DOCTORAL DEGREE IN AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• VASCONCELOS PACELLI, RUBEM: Detection and Characterization of Equatorial Ionospheric Scintillation based on GNSS Observations using Convolutional Neural Networks
  
  Author: VASCONCELOS PACELLI, RUBEM
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
  Department: Department of Physics (FIS)
  Mode: Change of supervisor
  Deposit date: 20/03/2026
  Reading date: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  Thesis director: ARAGON ANGEL, MARIA ANGELES | DIETER ANTREICH, FELIX
  Thesis abstract: Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers operating in the equatorial region are severely affected by ionospheric scintillation caused by rapid fluctuations in the amplitude and phase of the received electromagnetic wave. To monitor scintillation activity, commercial receivers typically provide the \(S_4\) and \(\sigma_\phi\) indices, which are computed using \textit{ad-hoc} thresholds and detrending techniques. In addition to the intrinsic limitation of being restricted to an \(M\)-ary classification problem, these filtering methods are known to mask scintillation events. The present thesis proposes a paradigm shift in the characterization of ionospheric scintillation. Instead of relying on de-trending techniques and preset thresholds, recent Bayesian methods are employed to disentangle the scintillation signal from line-of-sight dynamics, and new convolutional neural network algorithms are investigated for the characterization task. A simplified signal model is derived and used to generate synthetic scintillation time series based on two ionospheric scintillation models: the Cornell Scintillation Model and the compact phase-screen-based scintillation model. The main contribution of this thesis is a new framework that combines convolutional neural networks and class activation maps as a \textit{post-hoc} interpretability tool that highlights input regions most relevant to the discriminative task. This approach makes it possible to analyze samples whose features are prone to be classified as strong rather than weak scintillation, and the converse, without setting arbitrary thresholds or relying on \textit{ad-hoc} heuristics established to obtain scintillation indices. The results demonstrate an average accuracy above \(89\%\), which enables sample-level characterization of the severity of scintillation and provides significant improvements compared to traditional threshold-based classification methods used in ionospheric scintillation monitoring applications.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

• YARASCA AYBAR, CRISTIAN PEDRO: La arquitectura rural en el Qhapaq Ñan del Cusco: paisajes culturales y arquitecturas del borde
  
  Author: YARASCA AYBAR, CRISTIAN PEDRO
  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: 24/02/2026
  Reading date: 21/04/2026
  Reading time: 12:00
  Reading place: ETSAB (Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona) - Planta Baja - Sala de GradosAv. Diagonal, 649-651 - 08028 - Barcelona
  Thesis director: CUROS VILA, JUAN
  Thesis abstract: The Qhapaq Ñan (Andean Road System) is the largest pre-Hispanic infrastructure in the Americas, with an estimated length of over 30,000 km, and currently occupies the territory of six South American countries (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, and Colombia). Peruvian territory is home to most (25,000 km) of the total Andean Road System. Despite being built in the 15th century during the Inca Empire, this great road network continues to be used by many Peruvian Andean communities for their daily activities of communication, herding, and cultural festivities. For this reason, the Qhapaq Ñan was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2014, for its exceptional transnational cultural value.The Cusco region (located in the southern Peruvian Andes) contains approximately half (13,000 km) of the total length of the Qhapaq Ñan in Peru. The sections of the Inca Trail in Cusco are found in diverse geographical contexts, starting from the main city and connecting various rural settlements in heterogeneous Andean ecosystems. These pre-Hispanic roads in rural areas are part of the social, cultural, and spatial fabric of Cusco communities, forming cultural landscapes in constant motion and rural architecture. The immediate architecture of the Qhapaq Ñan consists of roadways, side walls, stone alignments, drainage systems, bridges, stairways, and tunnels, which shape and protect Andean roads. These elements, grouped under the name of edge architecture, pass through Andean communities and are associated with their rural architecture, consisting of dwellings, agricultural plots, corrals, and archaeological sites. The edge and rural architecture associated with the Qhapaq Ñan is integrated into an Andean cultural landscape with symbolic, ritual, and natural value. However, modern dynamics such as tourist attractions, rural depopulation, and contemporary construction are part of this confrontation between historical heritage and current demands. Therefore, this thesis addresses the analysis of the architecture and cultural landscapes of the Peruvian Andes, focusing on the interactions between human communities, the built environment, the natural environment, and the Qhapaq Ñan.The thesis takes the “Cusco-La Raya” section as a case study because it is the longest and most culturally significant section in the Cusco region. Within this section, three sections declared World Heritage Sites are specifically studied: “Rumiqolqa-Chuspitakana,” “Santa Cruz de Occobamba,” and “Raqchi-Qquea.” Direct observation and recording were used through pedestrian tours of the sections studied, documentary reviews, geographic information systems, and interviews. Rural architecture associated with the Qhapaq Ñan is presented as a reflection of sociocultural and historical processes, highlighting its relevance for territorial sustainability in the contemporary context. This thesis presents the results through a series of diagrams, maps, aerial photographs, graphic dissections, and systematized architectural notes. Cultural landscapes are multifunctional spaces that combine agricultural, residential, and symbolic activities. Their preservation is essential for maintaining the balance between biodiversity and sustainable practices in rural communities. However, significant threats have been identified, such as uncontrolled urbanization, the loss of traditional knowledge, and the introduction of modern materials that alter the authenticity of rural structures. The study concludes that the preservation and revaluation of Andean architecture and cultural landscapes associated with the Qhapaq Ñan are essential to promote sustainability and social cohesion in the face of current challenges in the Peruvian Andes.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURAL, BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND URBANISM TECHNOLOGY

• MARTIN FANJUL, VALENTIN: Arquitectura y autismo: consideraciones acústicas para el desarrollo de espacios específicos
  
  Author: MARTIN FANJUL, VALENTIN
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURAL, BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND URBANISM TECHNOLOGY
  Department: Department of Architectural Technology (TA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 25/03/2026
  Reading date: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  Thesis director: LACASTA PALACIO, ANA MARIA | DAUMAL DOMENECH, FRANCESC DE PAULA
  Thesis abstract: This doctoral thesis combines acoustics, autism and architecture with an unequivocal practical focus, so that the conclusions and possible future avenues of research it may generate can be used in specific spaces for people on the autism spectrum.Existing knowledge is recent and scarce, it is mainly based on the experience of technicians who have created specific spaces, whether newly built or adapted. This fact is further emphasised when the disorder itself adds the concept of spectrum, which implies very broad and diverse conditions that further hinder the ability to obtain generalised solutions.Another factor that has influenced this search is the difficulty for potential users to convey their acoustic needs, especially those with more severe disorders, which is why the research has been structured in two ways.The first is a quantitative survey aimed at technical managers and carers of people with ASD, consisting of a set of 10 questions, which was sent to 715 valid email addresses in 30 countries and in three languages: English, French and Spanish.The second is qualitative in nature and is organised through the study of scientific texts, visits to specific centres, relationships with autistic people and their families, as well as professional experience with this group.It has been argued that venues should be designed primarily for those who suffer from hyperacusis, but studies have not been conclusive about how this condition evolves over the course of their lives. For this reason, it has been recommended that acoustic properties be maximised during childhood and youth, when there is no doubt about its prevalence.A significant factor found is that acoustic interventions should prioritise high-pitched sounds over low-pitched ones, as they are more annoying. For this reason, acoustic solutions were presented using existing construction systems based on the data obtained.The state of the art recommends solutions to improve sound environments, including the use of carpets, but after studying other disciplines, it has been found that they should not be used despite their acoustic properties. During visits to specific centres, those in charge reported acoustic problems relating to activities in greenhouses and swimming pools, which is why interventions based on existing construction solutions have been developed.The studies carried out have detected an anomaly between whether high-pitched or low-pitched sounds, depending on the language of the speakers, cause more discomfort. While for English and Spanish it was the high-pitched sounds, for French it was both, but the limitations of the sample obtained do not allow these findings to be irrefutable, although they do generate a line of research to consider the language of people with ASD as a factor in acoustic design.The complexity of acoustic design for autistic people has been demonstrated, as evidenced by the modifications made in the specific centres consulted. Collaboration in its design is necessary between all those involved, including family members, technicians and the staff responsible for their care. Acoustic quality is not exclusive to autistic people; research that improves their sound environments will also improve those of neurotypical people.KeywordsAcoustics, autism, architecture, ASD, acoustic quality, sound environments, design and construction solutions.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• OLIVA FELIPE, LUIS JAVIER: Artificial Virtuous Agents in water management scenarios
  
  Author: OLIVA FELIPE, LUIS JAVIER
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
  Department: Department of Computer Science (CS)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 24/03/2026
  Reading date: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  Thesis director: CORTÉS GARCÍA, CLAUDIO ULISES | CORTÉS MARTÍNEZ, ATIA
  Thesis abstract: As human populations continue to grow, resource consumption rises inexorably, leading to eventual depletion, as stated by Malthus and especially by Hardin's Tragedy of the commons. To maintain resource sustainability, coordinating the collective action of those who seek benefit from consuming that resource is necessary. However, there is a small part of the whole set of participants which may act selfishly and ignore any norm or social convention that constrains overconsumption or regulates the way it is consumed. This occurs because collective action, as explained by Olson in Logics of Collective Action (Olson, 1971), can face two different social dilemmas: The prisoner's dilemma and the free-rider dilemma. The former explains how individual choice leads to a local optimal (i.e., personal benefit) but at the cost of a bad global result (i.e., common good gets depleted and, finally, nobody benefits any longer). The latter explains how free-riders, i.e., selfish or rogue agents, can burden the maintenance of the common good as the group of consumers grow since avoiding paying the cost to preserve it may not be perceived (e.g., reducing the consumption rate or paying taxes) while the common good is still provided and consumers cannot be excluded.This thesis explores the use of virtue ethics in the decision-making process of agents. Virtues are usually associated with moral excellence or a conformity to a standard of right. In our case, the goal is to represent, to some extent, virtuosity according to classic ethics, concretely, Plato’s and Aristotle’s ethical schools of thought. In Plato and Aristotle's writings, virtues are usually defined as character traits that drive how an agent should behave in the world. In both approaches the goal of the agent is to act in the right way, according to virtues, to achieve a state of eudaimonia (having a plentiful and fulfilling life). We understand that the rightness of an agent is not only determined by what they want to do but also by how they balance their actions to perform them (i.e., acting according to your values and virtues). We would like to analyse how to model values and virtues to represent, to some extend, a Platonic and Eudaimonistic form of virtue ethics. Our model of values and virtues uses Swanton’s target-centered approach to virtue ethics.In both ethical approaches, it is not only necessary to consider the individual but also the society these individuals live within. These societies should foster their individuals to be virtuous. Since values and virtues are considered incommensurable, we decided to focus on a specific context to which is water consumption. For this reason, the thesis is divided into two main chapters: one focusing on the individual consumption of fresh water in households in a mid-size Mediterranean town, and another at the societal level, which uses a model of industrial wastewater management in the besos river basin, whose catchment is located in Barcelona, and is a typical example of a Mediterranean complex catchment. The catchment area is one of the most populated catchments in Catalonia, having more than 2M people connected, whose working population is mainly occupied in industrial activities and the services sector. These industries are of various activities with an important presence of the chemical, metallurgical, plastics, textile, paper and food sectors. Each of these sectors has different needs with regard to water usage.We raise the hypothesis that artificial virtue agents may perform better than classic utilitarian agents with regards to common-pool resource sustainable consumption. We think that both approaches (Platonic and Aristotelian) are not better to each other but depending on the context it is possible that significant differences become relevant. That is, both are two different ways to act rightfully.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOINFORMATICS

