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
  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 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
  Department: Department of Computer Architecture (DAC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 16/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 30/09/2026
  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
  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 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
  Department: Department of Computer Architecture (DAC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 09/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 23/09/2026
  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.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING

• BAJIC, PETAR: Assessment of structural performance of fibre-reinforced concrete under chloride-induced corrosion
  
  Author: BAJIC, PETAR
  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: 17/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 01/10/2026
  Thesis director: DE LA FUENTE ANTEQUERA, ALBERTO | TOSIC, NIKOLA
  Thesis abstract: Chloride-induced corrosion is a major contributor to the degradation of steel-based products (i.e., bars, fibres, and others) used to reinforcing concrete structures. Namely, chlorides, if present in sufficient concentration, degrade the protective oxide layer that forms around the steel-based products in an alkaline environment, such as that existing in concrete. In the ensuing electrochemical reaction, the steel cross-section is reduced and consequently structural performance (in terms of load-bearing capacity and ductility) is degraded. It is well established that cracking, which normally occurs during service in reinforced concrete elements under bending, detrimentally affects durability and, by extension, overall structural performance. Conversely, the addition of fibres to a concrete matrix is widely recognized to enhance post-cracking performance by effectively arresting macro-crack growth. Consequently, investigating the extent to which fibre reinforcement can mitigate durability degradation constitutes a vital advancement in structural engineering research.With the goal of assessing the structural performance of different concrete types (with and without using fibres in combination with traditional rebar), in this study, a comprehensive experimental program was performed. In the experimental matrix three different concrete types were considered: conventional (rebar-only) reinforced concrete (RC) and two variants of rebar-reinforced fibre-reinforced concrete (RR-FRC). Specifically, rebar-reinforced steel-fibre-reinforced concrete (RR-SFRC) and rebar-reinforced polypropylene-fibre-reinforced concrete (RR-PPFRC). The test matrix consisted of: three distinct loading conditions (non-loaded, unloaded and elements under sustained flexural loads), two cracking states (cracked and non-cracked elements) and two exposure conditions (elements exposed to a 3% sodium chloride solution and non-exposed elements). The research was conducted both on small-scale elements (in laboratory conditions) and large-scale elements (in-situ conditions) The results indicate comparable corrosion kinetics across all considered concrete types, characterized by similar periods of corrosion initiation and propagation. However, despite fibres functioning as an invariant parameter relative to corrosion kinetics, the RR-FRC elements exhibited superior structural performance relative to the traditional RC elements. In certain instances, the mechanical performance of corroded RR-FRC elements surpassed that of the non-corroded RC controls. Moreover, the RR-FRC elements demonstrated superior behaviour under long-term sustained loading; they exhibited the capacity to recover a significant portion of their deformation upon unloading, whereas the conventional RC elements sustained permanent, irreversible deformation.
  
• ESCOBAR ESCOBAR, KEVIN ISAAC: Strengthening of existing reinforced concrete structures with textile reinforced mortars
  
  Author: ESCOBAR ESCOBAR, KEVIN ISAAC
  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: 17/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 01/10/2026
  Thesis director: OLLER IBARS, EVA MARIA | MURCIA DELSO, JUAN
  Thesis abstract: The ageing of reinforced concrete (RC) infrastructures has driven the development of efficient repair and strengthening methods to extend their service life. Fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) have been widely used for structural strengthening owing to their high resistance and lightness, but their limitations regarding fire resistance, substrate compatibility, and application conditions have motivated the development of alternative solutions. A promising alternative is the textile reinforced mortar (TRM), also known as fabric reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM), comprising an open-mesh textile made of high-strength fibres embedded in an inorganic matrix.This thesis investigates the use of TRM for the strengthening and rehabilitation of RC structures, progressing from material characterisation to application in structural elements, including corrosion-damaged members. The research first focuses on the mechanical characterisation of TRM composites made with different textiles and mortars and then examines their structural performance in RC beams and corroded RC slabs subjected to flexure. This research contributes to the understanding of the tensile and bond behaviour of TRM, while addressing knowledge gaps related to the use of alternative textile-mortar combinations and TRM application for the repair and strengthening of corrosion-damaged RC elements.During the mechanical characterisation phase, tensile and single-lap shear tests were performed on carbon, basalt and hemp TRM systems using different mortars with ordinary Portland cement (OPC), OPC with synthetic fibres, OPC with glass fibres, and calcium sulfoaluminate cement (CSAC). Digital image correlation (DIC) was used to analyse cracking, strain evolution, and failure mechanisms. Results showed that textile type, reinforcement ratio, and mortar significantly affect tensile and bond behaviour. CSAC-based carbon and basalt TRM achieved tensile performance comparable to OPC systems, while bond behaviour depended on the textile. A trilinear cohesive bond model successfully reproduced the force-slip response and identified an optimal bond length. For hemp TRM the highest tensile performance was achieved with 1% reinforcement and OPC mortar (845 MPa tensile strength, 2.1% ultimate strain). Debonding at the matrix-textile interface was the predominant failure mode, with effective bond lengths between 109 and 125 mm. Following the material characterisation stage, TRM was applied to strengthen RC beams in flexure. Three-point bending tests were performed on beams strengthened with carbon and hemp-based TRM systems, including a carbon TRM system with spike anchors. In these elements, the dominant failure mode was concrete crushing, accompanied by partial TRM debonding, which limited textile utilisation. Experimental results, together with parametric finite element analyses, showed that flexural performance strongly depends on bond quality and on the area ratio between internal steel reinforcement and external TRM reinforcement.The thesis extends the application of TRM to the strengthening of RC slabs affected by chloride-induced corrosion. Four slabs were subjected to accelerated corrosion, producing deterioration with a target 8% mass loss in the longitudinal reinforcement over half of the slab width. Two slabs were then repaired and strengthened with two layers of carbon TRM using mortar with short glass fibres and carbon spike anchors arranged in two different layouts. Flexural tests showed that the strengthened slabs achieved increases in maximum load of 32% to 39% compared with the un-strengthened corroded slabs. Both spike anchors arrangements were effective in enabling textile rupture. Parametric finite element analyses showed the effectiveness of the TRM for different levels of corrosion and number of TRM layers. The investigation shows that TRM is a promising solution for strengthening and rehabilitation of undamaged and corrosion-damaged RC structures.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS

• CUESTA ARRILLAGA, JOKIN: Physics-integrated artificial intelligence prognostics for wind turbine components under uncertainty and data scarcity
  
  Author: CUESTA ARRILLAGA, JOKIN
  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 EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 11/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 28/09/2026
  Thesis director: VIDAL SEGUI, YOLANDA | LETURIONDO ZUBIZARRETA, URKO | POZO MONTERO, FRANCESC
  Thesis abstract: Wind energy plays a central role in the global transition towards sustainable energy systems. However, the operation and maintenance costs associated with wind turbines remain a major challenge, particularly due to unexpected component failures and the difficulty of accurately predicting their remaining useful life. Prognostics and health management has emerged as a key enabler of predictive maintenance strategies, yet current prognostic approaches often face limitations related to data scarcity and quality, limited observability of degradation, lack of physical consistency, and inadequate uncertainty quantification.This thesis addresses these challenges by developing adaptive physics-informed prognostic methodologies for wind turbine components operating under uncertainty and with scarce degradation data. A unified uncertainty-aware prognostic framework is proposed that integrates physical knowledge into data-driven models based on the observability level of the degradation process. For directly observable degradation scenarios, physics-informed neural network architectures based on time-series transformers are developed by embedding degradation laws into the learning process. For indirectly observable degradation scenarios, where degradation cannot be measured directly, a physics-guided framework is introduced to construct health indicators from operational data through residual-based representations of healthy system behavior.The proposed methodologies are validated through a two-level experimental strategy. First, a dedicated laboratory testbed is designed to generate controlled, run-to-failure wear data. Second, the framework is assessed using real wind turbine SCADA data from gearbox degradation cases to demonstrate its applicability in operational environments. In both scenarios, multiple uncertainty quantification techniques are investigated and benchmarked to characterize predictive confidence and support maintenance decision-making.The results demonstrate that integrating physical knowledge into advanced deep learning architectures improves degradation forecasting accuracy, robustness, and remaining useful life estimation performance compared with purely data-driven approaches. Furthermore, the proposed uncertainty-aware framework provides reliable confidence estimates, enhancing the interpretability and operational usefulness of prognostic predictions. The findings contribute to the development of trustworthy hybrid prognostic systems for wind energy applications and maintenance timing, supporting wind-farm availability management and the dependable operation of renewable energy assets.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

• SOLÉ LLOVERAS, JORDI: Methods for Assessing Radiated Electromagnetic Emissions In Situ. Application to Photovoltaic Systems
  
  Author: SOLÉ LLOVERAS, JORDI
  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: Normal
  Deposit date: 17/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 01/10/2026
  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
  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 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 07/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 21/09/2026
  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.
  
• OBRADOR REY, SERGI: Physics-based state estimation algorithms for battery management systems
  
  Author: OBRADOR REY, 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 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 18/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 02/10/2026
  Thesis director: TRILLA ROMERO, LLUÍS | CANALS CASALS, LLUC
  Thesis abstract: For real sustainability, especially in the electric mobility sector, the trend of oversizing batteries and moving the computational capabilities of management systems to the cloud needs to be reduced. Such practices are harmful to the alignment of these systems with the eco-design principles that these technologies should follow, thus dramatically increasing the resources needed to produce and operate them. The real solution is to maximize the life and efficiency of the resources we do have.As a first step toward gaining better control, the state estimation algorithms of the cells within the battery must be improved. Hence, equipping the management system with capabilities derived directly from battery physics and electrochemistry is presented as the key concept of this thesis. Instead of states being estimated through externally processed empirical data, the deployment of advanced physics-based models directly onto the battery's embedded electronics is proposed. By this means, the internal dynamics and aging of the cells can be understood, predicted, and adapted in real-time with enough accuracy.This allows them to take control of their own operations and avoid early internal decay. The research undertaken in this thesis finally demonstrates that battery systems can be converted into more durable, efficient energy assets that are more in line with the principles of eco-efficiency only by directly integrating electrochemical knowledge into the battery’s embedded electronics.
  

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
  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: 09/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 23/09/2026
  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 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
  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 POLYMERS AND BIOPOLYMERS
  Department: Department of Chemical Engineering (EQ)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 16/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 30/09/2026
  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
  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: Change of supervisor + Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 08/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 22/09/2026
  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
  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: 07/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 21/09/2026
  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 SUSTAINABILITY

• SANCHEZ RUIZ, EDUARDO ALONSO: Governance for Sustainable Water Resources Management in Semi-Arid Regions: Evidence from Piura, Peru
  
  Author: SANCHEZ RUIZ, EDUARDO ALONSO
  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: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 17/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 01/10/2026
  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
  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: Normal
  Deposit date: 09/09/2026
  Deposit END date: 23/09/2026
  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