• AVIÑÓ ESTEBAN, LAURA: Mouse Limb Bud Skeletal Patterning Description and Modelling
  
  Author: AVIÑÓ ESTEBAN, LAURA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOINFORMATICS
  Department: School of Mathematics and Statistics (FME)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 20/03/2026
  Reading date: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  Thesis director: SHARPE, JAMES
  Thesis abstract: This thesis investigates how gene regulatory networks control the development of tissues and organs, using vertebrate limbs as a model organism. The skeletal pattern of the limbs defines the structure of the organ and begins its development with the expression of the Sox9 gene in mesenchymal cells. The central overarching goal of this thesis studies how Sox9 establishes its spatiotemporal pattern during the early stages of limb development. To address this, I defined two objectives: (1) to generate high-quality spatiotemporal interpolations of gene expression patterns and (2) to develop models to explain the skeletal pattern.For the first objective, I created a custom interpolation algorithm and developed LimbLab, a 3D image analysis pipeline, to produce spatiotemporal continuums of gene expression from experimental data from different origins. These tools allow the analysis of development patterns and provide input and reference data for modeling tasks.For the second objective, I initially implemented machine learning methods that predicted Sox9 patterns, but lacked mechanistic information. Then, I modified the previously published Turing model BMP-SOX9-WNT (BSW) to reproduce the patterns across the limb, managing to represent the Sox9 patterns but without capturing the WNT and BMP signals. To understand better these signals, I carried out a detailed analysis of the images that revealed that the BMP and WNT pathways behave differently depending on the limb regions and that pSMAD co-expresses with Sox9 in the autopod and the zeugopod, but not in the rest of the limb. This led me to develop a model of logic gates that incorporates specific regulatory mechanisms of each region, which successfully captured the activity patterns of Sox9 and BMP in later stages, highlighting the modularity of limb development, although it did not explain the initial formation of the pattern in the zeugopod.Therefore, I propose a new hypothesis: in the zeugopod, the formation of vascularization could define the space between the bones, suggesting that different development strategies are combined to shape the limb skeleton.This thesis provides new computational tools for limb developmental biology, demonstrates the mechanistic modularity underpinning the limb pattern and proposes a link between vascularization and skeletal morphology, offering new perspectives on one of the fundamental questions of limb development.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

• BARRANCO ALTIRRIBA, MARIA: Computational metabolomics to uncover alterations in diabetes mellitus and its complications
  
  Author: BARRANCO ALTIRRIBA, MARIA
  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: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 12/03/2026
  Reading date: 24/04/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: Aula Capella, Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona (ETSEIB), Av. Diagonal, 647, Planta 0, Campus Sud, 08028 Barcelona
  Thesis director: PERERA LLUNA, ALEXANDRE | MAURICIO PUENTE, DIDAC
  Thesis abstract: Metabolomics is the discipline focused on the study of the metabolome, defined as the complete set of small molecules present in a biological system. Metabolites play key roles in cellular processes and interact with other omic layers such as the genome, transcriptome, and proteome. For these reasons, metabolomics provides a powerful approach to uncover underlying biological mechanisms related to specific medical conditions or environmental exposures. Lipidomics, a subfield of metabolomics, focuses on the lipidome, the full lipid content of a system. Metabolomics has shown great potential in understanding metabolic diseases, a growing public health concern that includes both type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). T1D is the most prevalent form of diabetes in childhood, while T2D is more frequently acquired during adulthood, and its incidence is increasing at an alarming rate. Both forms can lead to serious microvascular and macrovascular complications.Analytical techniques such as liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) enable metabolome characterization. Untargeted metabolomics aims to detect the widest possible range of metabolites. However, the resulting data are complex and require careful handling, highlighting the importance of computational metabolomics for preprocessing, filtering, analysis, and interpretation. Interpretation remains the most challenging stage, encompassing LC-MS annotation and enrichment analysis. In lipidomics, the lack of lipid-specific pathway databases further complicates this step.This thesis is broadly divided into two parts: one focusing on computational metabolomics and the other on the more specific field of computational lipidomics. In the first part, diffusion in biological knowledge-based graphs is shown to support LC-MS annotation by prioritizing potential candidates. Building on this approach, the mWISE R package is proposed for the annotation of LC-MS data. mWISE is then applied to annotate a diabetes-related dataset, and the resulting annotations are used to perform pathway enrichment analysis. This analysis reveals the association between T2D incidence and guanine, pregnenolone sulfate, and citrulline, as well as nucleotide metabolism and ABC transporter pathways.In the lipidomics section, a broad panel of disrupted lipids in T1D and T2D is identified. Additionally, sex-specific differences are uncovered, along with lipids that show progressive changes from normoglycemia to prediabetes and T2D. A set of lipids associated with T2D exclusively in women, and others linked to T1D only in men, are proposed to contribute to sex-specific differences in the prevalence of diabetes-related complications. In the same population, a disrupted lipid profile associated with subclinical carotid atherosclerosis is identified exclusively in individuals with T2D. These lipids are hypothesized to underlie the more severe progression of atherosclerosis in T2D through specific molecular mechanisms. Moreover, this atherosclerosis-associated lipid alteration is more pronounced in individuals with T2D who are current or former smokers, as well as in those not receiving lipid-lowering treatment. Finally, a functional enrichment algorithm for lipidomics data is developed and used to interpret both lipidomics studies. The algorithm is based on molecular embeddings of lipids, obtained through a language model that was benchmarked against similar models. The enrichment results strongly align with previous interpretations and additionally highlight an overlooked relationship between T1D and reduced levels of docosahexaenoic acid.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

• FORERO ORTIZ, EDWAR ANDRÉS: Long-term renewal framework for urban water distribution networks: an application in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area
  
  Author: FORERO ORTIZ, EDWAR ANDRÉS
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
  Department: Barcelona School of Civil Engineering (ETSECCPB)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 17/03/2026
  Reading date: 15/05/2026
  Reading time: 12:00
  Reading place: ETSECCPB, Sala Tesines C1-002 (C/Jordi Girona 1-3, mòdul C1, Campus Nord, Barcelona).
  Thesis director: SANCHEZ JUNY, MARTI | MARTÍNEZ GOMARIZ, EDUARDO
  Thesis abstract: Context and BackgroundManaging urban water infrastructure in the 21st century involves balancing systemic asset ageing with rising service expectations and increasing climate stressors. In established metropolitan networks, traditional renewal policies based on reactive maintenance or simple age-based heuristics are becoming less effective at preventing cascading risks of structural failure. Ensuring the sustainability of Water Distribution Networks (WDNs) now requires a shift to proactive stewardship frameworks that can optimise capital allocation over multiple decades while addressing the complex interdependencies of the water-energy nexus and urban mobility.Problem StatementA fundamental disconnect persists between asset-specific stochastic deterioration modelling and system-wide strategic renewal planning. Existing failure prediction models often operate independently of operational decision-support systems, failing to translate probabilistic outputs into actionable long-term policies. Additionally, the integrity of infrastructure datasets is compromised by administrative fragmentation of pipe records and survival bias, which can lead to a significant underestimation of failure risk. There is a critical methodological gap in combining high-fidelity Machine Learning (ML) with Survival Analysis (SA) to project Level-of-Service (LoS) trajectories that incorporate social and environmental externalities as equally important factors in planning.Research ObjectivesThe main aim of this doctoral thesis is to develop and validate a multi-layered computational framework, the Renovation Strategy Simulator (comparator) 'REPIPE', designed to systematically evaluate different pipe renovation strategies for the drinking water distribution system in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. Specifically, the thesis aims to: (i) improve short-term failure classification through business-oriented hyperparameter optimisation; (ii) create stratified survival models that consider dual temporal censoring and recurrent failure events; and (iii) design an iterative algorithmic framework to convert asset-level prognoses into internally consistent network performance trajectories over a 25-year planning period.MethodologyThis research establishes a unified "data-to-decision" pipeline supported by three key computational pillars. First, a novel Genealogical Tree-Based Inventory (GTBI) was designed to trace pipe segments back to their Original Pipe Section (OPS) identifiers, resolving historical gaps in the asset register. Second, a hybrid predictive framework was developed, combining an eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm for tactical screening with a stratified Cox Proportional Hazards (CPH) model for multi-decadal prognosis. Third, these models were integrated into a simulation engine that employs MIVES-based value functions and conditional survival probabilities to project ten LoS indicators across six annual investment scenarios (€0M–€30M).Main ResultsThe implementation of the GTBI corrected 22% of accumulated failures that databases had previously misattributed, strengthening the evidence base for failure risk modelling. The study applied a 5% annual renewal threshold to keep all scenarios directly comparable and to support a consistent calculation of the failure-avoidance rate under a fixed yearly renovation capacity. Under this constraint, the XGBoost classifier, tuned through a brute-force hyperparameter search using a business-oriented Lorenz metric, achieved a reported 32% relative increase in failure-prevention effectiveness over default settings, capturing 30.2% of expected failures within the 5% renewal limit.
  
• JEBBAD, RAGHDA: Impacts of climate change on the ports of the Southwestern coast of the Alboran Sea
  
  Author: JEBBAD, RAGHDA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
  Department: Barcelona School of Civil Engineering (ETSECCPB)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 18/02/2026
  Reading date: 15/04/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: ETSECCPB, Campus Nord BarcelonaC/ Jordi Girona, edificio B1 aula 005
  Thesis director: MÖSSO ARANDA, OCTAVIO CESAR | SIERRA PEDRICO, JUAN PABLO
  Thesis abstract: Climate change is altering the coastal conditions that ports are designed to withstand, through sea-level rise and changes in storm-driven wave regimes. These changes can reduce operability, increase overtopping impacts on exposed structures, and affect harbour agitation and breakwater performance. This thesis develops an applied and integrated framework to translate offshore climate projections into port‑scale impact indicators and adaptation pathway planning for Moroccan Mediterranean ports along the southwestern Alboran Sea.Offshore wave conditions are characterised using a four‑dataset Med-CORDEX ensemble under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, and propagated to the nearshore with a regional SWAN model featuring port‑scale nesting. Combined with sea level rise projections, these forcings are used to quantify four port‑impact indicators: berthing inoperability based on still‑water‑level exceedance relative to minimum freeboard requirements; wave overtopping discharge at exposed structures; harbour agitation exceedance within the basin; and breakwater stability under extreme forcing. The overtopping assessment is applied across eight ports to establish relative exposure and identify the most exposed sites. Berthing inoperability and an indicative dock‑raising cost estimate are developed for Tangier‑Med. A multi‑process assessment is carried out for Al Hoceima, together with an applied adaptation‑pathways case study that links impact levels to response options over time. The thesis also develops an uncertainty‑evaluation framework to support the interpretation of wave‑driven port impact projections.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED PHYSICS

• BLANCO CASARES, ANTONIO: A Numerical Framework for Solving Complex Flow Regimes with Continuous Galerkin
  
  Author: BLANCO CASARES, 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 COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED PHYSICS
  Department: Department of Physics (FIS)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 18/02/2026
  Reading date: 08/05/2026
  Reading time: 10:15
  Reading place: Sala de Tesines, Edifici C1, Planta baixa, Aula 002, Escola de Camins, Campus Nord - UPC
  Thesis director: LEHMKUHL BARBA, ORIOL | MIRA MARTÍNEZ, DANIEL
  Thesis abstract: This thesis investigates a stable and high-order numerical formulation for solving a variety of flow problems using the continuous Galerkin method, including reacting, compressible, and incompressible flows. Reliable and accurate numerical tools for such problems are crucial in many real-world applications, ranging from aerodynamics and industrial processes to medical studies, where high-fidelity and computational efficiency are simultaneously required. Achieving stable solutions in advection-dominated problems, particularly on nonuniform meshes, remains a fundamental challenge.To address this, the thesis develops a stabilization strategy well-suited for high-order elements, such as the spectral ones, designed to effectively eliminate numerical instabilities while introducing minimal numerical dissipation to achieve a high accuracy solution. Based on recent literature, we have focused on stabilization methods based on gradient projection, which allows to detect the numerical fluctuations to effectively stabilize the system. The numerical stencil features a combination of a high- and low-order stabilization ruled by a smoothness sensor. High-order stabilization is applied in smooth regions to maintain physical profiles, while low-order stabilization is activated only near strong gradients to suppress non-physical oscillations. This methodology is formulated for a generic conservation law and tested across linear advection, scalar transport in reacting flows, compressible, and incompressible Navier–Stokes problems.The numerical results show that, for turbulent premixed combustion under the low-Mach assumption, the approach handles tabulated chemistry with the flamelet model, delivering a proper representation of the flame-front. For compressible flows, a Mach-number-based smoothness sensor has been developed, effectively handling complex flow features such as shock waves. For incompressible flows, the algorithm employs a fractional step method with well defined boundary conditions, maintaining the same stabilization principles inherent to this method. In all cases, the stabilization introduces diminishing numerical dissipation with increasing polynomial order, achieving optimal convergence under both mesh refinement and polynomial order increase.These developments contribute to practical, large-scale numerical simulations that balance computational efficiency with high-fidelity results, enabling accurate prediction of real-world physical phenomena. The proposed framework provides a robust and scalable tool for computational fluid dynamics applications, with potential impact across scientific research, and industrial modeling.
  
• PERA I FERRERUELA, JORDI: Itinerant ferromagnetism and polarons in SU(N) Fermi gases
  
  Author: PERA I FERRERUELA, 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 COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED PHYSICS
  Department: Department of Physics (FIS)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 13/03/2026
  Reading date: 17/04/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: Aula Graus, Edifici C4, Planta baixa, Campus Nord - UPC
  Thesis director: CASULLERAS AMBROS, JOAQUIN | BORONAT MEDICO, JORDI
  Thesis abstract: This thesis presents an in-depth study of the magnetic properties of repulsive Fermi gases in the continuum. Once a purely academic subject, Fermi gases can now be realized experimentally in ultracold atom laboratories, making a theoretical understanding of their behavior both timely and necessary. Our analysis focuses primarily on whether such systems favor a transition to a ferromagnetic state or remain paramagnetic. As technique, we use a perturbative approach that systematically includes the effects of higher-order terms, temperature, and mass imbalance. In the final part of the thesis, we also study the Fermi polaron problem. First, we examine a simple case: a Fermi gas with equal masses at zero temperature up to second order in perturbation theory. As this chapter can be considered an introduction to the magnetic phenomenology of Fermi gases, we compare the outcome of our second order analysis with the well-known scenario of the Stoner model, which is the first-order model. In both cases, a ferromagnetic transition always occurs. Moving from the Stoner model to the second-order one, there are two differences to point out: the continuous phase transition observed at S=1/2 becomes discontinuous, and the ferromagnetic phase arises at lower densities. The next step is to improve the description of the potential interaction. We do so by going up to third order in perturbation theory. However, this improvement comes with a cost; as we now have more information about the potential, the complexity of the problem is higher. We split the analysis into two parts. We first consider a hard-sphere potential without p-wave intra-particle interaction. We observe the same tendencies that we encounter when we move from first order to second order, but, more importantly, we recover the continuous phase transition for S=1/2. Having now at hand the third-order energies, we explore a wide range of different potentials. Surprisingly, for each spin S we observe a richness of scenarios: continuous transitions, discontinuous ones, combinations of the other two, stairs-like cases, and even, no transition at all. Next, we introduce another variable to our problem: the temperature. Thermal effects do not eliminate the ferromagnetic phase for any potential, but they clearly go against it: either they force the system to remain paramagnetic or make the transition to occur at higher densities, which probably hinders the ferromagnetic phase. Nevertheless, larger spins better resist these thermal effects. Additionally, temperature reduces the diversity of magnetic behavior, leading to more universal patterns: continuous transitions for S=1/2 and discontinuous ones for larger spins. Up to this point, we assumed that all the particles have the same mass. The next step is to consider different relations of masses. Adding another variable increases even more the complexity of the problem and, hence, we only inspect it at second order and at zero temperature. As we have commented above, at second order there is always a ferromagnetic transition. Now, this is also the case, but with some nuances. The massive particles are always the promoted ones, even at low densities. For S=1/2, this is the end of the story. But for larger spins, as we can have many mass relations, we can obtain lots of configurations, which may give us more tunability. Finally, we move beyond magnetic properties to study the Fermi polaron problem: an impurity immersed in a Fermi sea. We focus on how impurities affect our system. We examine the main properties of the Fermi polaron at third order and the effects of mass. Specifically, the massive polaron works just fine, but the light polaron is unstable. Altogether, this work offers a detailed and thorough exploration of Fermi gases, providing both qualitative insight and quantitative predictions relevant to experimental efforts.
  
• PUCH GINER, IGNASI: Optimization of Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics Techniques for Receptor–Ligand Binding Studies
  
  Author: PUCH GINER, IGNASI
  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: 16/02/2026
  Reading date: 16/04/2026
  Reading time: 10:00
  Reading place: Sala TeleensenyamentEdifici B3 - Ricardo Valle Sala 103 Planta 1Campus Nord
  Thesis director: GUALLAR TASIES, VÍCTOR
  Thesis abstract: Drug discovery is a complex and resource-intensive process that requires the identification of molecular candidates with optimal binding properties to their corresponding targets. Computational techniques play a central role in streamlining this process by predicting biomolecular interactions, optimizing molecular properties, and accelerating early-stage drug development.This thesis focuses on advancing computational strategies for biomolecular modeling, integrating molecular mechanics techniques—such as Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations—with state-of-the-art machine learning tools. The objective is to improve scoring functions, enhance simulation accuracy, and develop a framework that enables the application of these methods to real-world pharmacological challenges.A key contribution of this work is the systematic characterization of the PELE (Protein Energy Landscape Exploration) simulation framework, including the rationalization of binding energy estimators and the assessment of their predictive performance and computational efficiency. These benchmarks address existing knowledge gaps in scoring functions and facilitate more accurate predictions of protein–ligand interactions, thereby supporting the prioritization of promising molecules for experimental evaluation.Beyond methodological advances, this thesis applies the developed computational approaches to pharmacologically relevant case studies. The structural characterization of the amino acid transporter Asc1/CD98hc was carried out using an integrated computational pipeline, providing new insights into its binding and transport mechanisms. Furthermore, the study of the Meis1–Hoxb13 transcription factors explores novel drug–DNA interactions with potential implications for targeted therapies. Another application focuses on Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease, where computational simulations contributed to understanding GDAP1–LAMP1 tethering dysfunction and possible therapeutic interventions. These examples highlight the versatility of the proposed computational strategies across diverse biological contexts.The results of this research propose a practical framework for improving ligand-binding predictions. The explored methodologies strengthen molecular modeling by combining physics-based techniques with varying speed–accuracy trade-offs and data-driven approaches, bridging the gap between traditional simulation methods and AI-driven predictions. The findings have implications for both academic research and industrial drug discovery, offering scalable and generalizable solutions for structure-based and ligand-based design.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING

• CLARES GARCIA, ANTONI: A Framework for the Digital Twinning of Doubly Curved Masonry Structures
  
  Author: CLARES GARCIA, ANTONI
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 19/03/2026
  Reading date: 22/04/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: ETS Enginyeria de CaminsEdifici C1 Aula 002C. Jordi Girona 1-308034 Barcelona
  Thesis director: CHACÓN FLORES, ROLANDO ANTONIO | LLORENS SULIVERA, MIQUEL
  Thesis abstract: This thesis proposes an open and interoperable Digital Twin framework for doubly curved masonry vaults, addressing the growing need for accurate assessment and long-term management of complex heritage structures. The framework integrates BIM, structural simulations, and data from the physical asset within an IFC-based environment, enabling continuity across design, construction, and monitoring phases.The research is validated through two case studies—a Catalan vault tested to failure in laboratory conditions and a Gaussian vault analysed from design through construction and structural assessment—developed within an industrial doctoral program involving academia and industry. The methodology combines parametric geometric modelling, material characterisation using destructive and non-destructive testing, point cloud acquisition via photogrammetry and laser scanning, non-linear finite element analysis, and the integration of monitoring sensors within the BIM workflow.By linking computational design, numerical analysis, and digital heritage conservation, this work establishes a data-driven workflow for the digitalisation and preservation of complex masonry vaults and contributes to the advancement of Digital Twin methodologies in structural engineering.
  
• DELGADO ZHAGUI, ERIKA BEATRIZ: Validation of MEMS Accelerometers for Static and Dynamic Bridge Assessment Integrating Automated Synchronization and Modal Parameter Extraction
  
  Author: DELGADO ZHAGUI, ERIKA BEATRIZ
  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: 19/03/2026
  Reading date: 14/04/2026
  Reading time: 14:00
  Reading place: ETSECCPB, Sala Tesines C1-002 (C/Jordi Girona 1-3, mòdul C1, Campus Nord, Barcelona).
  Thesis director: TURMO CODERQUE, JOSE | KOMARIZADEHASL, SEYEDMILAD
  Thesis abstract: Aging bridge infrastructure worldwide faces growing challenges from increased traffic demand, environmental degradation, and sustained dynamic loads, compromising structural integrity and public safety. In this context, structural health monitoring (SHM) has emerged as a key tool for proactive infrastructure management. However, its widespread implementation remains limited by the high cost and operational complexity of commercial instrumentation systems. As a result, many bridges, especially those with limited resources, remain unmonitored, while the technical feasibility of low-cost alternatives for reliable structural assessment remains scientifically unvalidated.This research addresses this gap through the first multi-scale experimental validation of LARA (Low-Cost Adaptive Reliable Accelerometer) sensors applied to bridge monitoring, contributing to both the theoretical advancement and practical implementation of low-cost SHM systems. This work presents four original contributions.First, a methodology for indirect deformation estimation based on rotation measurement is developed and validated, using the dual-axis inclinometer capabilities of LARA. The methodology is validated through static load tests carried out on a railway bridge (access to Barcelona–El Prat Airport), allowing vertical displacements to be estimated with correlation coefficients greater than 0.95 compared to the reference instrumentation. These results demonstrate that rotations can accurately replace traditional displacement measurements.Second, controlled dynamic tests are carried out comparing the performance of LARA with commercial-grade accelerometers (IOLITEI-3XMEMS-ACC-S). The results show that LARA identifies fundamental frequencies with errors of less than 2% and estimates damping ratios with deviations of less than 4%. These results constitute the first quantitative benchmark on the use of low-cost sensors in the dynamic analysis of bridges, establishing validated performance thresholds previously unavailable in literature.Third, a complete automated procedure for modal identification is developed and validated, integrating noise filtering, peak picking algorithms, frequency domain decomposition, and quality assurance. Applied to a reinforced concrete isostatic bridge in the Basque Country, the procedure made it possible to extract modal parameters under environmental excitation with sufficient accuracy to update a finite element model (MAC>0.90), representing one of the first demonstrations of structural model calibration driven by low-cost sensors under operating conditions.Fourth, the thesis evaluates the sustainability of the LARA system from an environmental, economic, and social perspective. The results indicate a reduced carbon footprint and the possibility of expanding monitoring coverage at a fraction of the cost of commercial systems, while also contributing to several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.Based on two experimental campaigns on bridges and multiple load scenarios, it has been confirmed that LARA achieves operational accuracy comparable to that of commercial sensors (frequency errors below 3% and modal correlation above 0.85) at approximately 8–10% of the cost. The main contribution of this thesis is the empirical demonstration that low-cost sensors can reliably perform structural identification tasks traditionally reserved for expensive instrumentation, providing a solid scientific foundation for the democratization of structural monitoring.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS

• NAVARRO GRANADOS, JORDI: Theoretical and Experimental Study on Cold-Formed Elements for Steel Framing in Seismic Areas
  
  Author: NAVARRO GRANADOS, 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 EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 20/03/2026
  Reading date: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  Thesis director: CASAFONT RIBERA, MIQUEL | BOVÉ TOUS, ORIOL
  Thesis abstract: This Thesis presents a theoretical and experimental study on cold-formed elements for seismic-resistant steel framing systems. The focus is on evaluating the feasibility of using low- and mid-rise buildings based on cold-formed steel framing with flat strap bracings as diagonal members, and built-up steel profiles or concrete-filled steel sections as boundary (chord) studs, to resist seismic actions in moderate to high seismicity areas. Three representative prototype residential buildings with five, seven, and ten storeys, located in areas with peak ground accelerations (PGA) of 0.2 g, 0.3 g, and 0.4 g have been considered.This Thesis consists of six chapters; the first is an introduction, the second describes the current state of the art, and the last presents conclusions and future research. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 constitute the main body of this Thesis, and their content is described below.Chapter 3 presents a theoretical investigation into the compressive performance of single Cold-Formed Steel (CFS) members with Cee-shaped cross-sections, as well as various built-up sections (back-to-back, toe-to-toe, nested and a stud pack 4) derived from Cee profiles. The initial assessment of compressive performance is conducted using closed-form hand expressions. These results are subsequently complemented by design based on the Finite Strip Method (FSM) and further refined through simulations employing the Generalised Beam Theory (GBT). Detailed results for the compressive performance of the studied sections, considering a range of parameters including section thicknesses, steel grades, and buckling lengths considered, are also provided. Chapter 4 describes the performed experimental investigation into the compressive performance of steel-only and concrete-filled cold-formed steel built-up sections. The study encompasses the design and preparation of the test specimens, the experimental results, the predicted compressive resistance, and a comparative analysis between the predicted and observed values. Particular attention is given to the increasing of the effective area resulting from concrete infill; which is theoretically and experimentally validated through modifications to existing design approaches. Additionally, Chapter 4 analyses the compressive resistance of two CFS built-up sections filled with concrete -referred to as 4-pack Concrete-Filled Cold-Formed Steel (CF CFS) and 6-pack Concrete-Filled Cold-Formed Steel (CF CFS)-, across a range of concrete strength classes, from C20/25 to C50/60.Chapter 5 develops the design of three representative prototype steel framing buildings, 5-, 7-, and 10-storey, in regions of moderate (PGA 0.2 g) and high seismicity (PGA 0.3 g and 0.4 g) areas, by means of a Finite Element Method software, complemented with hand calculations. The main goal is obtained the internal forces in the most critical members of the buildings (namely the chord studs and the diagonal bracings of the wall panels). As described in detail in Chapter 5, the spectral ordinates, the base shear forces, and their distribution along the height of the buildings have been determined by hand calculations in accordance with the provisions of the second-generation Eurocode, since these provisions are not yet implemented in the FEM software. The results of the seismic analyses for each prototype building and seismicity level are presented, as well as a sizing proposal of the chord studs based on both the internal forces and the compressive performance of the concrete-filled in Chapters 3 and 4.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

• FORERO QUINTERO, JOSE FERNANDO: Flexibility Management System with Distributed Energy Resources
  
  Author: FORERO QUINTERO, JOSE FERNANDO
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Electrical Engineering (DEE)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 19/02/2026
  Reading date: 20/04/2026
  Reading time: 12:00
  Reading place: Aula 28.8 Sala de Conferències. ETSEIB-UPC
  Thesis director: VILLAFÁFILA ROBLES, ROBERTO | MONTESINOS MIRACLE, DANIEL
  Thesis abstract: The challenge of climate change is ever demanding more technological and political efforts to respond adequately to its adverse effects, which could put life on the planet at risk. Diverse plans have been proposed to incorporate more renewable generation and digitalize the power system in a decarbonizing energy transition framework. However, such plans are either not being accomplished or are insufficient according to the Paris Agreement. At the same time, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, high-performance sensing and automation, and real-time information and communication systems, among others, are transforming electrical networks into smart grids, aggregating more complexity.This thesis, based on a papers compendium, first surveys the existing energy management systems with distributed energy resources, delving into their configuration, energy and flexibility sources, information and communication systems, profitability analysis and indicators, and flexibility services. After reviewing the state of the art, this thesis focuses on boosting management systems towards the real-time horizon, proposing a flexibility management system. This system is a hierarchical three-level management system based on an adaptive autoregression algorithm, cost-benefits analysis, and redispatching and unit recommitment submodules to control and manage the power, and short-term flexibility requests.To validate the proposed system, not only several simulations and sensitivity analyses are carried out, but real-world energy assets are addressed in PVZEN microgrid lab in Torino, Italy. The results demonstrate that proposed system can reduce the cost overruns of real-time power deviations of the distributed resources, leverage the excess of renewable energy, and generate profits providing flexibility services to the grid. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 show the papers related to this thesis, starting with reviewing the art status, passing through the simulations and analysis, and finishing with the essays on real-world energy assets. Main conclusions and future work are depicted at the end of the document.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

• CANO LARROTTA, ANA MARIA JOSE CANDELARIA: VALORISATION OF BIOSOLIDS FROM SLUDGE TREATMENT WETLANDS FOR AGRICULTURAL USE
  
  Author: CANO LARROTTA, ANA MARIA JOSE CANDELARIA
  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: 13/03/2026
  Reading date: 30/04/2026
  Reading time: 10:30
  Reading place: UPC, Campus NordBuilding C1. Classroom: 002C/Jordi Girona, 1-308034 Barcelona
  Thesis director: UGGETTI, ENRICA
  Thesis abstract: Sludge treatment wetlands (STWs) are nature-based systems increasingly used to treat and dewater sewage sludge, particularly in small and medium-sized wastewater treatment plants. Through alternating feeding and resting periods, these systems promote natural dewatering, organic matter stabilisation, and partial attenuation of contaminants, producing a stabilised by-product commonly referred to as biosolids. Despite the growing use of STWs, the agricultural use of the biosolids they generate remains poorly understood, largely due to the limited number of agronomic studies and persistent concerns about contaminants.In this context, this PhD thesis examined the current state of knowledge on the agricultural use of biosolids derived from STWs, identifying a clear knowledge gap compared with biosolids produced by conventional sludge treatment technologies. This gap is largely attributed to uncertainties about biosolid quality, potential contaminant-related risks, and the lack of experimental and economic evidence supporting their use in agricultural systems.The main objective of this PhD thesis was to assess the feasibility of valorising biosolids from STWs for agricultural applications by analysing their stabilisation process, resulting quality, agronomic functionality, and economic implications. A key aspect addressed was the evaluation of the final resting period required before biosolids can be safely removed from STWs. Biosolids characterised after different resting periods showed that an adequate stabilisation phase is essential, with a resting period of approximately six months after the final feeding cycle under Mediterranean conditions. After this period, biosolids reached an average dewatering degree of around 51% total solids and an organic matter stabilisation of approximately 41% (TS/VS), indicating suitability for agricultural use.The agronomic valorisation of the biosolids was subsequently investigated. As soil amendments, STW-derived biosolids significantly increased total soil organic carbon and total nitrogen reserves, reaching up to 18.1 Mg·ha⁻¹ and 1.8 Mg·ha⁻¹, respectively. They also increased the stable and recalcitrant organic carbon fractions by up to 46% and 57%, respectively, and improved soil biological fertility, with microbial biomass carbon rising by 76% relative to the unamended control. In crop trials with lettuce, radish, and ryegrass, biosolids exhibited fertilising effects comparable to those of commonly used biofertilisers. In radish, biosolid application increased fresh and dry biomass by 93% and 32%, respectively, while protein content exceeded the control by 6%, 9%, and 17% in lettuce, ryegrass, and radish, respectively. Nitrogen losses through leaching were also reduced compared with urea-based fertilisation.Finally, a quantitative techno-economic analysis compared STWs with centrifugation over a 20-year assessment period. Although STWs required higher initial capital investment, their operating costs were substantially lower, with operating expenditures approximately 4.6–6.6 times lower than those of centrifuge systems. An additional economic assessment of fertilisation strategies showed that combining biosolids with inorganic fertilisers reduced fertilisation costs by approximately 29%–116% compared with conventional mineral fertilisation, even under conservative phosphorus-limited scenarios.Overall, this thesis demonstrates that biosolids derived from sludge treatment wetlands can be effectively and sustainably valorised in agriculture when appropriate stabilisation periods and management practices are applied, supporting their integration into circular and sustainable wastewater and agricultural management strategies
  
• CORREA GONZÁLEZ, SANDRA: Anaerobic digestion-based biorefineries to advance circularity in the olive oil sector
  
  Author: CORREA GONZÁLEZ, SANDRA
  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: 27/02/2026
  Reading date: 21/04/2026
  Reading time: 10:30
  Reading place: Place: ETSECCPBUPC, Campus NordBuilding C1. Classroom: 002C/Jordi Girona, 1-308034 Barcelona
  Thesis director: FERRER MARTI, IVET | PASSOS LOPES, FABIANA
  Thesis abstract: Every year, the olive oil industry generates large quantities of olive pomace, a by-product that currently represents an environmental problem but has great potential for the recovery of bio-based products and bioenergy within a biorefinery framework.In this context, the objective of this PhD thesis was to develop and evaluate anaerobic digestion–based biorefinery strategies for the valorisation of olive pomace. Specifically, the limitations of olive pomace mono-digestion were assessed, and co-digestion was investigated as a strategy to improve process stability and methane production. Biorefinery models for the recovery of bio-based products and biogas were examined, the agronomic potential of the resulting digestates was analysed, and last anaerobic fermentation was explored as an alternative valorisation pathway.The results demonstrated that olive pomace mono-digestion is unstable due to substrate-related properties, including acidic pH, lack of alkalinity and nutrients, high C/N ratio, and the presence of phenolic compounds. These limitations led to the accumulation of volatile fatty acids, inhibition of methanogenesis, and collapse of the microbial community, resulting in very low methane yields.Co-digestion with nitrogen-rich co-substrates, specifically from the swine farming sector, proved to be an effective strategy to overcome these limitations. In particular, pig slurry provided alkalinity, nutrients, and water, enabling stable operation, increased microbial diversity, and enhanced methane yields (145 mL CH₄·g⁻¹ VS). In contrast, co-digestion with pig manure achieved higher methane yields (289 mL CH₄·g⁻¹ VS) but exhibited lower resilience under stress conditions.Two anaerobic digestion–based biorefinery models were developed in this thesis. In the first, an ionic liquid pre-treatment ([Et₃NH][HSO₄], 120 °C, 1 h) was applied to recover lignin nanoparticles from olive pomace, followed by anaerobic digestion of the residual fraction. Analysis of the residual olive pomace revealed a less compact surface structure and greater bioaccessibility for microorganisms, resulting in higher methane yields during co-digestion with pig slurry compared to untreated olive pomace (173 mL CH₄·g⁻¹ VS). In the second biorefinery model, a thermal process (water, 100 °C, 45 min) was used to recover natural dyes for textile applications. The residual olive pomace fraction retained 88% of the initial methane potential. During semi-continuous reactor operation, co-digestion of this fraction with pig slurry achieved a methane yield of 157 mL CH₄·g⁻¹ VS.Digestates derived from the co-digestion of untreated and residual olive pomace with pig slurry exhibited favourable agronomic properties, such as near-neutral pH, balanced nutrient content, and partially stabilised organic matter. However, phytotoxicity at high application rates and elevated Hg concentrations highlight the limitations of these digestates and the need to blend them with other organic fertilisers to ensure safe soil application.Anaerobic fermentation was identified as an alternative or complementary pathway for olive pomace valorisation. Temperature and hydraulic retention time strongly influenced volatile fatty acid yields and profiles, as well as microbial community composition.Overall, this thesis demonstrates the potential of anaerobic digestion–based biorefineries for the valorisation of olive pomace and the production of value-added bio-based products, renewable energy, and organic fertilisers, contributing to the development of circular and resilient agro-industrial systems.
  
• SOUSSE VILLA, RUBEN: Dust in the atmosphere: Integrated modeling of heterogeneous chemistry, mineralogy, and optical properties
  
  Author: SOUSSE VILLA, RUBEN
  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: 16/02/2026
  Reading date: 29/04/2026
  Reading time: 12:00
  Reading place: Place: ETSECCPBUPC, Campus NordBuilding C1. Classroom: 002C/Jordi Girona, 1-308034 Barcelona
  Thesis director: PEREZ GARCIA-PANDO, CARLOS | JORBA CASELLAS, ORIOL
  Thesis abstract: Airborne mineral dust is one of the dominant aerosol components in the atmosphere and plays a central role in the Earth system through its interactions with atmospheric composition and radiation. Despite its importance, large uncertainties remain in its representation in atmospheric and climate models, particularly concerning dust heterogeneous chemistry. These reactions between dust particles and gas species play a dominant role over dust affected regions in the formation of secondary inorganic aerosols such as particulate nitrate, ammonium, and sulfate. Yet, they are still subject to strong simplifications and parameterizations in atmospheric models, which still show significant discrepancies in their representation.This Thesis aims to advance the understanding of dust atmospheric chemical processes, their dependence on mineralogical composition, and their implications for aerosol optical properties. To this end, multiple dust heterogeneous chemistry mechanisms and mineralogical representations are implemented and systematically evaluated within the MONARCH atmospheric chemistry model. Their impacts on atmospheric composition, aerosol acidity, and optical properties are assessed and evaluated against observations. Notably, this work represents the first integration into an atmospheric chemistry model of observationally constrained maps of surface mineral composition of arid surfaces derived from the recently launched NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) spectrometer.The evaluation of different dust heterogeneous chemistry mechanisms highlights the importance of representing reversible secondary inorganic aerosol formation in both fine and coarse particle modes, together with an accurate treatment of dust and sea-salt alkalinity. This combined approach is shown to be necessary to achieve consistent nitrogen budgets and aerosol acidity, and to better reproduce observed atmospheric nitrate concentrations.The comparison of different mineral atlases focuses on calcite as the primary contributor to dust alkalinity, demonstrating that EMIT provides the most consistent representation of the atmospheric calcite cycle. The use of source-resolved mineralogy compared to the common assumption of globally averaged dust mineral content, reveals strong geographical contrasts in calcite abundance, particularly between the Middle East and other major dust regions such as the Sahara and East Asia. These differences in calcite lead to marked regional and size-dependent implications for aerosol acidity and secondary inorganic aerosol formation. Impacts on particulate nitrate are found to be most pronounced during short-lived, intense formation events in regions affected by both dust and anthropogenic pollution, while global burdens and long-term trends are less sensitive.The implications of dust chemistry and mineralogical representation for aerosol optical depth and single scattering albedo are generally modest, with fine-mode aerosols exerting a larger influence than coarse particles, though both remain secondary compared to strongly absorbing minerals such as iron oxides. Limitations related to the representation of absorbing carbonaceous aerosols and the absence of cloud–aerosol interactions constrain the assessment of radiative effects.Overall, this Thesis demonstrates that combining reversible dust heterogeneous chemistry with source-resolved mineralogical information from EMIT substantially improves the representation of dust–gas interactions and their impacts on atmospheric composition and aerosol optics. Remaining uncertainties highlight the need for continued development of mineralogical datasets and chemical parameterizations, as well as the inclusion of anthropogenic dust sources and additional reactive gas species. Further progress would also benefit from high-resolution modeling of small-scale dust events and from expanded observational coverage over dust-affected urban regions.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

• PINEDO VILCAHUAMÁN, PAUL JOSÉ: Simulation of blast-induced liquefaction with an unconventional elastoplasticity model
  
  Author: PINEDO VILCAHUAMÁN, PAUL JOSÉ
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 19/03/2026
  Reading date: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  Thesis director: ARROYO ALVAREZ DE TOLEDO, MARCOS | GENS SOLE, ANTONIO
  Thesis abstract: Soil liquefaction is a phenomenon that typically occurs following earthquakes, although it may also be triggered by non-seismic loading. During liquefaction, a substantial and rapid reduction in the strength and stiffness of soils occurs due to pore pressure generation. Soil liquefaction is systematically investigated in the laboratory using element and model tests; however, certain aspects that prove critical in field liquefaction (e.g., soil fabric, dynamic loading, drainage conditions and ageing effects) are challenging to reproduce in the laboratory. This has prompted researchers to investigate liquefaction directly in the field by means of blast tests, i.e. experiments in which liquefaction is induced by controlled explosive detonations.Numerical simulation is nowadays frequently employed to simulate the onset and development of soil liquefaction. In this context, the primary objective of the present study is the numerical simulation of a controlled blast-induced liquefaction test conducted at a silty sand site in Bondeno, Ferrara, Italy. To this end, a constitutive model named CASM-SM has been implemented to reproduce soil behaviour during cyclic loading, having been recast within a subloading plasticity framework. The modelling of soil behaviour under blast loading is challenging due to several factors, including the characteristics of soil deformation close to the explosive, soil stiffness degradation, high frequencies in acceleration records (exceeding 100 Hz), and a significant increase of excess pore water pressure over a short timeframe (on the order of milliseconds). The Bondeno blast test simulation served as an excellent platform for validating the performance of the CASM-SM model. Particular attention was paid to the reproduction of the acceleration records, as well as velocities, Arias intensity, Fourier spectra, and spectral acceleration. Moreover, excess pore water pressures were compared against pore pressure transducer data. The results obtained from the numerical simulation provide relevant insights into blast-induced liquefaction within the silty sand layer.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MARINE SCIENCES

• HERNANDEZ, IVAN: Dispersion and Accumulation of Plastic in Coastal Regions. Application to the Barcelona Coastline.
  
  Author: HERNANDEZ, IVAN
  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 MARINE SCIENCES
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 20/03/2026
  Reading date: 29/04/2026
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: Place: ETSECCPBUPC, Campus NordBuilding C2. Room 212.C/Jordi Girona, 1-308034 Barcelona
  Thesis director: ALSINA TORRENT, JOSE MARIA | ESPINO INFANTES, MANUEL
  Thesis abstract: Plastic debris concentrations in the Barcelona coastline are among the highest in the Mediterranean Sea, comparable to those found in subtropical gyres. The Barcelona coastline is highly industrialised and densely populated, with a complex morphology that accommodates the different coastline interests. It contains one of the largest Mediterranean harbours with a complex shape characterised by two entrances and several marinas. It also hosts numerous urban beaches separated by breakwaters that also serve as part of a combined sewer overflow system. Two main rivers border the city limits to the north and south. The transport mechanisms of floating plastic debris in coastal zones remain poorly understood due to complex geometries and the influence of coastal processes. A Lagrangian numerical model (LOCATE) was developed to study how marine litter is transported at coastal scales in the Barcelona coastline. Lagrangian simulations at coastal scales, however, present challenges, which were addressed by using a coupled current-wave system and high-resolution hydrodynamic data at varying resolutions in a nested grid configuration.The LOCATE model was successfully validated using drifter data, producing high skill score results in areas covered by the high-resolution data. A distance-based beaching module was developed using high-resolution shoreline data, successfully resolving complex structures along the coastline and providing continuity within the varying spatial hydrodynamic resolutions. Coastal processes such as wave-induced currents were still at the sub-grid scale, resulting in uncertainties that were addressed by developing a probabilistic beaching framework. This included a beaching timescale of 26.35 h and an additional condition requiring a minimum particle travel distance of 1 km. Analysis of simulation outputs using observational river discharge data revealed a mildly positive association between particle beaching with the significant wave height. A complex and nuanced association with the coastline orientation and wave direction was also found. Proximity to the source and coastal geometric complexity were also highly influential in particle beaching. A beaching likelihood parameter was developed to quantify the propensity of an area to receive particles from a source, with areas adjacent to discharge sources found to have elevated likelihoods to receive particles.Possible sources of marine litter in Barcelona’s beach waters were identified using samples collected from citizen science and the probabilistic framework to conduct backtracking simulations. The concentration of plastic debris in urban beach waters was calculated as 1.78×109 items km-2 year-1. The urban Barcelona coastline, however, is a net recipient of marine litter, with 55.84% originating from outside the study domain. Land sources of plastic debris for urban beach water samples very clearly pointed to the combined sewer overflow network. Furthermore, samples collected directly at discharge sources, such as the rivers or the sewer overflows, were used to calculate a marine litter discharge budget with total discharge volumes for the Barcelona coastline. Fluxes were established from Lagrangian numerical simulations of the discharged quantities. Total plastic discharges are estimated at 5.96×1010 items year-1 of which 97.44% are microplastics, with a mass estimate at 16.96 metric tonnes year-1, of which 81.70% remains in the nearshore. These findings also underscore the urgent need for upstream waste reduction and targeted mitigation measures to prevent plastic debris from entering the sea.
  
• PAVO FERNÁNDEZ, EVA: Coastal dynamics and resilience in the low-engineered coast of Mozambique
  
  Author: PAVO FERNÁNDEZ, EVA
  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 MARINE SCIENCES
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 23/03/2026
  Reading date: 22/05/2026
  Reading time: 11:30
  Reading place: ETSETB Sala TeleensenyamentEdifici B3 - Ricardo Valle Sala 103 Planta 1Campus Nord Jordi Girona, 1-308034 Barcelona
  Thesis director: GRACIA GARCIA, VICENTE | GRIFOLL COLLS, MANUEL
  Thesis abstract: Coastal areas are crucial and sensitive environments that are increasingly at risk due to climate change. Yet, a significant research gap persists in integrating the various scales of coastal analysis, from long-term geomorphological settings to short-term (extreme events), in regions with limited information, as is the case of Mozambique.This thesis tackles this gap by utilizing a comprehensive, multiscale approach to study the dynamic and under-researched coastline of Mozambique. The region serves as a compelling case study, presenting a diverse geomorphology and high vulnerability to tropical cyclones within a data-scarce context. The research uses high-resolution satellite imagery, hydrodynamic data, geomorphological mapping, and process-based numerical modelling to provide a holistic assessment of coastal processes.By bridging the scales between remote sensing, geomorphological context, and process-based modelling, this thesis aims to advance the predictive understanding of coastal change in Mozambique. The outcomes provide a scientific foundation for informed coastal management, support coastal resilience, and offer a transferable template for studying other vulnerable, data-scarce coastlines globally.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN MECHANICAL, FLUIDS AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

• KHOSRAVI, HAMID: Enhancing microfluidic and electrochemical sensors for biological and environmental analysis
  
  Author: KHOSRAVI, HAMID
  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: 27/02/2026
  Reading date: 13/04/2026
  Reading time: 15:30
  Reading place: Sala de conferències del TR5, ESEIAAT.
  Thesis director: CASALS TERRE, JASMINA
  Thesis abstract: The transition toward low-cost, portable, and environmentally conscious analytical technologies has intensified the pursuit of sustainable alternatives to conventional laboratory instrumentation. This thesis develops paper-based and electrochemical sensing platforms that prioritize circular-economy principles by employing renewable and waste-derived materials. Non-wood cellulose fibers were selected as substrates for microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs), while industrial mill scale was valorized to synthesize magnetite nanoparticles for electrode modification, demonstrating that sustainability and high analytical performance can be synergistic.In the first study, μPADs fabricated from alternative cellulose sources were evaluated. Their fiber morphology and porosity strongly influenced capillary flow and colorimetric responses. Compared to commercial cellulose papers, non-wood substrates enabled substantially faster wicking and significantly reduced detection time, underscoring their suitability for rapid, low-resource diagnostics.The second study focused on lactate detection using magnetite-modified electrodes. Wastederived Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles enhanced electron transfer and enzyme immobilization, enabling an exceptionally broad detection range alongside high sensitivity and a low detection limit. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first demonstration of a lactate biosensing platform that simultaneously achieves such a wide dynamic range while retaining high analytical sensitivity, making it suitable for applications from trace physiological monitoring to highly concentrated food and fermentation environments.Finally, a novel electrochemical strategy was developed for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastic quantification in water. Leveraging the natural affinity between PET and magnetite nanoparticles, the approach transitions from the traditional use of magnetite for magnetic pre-concentration toward direct and quantitative electrochemical measurement, successfully validated in synthetic and real water matrices.Overall, this thesis demonstrates that renewable and waste-derived materials from non-wood cellulose to mill-scale-derived magnetite can serve as functional components in advanced sensing platforms, advancing sustainable analytical technologies for biomedical and environmental applications.
  
• SABÁN FOSCH, ALEJANDRO: End-to-end design and development of an Autonomous Flight Safety System enabling reusable space missions in Europe
  
  Author: SABÁN FOSCH, 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 MECHANICAL, FLUIDS AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
  Department: Department of Mechanical Engineering (EM)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 05/03/2026
  Reading date: 14/04/2026
  Reading time: 10:00
  Reading place: ESEIAAT - Aula 3.6
  Thesis director: SORIA GUERRERO, MANUEL | DIEZ LLEDO, EDUARD | SUREDA ANFRES, MIQUEL
  Thesis abstract: This dissertation presents the design, development, and validation of an Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) tailored to the operational and regulatory needs of reusable launch vehicles in Europe. Motivated by the shift from expendable rockets to reusable systems and the consequent need for autonomous range safety, the research situates itself at the intersection of technology, safety assurance, and certification.A requirement-driven approach, grounded in European and international regulations, ensured alignment with certification pathways. A review of current FSS and regulatory frameworks established the baseline from which requirements were derived. These were structured through a model-based systems engineering methodology, implemented in ARCADIA and SysML, guiding functional decomposition and definition of a three-layered architecture. The AFSS design comprises four application modules: navigation, flight dynamics assessment, decision-making, and Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM).Each module was independently implemented and validated. The navigation subsystem met outage-handling requirements, reliably bridging data gaps. The flight dynamics assessment integrated 3D flight corridor checks, and impact prediction with aerodynamic effects and dispersion evaluation at low operational cost. For reusable launchers, the IVHM subsystem is essential, as safe operation requires monitoring systems for re-entry. This module classified anomalies accurately, highlighting the trade-off between expert-tuned and data-driven approaches due to sensitivity to membership function parametrisation. The decision-making logic consistently executed termination rules under nominal and degraded conditions, confirming robustness.A RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety) analysis critically assessed maturity. Navigation and decision-making were identified as the most safety-critical functions, with redundancy mitigating risks but leaving common-mode vulnerabilities. Prototype hardware (HW) was selected according to Technology Readiness Level (TRL) criteria, suitable for ground validation at TRL 7 system level. This reflected a focus on validating software and architecture, while dedicated space-qualified HW -required for certification under harsher conditions such as radiation and vibration- lay beyond scope.Integration testing guaranteed the correctness of the AFSS prototype before the ground campaign at the Kiruna spaceport to achieve TRL 7, a milestone in European AFSS development. The prototype demonstrated coherent behaviour across processors, reliable synchronization between redundant chains, and real-time telemetry from the Real-time target machine. Although processing loads neared the limits of the selected low-end HW, it met its main objective: validating the complete AFSS software chain. Nonetheless, borderline safety decisions under certain conditions showed that resilience depends on algorithmic choices, parametrisation, and execution margins.The research shows AFSS architectures are technically feasible, regulation-aware, and progressing towards operational use, though challenges remain. Future work should address processor scalability with multi-core, space-qualified platforms; enhance navigation robustness against GNSS jamming and spoofing; extend IVHM towards prognostics; and evaluate navigation architectures (IMU-only versus integrated IMU/GNSS) once launcher avionics are defined. Equally critical is institutional progress: certifying AFSS will require new regulatory frameworks and joint experimental programmes aligning technical validation with policy evolution.By combining regulatory awareness, rigorous engineering, and validation to TRL 7, this dissertation contributes not only a prototype but also a roadmap. It demonstrates feasibility while clarifying remaining challenges, providing a foundation for the safe deployment of autonomous flight safety in Europe's reusable launchers.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PHOTONICS

• PUJOL CLOSA, MARIA DEL PILAR: Wave Propagation in Hyperbolic Metamaterial Waveguides
  
  Author: PUJOL CLOSA, MARIA DEL PILAR
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PHOTONICS
  Department: Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 11/03/2026
  Reading date: 15/04/2026
  Reading time: 10:00
  Reading place: ICFO Auditorium
  Thesis director: ARTIGAS GARCIA, DAVID
  Thesis abstract: Low-loss waveguides are essential for energy-efficient photonic circuits, optical communications, and sensing applications. Over the past century, two lossless phenomena—Dyakonov modes and Bound States in the Continuum (BICs)—have been discovered in anisotropic waveguides, where permittivities differ but share the same sign. Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) exhibit extreme anisotropy, with ordinary and extraordinary permittivities of opposite signs, enabling unconventional light manipulation. Their unique properties have attracted broad interest for applications including subdiffraction imaging, spontaneous emission control, and enhanced light-matter interactions. This raises a fundamental question: can extreme hyperbolic anisotropy support novel confinement mechanisms or new regimes of lossless propagation? Prior research on HMM waveguides has been constrained to simplified models or propagation along principal axes, leaving systematic exploration of arbitrary propagation directions, and the phenomena they may reveal, as a critical gap.To address this gap, this thesis develops a semi-analytical computational framework that combines a transfer-matrix formulation with a complex-plane Newton-Raphson root finder, enabling stable tracking of guided and leaky modes for arbitrary propagation directions. This tool allows systematic exploration of a wide range of parameters and configurations previously difficult to study.This thesis provides the most comprehensive investigation to date of light propagation in planar HMM waveguides. For the first time, the work analyzes both type I and type II HMM waveguides across all in-plane propagation directions and with arbitrary optic axis orientations. The analysis reveals how hyperbolic anisotropy fundamentally influences polarization, confinement, polarization exchange between modes, mode ordering, radiation mechanisms, and slow light arising from topological transitions. This establishes general trends, identifies new guiding regimes, and maps the landscape of wave phenomena in these extreme anisotropic systems.The exploration of leaky modes enabled a key discovery: Dirac points embedded in the Continuum (DECs), a novel class of topological degeneracy in non-Hermitian systems. DECs emerge when a symmetry-protected BIC and an interferometric BIC intersect linearly. At this intersection, the system exhibits a real eigenvalue, two orthogonal modes, and zero radiation loss—locally Hermitian behavior despite being embedded in a non-Hermitian system. The presence of both BICs suppresses Exceptional Points (EPs) and collapses the Fermi arc to a single point. Because DECs arise from universal BIC interactions rather than material-specific properties, this phenomenon extends beyond hyperbolic media, with implications in the fields of topological photonics and non-Hermitian physics.This thesis demonstrates the framework’s generality and reliability through application to anisotropic liquid-crystal waveguides, where predicted BIC trajectories match experimental observations, and to $\sigma$-near-zero metasurfaces, where the framework accurately reproduces published dispersion diagrams. These validations confirm its applicability beyond hyperbolic systems.This thesis establishes a comprehensive theoretical and computational understanding of wave propagation in planar HMM waveguides for both type I and type II configurations and discovers DECs as a novel physical phenomenon with implications beyond hyperbolic media. By revealing how extreme anisotropy enables new guiding regimes and loss suppression, this work advances the understanding of light confinement in open, strongly anisotropic systems and provides new routes for designing low-loss photonic devices.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN POLYMERS AND BIOPOLYMERS

• COLOMBI, SAMUELE: Soft and Conductive Material Architectures for Flexible Electronics: from Hydrogels to Nanomembranes
  
  Author: COLOMBI, SAMUELE
  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: 20/02/2026
  Reading date: 14/04/2026
  Reading time: 10:30
  Reading place: EEBE - UPCSala Polivalent, Ed. Ahttps://eebe.upc.edu/ca/lescola/com-arribar
  Thesis director: ALEMAN LLANSO, CARLOS ENRIQUE | GARCÍA TORRES, JOSÉ MANUEL
  Thesis abstract: Soft materials are key enablers of the next generation of flexible and multifunctional systems for applications spanning biomedicine, energy, and environmental technologies. This thesis focuses on the design, fabrication, and implementation of (nano)engineered polymeric materials with tailored properties for use in soft electronic devices, drug delivery systems, solar-driven water evaporators, and functional scaffolds for tissue engineering. To this end, three main families of materials were developed: composite alginate (Alg)-based hydrogels, composite gelatin methacrylate (GelMA)-based hydrogels, and polylactic acid (PLA)-based nanomembranes. For each material platform, structure–property–function relationships were systematically investigated across distinct biotechnological scenarios to achieve enhanced performance. Alg-based composite hydrogels were engineered as versatile, water-rich platforms through the incorporation of functional nanomaterials (such as PLA nanofibers and gold nanoparticles), enzymes, and conducting polymers (e.g., PEDOT:PSS). These systems were designed to exhibit improved mechanical robustness, controlled porosity, and tunable physicochemical and functional properties while maintaining their intrinsic biocompatibility. By modulating composition, the Alg-based hydrogels were successfully applied as drug delivery matrices for the sustained release of lactate, as soft electronic platforms for temperature and H₂O₂ sensing, and as flexible energy-storage devices. In addition, the introduction of secondary covalent crosslinking was explored as a strategy to enhance operational stability in H₂O₂ biosensing and solar-driven steam generation applications. In parallel, bilayered PANI–PLA nanomembranes incorporating aligned gold nanopillars were fabricated as free-standing, lightweight, conformable, and mechanically stable platforms for skin electronics. These nanomembranes enabled simultaneous pH and non-enzymatic NADH sensing, demonstrating their suitability for monitoring skin physiology and infection-related biomarkers. Finally, GelMA hydrogels were nanoengineered with magnetoelectric and/or graphene-based nanomaterials to develop bioactive scaffolds for cardiac tissue regeneration. The incorporation of these nanomaterials allowed precise tuning of the mechanical, electrical, magnetic, and biological properties of the hydrogels. Their ability to support cell adhesion and proliferation, combined with their capacity to sense cellular activity, highlights their potential as multifunctional scaffolds for engineered tissues and bioelectronic interfaces. Overall, this thesis demonstrates that rational materials design across multiple length scales enables the development of soft matter systems with tailored and synergistic functionalities, paving the way toward next-generation flexible electronic devices, controlled therapeutic platforms, and sustainable water-treatment technologies.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS

• GORT JELMER DIRK, BEREND: AI-Driven Zero-Touch Orchestration of Edge-Cloud Services
  
  Author: GORT JELMER DIRK, BEREND
  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: 10/03/2026
  Reading date: 24/04/2026
  Reading time: 10:00
  Reading place: ETSETB B3 Teleensenyament, Campus Nord UPC, Barcelona
  Thesis director: ANTONOPOULOS, ANGELOS | UMBERT JULIANA, ANNA
  Thesis abstract: 6G networks demand orchestration systems capable of managing thousands of distributed microservices under sub-millisecond latency constraints. Traditional centralized approaches introduce unacceptable delays, create single points of failure in heterogeneous edge-cloud infrastructures, and require constant attention from human operators. This dissertation addresses three critical challenges: (1) computational constraints that prevent the deployment of predictive models on edge devices, (2) lack of generalization of models across diverse types of applications, and (3) lack of validated autonomous orchestration without human intervention.To address these challenges, this dissertation develops three complementary frameworks that combine lightweight machine learning, attention-based deep learning, and agentic artificial intelligence for zero-touch service management in distributed 6G edge-cloud environments.The first contribution, AERO (Adaptive Edge-cloud Resource Orchestration), addresses the challenge of running predictions on resource-constrained edge devices. Current transformer models require millions of parameters (e.g., Pathformer: 2.4M), making them impractical for edge deployment. AERO achieves competitive accuracy with only 599 parameters, making edge deployment feasible and reducing reliance on cloud round-trips when local inference is preferred. Evaluations demonstrate sub-millisecond inference (0.38ms), 13% energy savings, and 99% fewer SLA violations compared to reactive scheduling, which allocates resources only after demand changes occur.The second contribution, OmniFORE (Framework for Optimization of Resource Forecasts in Edge-cloud networks), addresses the operational challenge of maintaining separate models per application. A single OmniFORE model generalizes across heterogeneous workloads without retraining, replacing the need for dedicated per-application models. Cross-dataset evaluation on industry-standard benchmarks (Google and Alibaba production traces) demonstrates 30% better accuracy than ModernTCN while maintaining 15× faster inference than AGCRN.The third contribution, AgentEdge, addresses the challenge of agentic orchestration in distributed edge-cloud environments. Existing agent frameworks target generic domains or centralized cloud infrastructures, leaving distributed 6G environments without autonomous management solutions. AgentEdge introduces multi-agent orchestration to this domain, translating natural language intent (e.g., "deploy with low latency") into validated orchestration actions across heterogeneous infrastructure. Evaluations demonstrate 78.3% success rate (2.76× higher than single-agent baselines), 10× reduction in API call variability, and power savings up to 300.8W across deployments scaling from 8 to 35 nodes.The research has produced 5 journal publications, 3 international conference papers in IEEE venues, and 1 Elsevier book chapter.
  
• KASULURU, VAISHNAVI: AI-Driven Network Service Management for Efficient and Sustainable Open-RAN Systems in 6G and Beyond
  
  Author: KASULURU, VAISHNAVI
  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: 24/02/2026
  Reading date: 15/05/2026
  Reading time: 14:00
  Reading place: ETSETB B3 Teleensenyament, Campus Nord UPC, Barcelona
  Thesis director: BLANCO BOTANA, LUIS | ZEYDAN, ENGIN
  Thesis abstract: This thesis presents an efficient and sustainable AI-driven resource management framework for next-generation Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) in the context of the emerging 6G era. The framework operates in a cloud-native 6G environment and translates predictive intelligence into reliable, energy-aware orchestration. It combines advanced predictive modeling with optimization-based control to address challenges, like stochastic demand, multitenancy, and computational complexity in O-RAN. The predictive forecasting architecture is the core of the framework, quantifying uncertainty and interdependencies among network resources across multiple tenants. Probabilistic forecasting models generate distributions of future resource demands, enabling service providers to perform more informed and risk-aware resource orchestration in complex multitenant environments.Initially, the framework considered in this thesis considers univariate probabilistic estimators, including Simple-Feed-Forward (SFF), Deep Autoregressive Recurrent network (DeepAR), and Transformers, to predict individual resource demands and support effective provisioning in O-RAN. These models deliver efficient, agile, and uncertainty-aware resource predictions, which are integrated into a novel percentile-based orchestration strategy, Dynamic Percentile Adjustment Approach (DYNp). The proposed method dynamically adjusts the percentage to ensure efficient resource utilization in O-RAN systems. Selecting an appropriate percentile is critical for balancing resource waste and service reliability. However, univariate probabilistic estimates do not capture cross-resource interdependencies, leading to suboptimal decision-making. To address this limitation, the framework incorporates state-of-the-art multivariate probabilistic forecasting models such as Gaussian Process Vector Autoregression (GPVAR) and the Temporal Fusion Transformer (TFT). They jointly process multiple time series and provide robust estimates of future resource demands. These models effectively learn complex interdependencies among different resources and key parameter indicators across network slices and tenants. Furthermore, we have evaluated how low-rank approximation in GPVAR estimator enhances scalability and robustness by reducing the algorithm's training time. One of the main goals of this thesis is to achieve energy efficiency and effective resource management and sharing. By considering predictive intelligence together with power consumption, the proposed techniques proactively optimize the activation and deactivation of radio resources or radio units. This strategy significantly reduces power consumption while maintaining user experience and adhering to Service Level Agreement (SLA) guarantees. Furthermore, another relevant contribution of the thesis is the extension of the traditional cellular O-RAN architecture to include Cell-Free massive Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output (CF-mMIMO) networks, reflecting the architectural evolution for beyond 6G systems. This provides a scalable approach to ultra-dense, energy-efficient O-RAN deployments. Finally, the algorithm tools considered in the dissertation are implemented as modular applications to facilitate deployment across O-RAN. The cloud-native implementation of the forecasting and orchestration pipeline is a notable achievement. Each module has been containerized using Docker, and its functionality is exposed via Representational State Transfer (REST) APIs, such as Swagger. This enables the pipeline to operate as microservices, supporting flexible deployment, scalable execution and seamless integration within O-RAN. The thesis establishes a mathematical and architectural foundation for deploying AI-driven, sustainable, and energy-optimized O-RAN with uncertainty adaptation. It provides a basis for realizing intelligent, autonomous, and stable 6G networks and supports future research and industrial implementation of AI-powered O-RAN ecosystems.
  
• NOURMOHAMMADI, FARZANEH: Deep Learning Driven Blocking Prediction in Elastic Optical Networks using Spatio-Temporal Hybrid Neural Network
  
  Author: NOURMOHAMMADI, FARZANEH
  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: 24/03/2026
  Reading date: pending
  Reading time: pending
  Reading place: pending
  Thesis director: COMELLAS COLOME, JAUME
  Thesis abstract: The explosive growth of bandwidth-intensive services such as ultra-high-definition video streaming, cloud gaming, and virtual reality is pushing optical transport networks toward greater flexibility and efficiency. Elastic Optical Networks (EONs) address these demands by allocating spectrum in variable-sized frequency slots rather than fixed-grid channels. However, the dynamic setup and teardown of heterogeneous lightpaths fragment the optical spectrum, often leading to connection blocking even when sufficient total capacity exists. Accurate early prediction of blocking events enables network controllers to trigger proactive spectrum defragmentation and resource reallocation, improving service continuity and network utilization.This dissertation investigates deep learning-based approaches for blocking prediction in EONs using network state information represented as spectrum occupancy matrices. First, we introduce one-dimensional and two-dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks (1D-CNN and 2D-CNN) to automatically extract spatial fragmentation patterns from simulated EON topologies. The proposed 2D-CNN achieves a prediction accuracy of 92.17\% and outperforms conventional machine learning baselines such as Support Vector Machines and k-Nearest Neighbors. Building on this, we propose hybrid spatio-temporal architectures that integrate convolutional feature extraction with Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Bidirectional LSTM (BiLSTM) units to capture both spatial and temporal evolution of spectrum fragmentation. The CNN–BiLSTM model achieves 94.1\% prediction accuracy while maintaining reasonable computational complexity, and the CNN–LSTM model offers a favorable trade-off between accuracy and training speed.By unifying spatial and temporal deep learning techniques, this work provides a comprehensive framework for early and reliable blocking prediction in dynamic EON environments. The proposed models can be integrated into elastic optical network controllers to enable timely defragmentation actions, reducing blocking probability and improving overall network efficiency. The findings advance the application of artificial intelligence to optical networking and lay the foundation for future integration with intelligent routing, spectrum assignment, and network automation strategies.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN STATISTICS AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH

• ROGNON, PAUL JORIS DENIS: Improving variable selection properties by leveraging external data.
  
  Author: ROGNON, PAUL JORIS DENIS
  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 STATISTICS AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH
  Department: Department of Statistics and Operations Research (EIO)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 09/03/2026
  Reading date: 20/04/2026
  Reading time: 14:00
  Reading place: Sala d'actes de la FMECampus Diagonal Sud, Edifici U. C. Pau Gargallo, 14 08028 Barcelona
  Thesis director: ROSSELL RIBERA, DAVID | ZWIERNIK, PÌOTR
  Thesis abstract: Sparse high-dimensional signal recovery is only possible under certain conditions on the number of parameters, sample size, signal strength, and underlying sparsity. I show that leveraging external information, as possible with data integration or transfer learning, allows pushing these mathematical limits. Specifically, I consider external information-dependent l0 penalties and Bayesian variable selection methods, show that they attain model selection consistency under milder conditions than standard methods, and that they also attain faster model recovery rates. First, I obtain results for oracle-based penalties and prior inclusion probabilities that have access to perfect sparsity and signal strength information. Those results provide an understanding of how and when external information helps variable selection. They also provide a theoretical benchmark to evaluate practical non-oracle selection methods using external information. Subsequently, I propose data-based procedures grounded in empirical Bayes methods that leverage external information to ease variable selection and do not require an oracle. I derive their properties in the particular case where external information partitions the set of variables in blocks with potentially distinct characteristics. Finally, I discuss a computational framework for the incorporation of external information in Bayesian variable selection through empirical Bayes in the general case.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

• BORGES CAVALCANTI, DANILO: Finite Element Method with Embedded Strong Discontinuities for Coupled Hydro-Mechanical Problems
  
  Author: BORGES CAVALCANTI, DANILO
  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 STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
  Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA)
  Mode: Change of supervisor + Article-based thesis
  Deposit date: 09/03/2026
  Reading date: 20/04/2026
  Reading time: 14:00
  Reading place: Sala Zienkiewich (CIMNE) Building C1, UPC - Campus North Gran Capitan S/N 08034 Barcelona
  Thesis director: DE POUPLANA SARDÀ, IGNASI | CAMPOS RAMOS MARTHA, LUIZ FERNANDO | DE MESQUITA ROEHL, DEANE
  Thesis abstract: Coupled hydro–mechanical (HM) processes in fractured porous media govern the performance and safety of several subsurface engineering applications, where pressure-driven changes in stress and permeability can control injectivity, leakage pathways, and fault reactivation potential. This thesis develops a robust and versatile finite element formulation for transient HM problems in the presence of pre-existing strong discontinuities that remains practical for integration into standard finite element workflows. The proposed approach is formulated within the Embedded Finite Element Method (E-FEM) and grounded on the Strong Discontinuity Approach (SDA), enabling an implicit representation of fractures and faults while circumventing mesh conformity constraints. A unified description is introduced to model discontinuities acting either as preferential flow paths or as hydraulic barriers, capturing the longitudinal flow along the discontinuity and the transversal exchange with the porous matrix in steady-state and transient settings. The formulation is systematically verified against discrete fracture models with interface elements and applied to benchmark problems representative of fractured-reservoir conditions, including a coupled fault reactivation scenario. In addition, the thesis investigates the occurrence of spurious oscillations in cohesive traction fields along embedded discontinuities and demonstrates that the choice of an SDA-based embedded formulation can markedly improve traction smoothness. These improvements strengthen the use of E-FEM for HM assessments involving pre-existing fractures and faults.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

• HOUCHMAND, LAURA JO: Integrated assessment of passive rooftop strategies and photovoltaic on building energy demand and urban heat island effects under current and future Mediterranean climates
  
  Author: HOUCHMAND, LAURA JO
  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: 08/04/2026
  Deposit END date: 21/04/2026
  Thesis director: GASSO DOMINGO, SANTIAGO | MACARULLA MARTÍ, MARCEL
  Thesis abstract: Climate change mitigation and adaptation are pressing challenges, particular in Mediterranean cities, where rising temperatures, intensifying urban heat island (UHI) effects, increasing cooling demand, and growing water scarcity intersect. Rooftops represent a critical interface for climate-responsive building transformation, as they offer substantial potential for passive strategies, such as cool roofs and green roofs, and active renewable technologies, particularly photovoltaic (PV) systems. Despite extensive research on rooftop technologies, four key knowledge gaps remain: (1) insufficient year-round assessment of the UHI impact of roof-mounted PV systems combined with passive roofing strategies; (2) limited integrated evaluation of green roofs and PV systems considering both building energy demand and urban climate implications; (3) lack of comparative analysis of the impact of passive roofing strategies under projected future Mediterranean climate scenarios on the buildings’ energy demand; and (4) inadequate quantification of the impacts of PV integration with passive roofing strategies on building energy demand under future climate change conditions. This doctoral research addresses these gaps through a structured, simulation-based methodological framework. The work begins with a targeted literature review to establish the scientific context of passive and active rooftop strategies in Mediterranean climates and to define the research questions. Building on these gaps, dynamic building energy simulations are conducted using DesignBuilder with EnergyPlus as the calculation engine. Barcelona (Csa climate classification) serves as the case study location. Current climate conditions are represented by high-resolution Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data (1975–2021), while future conditions are assessed using morphed TMY files based on the IEA EBC Annex 80 methodology under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios for mid-term (2047–2060) and long-term (2087–2100) horizons.A typical Mediterranean roof as basic roof (BR) serves as the reference case and is compared with passive strategies, including a cool roof (CR), a soil roof without vegetation (SR), and extensive green roofs under different irrigation regimes (EGR, EGRmin, EGRmax), as well as their integration with rooftop PV systems. Key performance indicators include convective heat fluxes from roof and PV surfaces (UHI contribution), conductive heat fluxes through the roof and annual heating and cooling demand (building energy demand), as well as PV electricity generation.The findings of this thesis highlight trade-offs between energy efficiency, urban heat, water use, and future climate impacts, emphasizing the need for climate-sensitive, typology-specific rooftop strategies.
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS

• MOSAHEBFARD, MOHAMMADREZA: Resource Management in Sliced Converged Optical-Wireless 6G Networks: From Strategic Dimensioning to Dynamic Service Provisioning
  
  Author: MOSAHEBFARD, MOHAMMADREZA
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS
  Department: Department of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC)
  Mode: Normal
  Deposit date: 10/04/2026
  Deposit END date: 23/04/2026
  Thesis director: VERIKOUKIS, CHRISTOS | VARDAKAS, JOHN
  Thesis abstract: The evolution toward the 6th Generation (6G) networks relies on converged optical-wireless infrastructures and virtualization technologies like Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) to support diverse services through Network Slicing. While enabling flexibility, these paradigms introduce profound complexity in managing shared computational and com-municational resources. This thesis addresses this challenge by identifying a fundamental temporal duality in resource management, spanning the strategic need for agile capacity planning to the operational necessity of real-time service provisioning. This complexity is further aggravated by the presence of various network slices, each with distinct Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. To resolve this dichotomy, distinct methodologies are developed within this PhD thesis.To address the strategic domain, where Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) require rapid dimensioning tools for flexible resource leasing, this PhD thesis develops a computationally efficient analytical framework based on one-dimensional Markov chains. Uniquely, this model captures resource occupancy at two levels: physical resources governing Service Function Chain (SFC) instantiation, and virtual resources governing user admission. This stratified modeling avoids state-space explosion while accurately calculating admission ratios, achieving relative errors typically below 2% compared to simulations. The framework is applied to determine the minimum resources required to achieve target admission ratios under varying arrival rates, as well as to identify the necessary capacity to meet different target admission rates under constant traffic loads. This capability enables rapid offline dimensioning to guarantee Quality of Service (QoS) thresholds, offering a scalable alternative to time-consuming simulations and resource-exhaustive optimization approaches.Complementing this, the operational challenge of online SFC Embedding (SFCE) is addressed. Recognizing the NP-hardness of the embedding problem with the objective of jointly minimizing holistic power consumption and blocking probability, HORIZON, a novel holistic heuristic designed to optimize Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) operational efficiency, is developed. It employs a proactive backward placement strategy coupled with power and latency-aware segmental routing, and integrates comprehensive power models for both servers and Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs). By enforcing strict inter-slice isolation while maximizing intra-slice efficiency, HORIZON achieves power efficiency within 15% of optimal Integer Linear Programming (ILP) bounds under resource-constrained scenarios. Evaluations across four realistic network topologies demonstrate execution times of 10–18 ms per service request (38–67 times faster than optimal solvers), power savings up to 23.6% compared to state-of-the-art heuristics, and negligible blocking rates, enabling MVNOs to minimize OPerational EXpenditure (OPEX) while strictly adhering to Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
  

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SUSTAINABILITY

• LARVOE, NOAH: FROM FARM TO FORK: THE ROLE OF FARMERS AND CONSUMERS IN PESTICIDE REDUCTION IN EUROPEAN VINEYARDS AND OLIVE GROVES
  
  Author: LARVOE, NOAH
  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: 10/04/2026
  Deposit END date: 23/04/2026
  Thesis director: KALLAS CALOT, ZEIN
  Thesis abstract: Sustainability transitions in agri-food systems require coordinated adjustments on both the supply and demand sides of food value chains. In the Mediterranean wine and olive sectors, in which chemical pesticides remain central to pest and disease control, reducing pesticide use in line with the European Union objective of halving synthetic pesticide use by 2030 depends on both consumer support for reduced pesticide products and farmers’ willingness to adopt innovations that make such reductions feasible. This thesis examines whether and under what conditions market demand and farmer behaviour can support pesticide reduction in Mediterranean orchard systems through four empirical studies.The first study analyses consumer preferences for extra virgin olive oil with reduced pesticide use using a reference-dependent contingent valuation survey of 5,091 consumers in France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Approximately 73% of respondents are willing to pay a premium for olive oil produced with a 40% reduction in pesticide use. The estimated mean premiums range from 22% in Italy to 26% in France relative to products produced under standard practices. The second study examines organic wine consumers to estimate the proportion of the organic price premium attributable to the non-use of synthetic pesticides. It employs a reference price-dependent discrete choice experiment (DCE) with 1,070 consumers. The results show that the non-use of synthetic pesticides accounts for 74% of the average reference organic price reported in the study, exceeding the contribution of other organic attributes, while the EU-approved third-party certification generates the highest positive effect. Latent class analysis identifies three consumer segments, namely, awareness-driven, certification-driven, and price-sensitive consumers, which differ systematically in attitudes, knowledge, and purchasing experience. The third study extends the analysis to the conventional wine market using a dynamic reference-dependent DCE with 4,000 consumers in the same countries. The results show that wines produced with a 40% reduction in pesticide use command significant price premiums, ranging from approximately 26% in France to 30% in Italy and Portugal. Consumers’ environmental attitudes, past purchasing prices, and subjective knowledge significantly influence their preferences, although the strength of these effects varies across countries. The fourth study examines farmers’ intentions to adopt pesticide-reducing innovations using data from 16 expert interviews and a structured survey of 354 orchard farmers within an extended theory of planned behaviour framework. Adoption intentions are driven by positive attitudes toward pesticide reduction and favourable perceptions of ease of use, while perceived costs and beliefs in the superior performance of existing practices constitute significant barriers. Subjective norms and perceived behavioural control do not predict adoption intentions. These findings are used to develop a predictive tool that determines the likelihood of a farmer adopting pesticide-reducing innovations. Overall, the findings suggest that consumers can provide economically meaningful incentives for pesticide reduction in viticulture and olive groves, while farmers’ adoption decisions are shaped mainly by attitudes, perceived complexity, and economic considerations. Policy and stakeholder strategies that combine credible certification, targeted information, and support for innovation costs are likely to strengthen the alignment between market demand and farm-level decision-making. This thesis provides an economic and behavioural assessment of how consumers and farmers can contribute to the EU’s Green Deal objective of reducing pesticide use. Further, it outlines priorities for future research, notably market trials, longitudinal studies of farmer adoption behaviour, and integrated assessments of economic and environmental impacts of pesticide reduction