Laura Tonni

Current position: Associate Professor of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Bologna.

I graduated from the University of Bologna in March 1998 with First Class Honours in Civil Engineering.

Following graduation, I joined the Geotechnical Engineering group at the University of Bologna to undertake post-graduate research in Soil Mechanics.

I obtained a D.Phil. in Geotechnical Engineering from the Technical University of Turin (Italy) in March 2002. My doctorate was concerned with the development of numerical techniques for the integration of non-standard elastoplastic models, with particular reference to Generalized Plasticity models. During my Ph.D I spent a research period at the Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas, CEDEX (Madrid, Spain), where I deepened my knowledge of non linear finite elements applied to geotechnical problems, under the supervision of Prof. Manuel Pastor.

In the period 2002-2006 the cooperation with Prof. Pastor's research team was supported by the University of Bologna, within the Marco Polo programme (support to young researchers mobility) and by the Italian Ministry of University and Research in conjunction with the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, within the the bilateral programme “Azione Integrata” Italy-Spain.

In 2002 I was appointed to a Research Fellowship at the department of Civil Engineering of the University of Bologna.

From January 2004 to December 2015 I held the position of Lecturer in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Bologna.

In February 2014 I obtained the national scientific qualification as associate in the sector 08/B1 - Geotechnics (procedure defined in DD 222 of July 20, 2012).

In April 2018 I obtained the national scientific qualification as professor in the sector 08/B1 - Geotechnics.

I am Principal Investigator of the project LIFE19 ENV/IT/000071, LIFE SandBoil "Natural-based solution to mitigate flood risk due to SAND BOILS reactivations along the Po River. Start date: October 1st, 2020. End date: September 30th, 2025. https://lifesandboil.eu/

I am Responsible of the local research unit for the project PRIN 2022 -2022PZW7FL "Characterization and modelling of intermediate soils through innovative approaches for robust design of strategic infrastuctures and protection of risk-sessitive areas (TRANSITION)". Coordinating Beneficiary: Università dell'Aquila.

In the period 2017-2019 I participated in the POR-FESR 2014-2020 (ASSE 1 Ricerca e Innovazione) research project "Tecnologie Innovative per la riduzione del rischio sismico delle Costruzioni", working on low-impact mitigation strategies against seismic-induced soil liquefaction.

I was Principal Investigator of the Research Project Alma Idea 2017 "Theoretical and Experimental Study for the evaluation of liquefaction susceptibility of granular soil deposits: effect of stratigraphic arrangement, depositional environment, and ground motion characteristics on the liquefaction initiation". Funded by ALMA IDEA Grant Senior.

I was member of the working group "ARGINI", supported by the Emilia Romagna regional authority and composed by experts of the Italian Geotechnical Association (AGI),  for the assessment of the seismic stability of the river banks in the area struck by the 2012 Emilia earthquake.

I am Nominated Member of the ISSMGE Technical Committee TC102 "In-situ testing" and Corresponding Member of TC201 "Dykes and Levees".

I am member of the Editorial Board of the Rivista Italiana di Geotecnica and reviewer for a number of international geotechnical journals.

I am member of the Advisory Board of the PhD Programme "Engineering and Information Technology for Structural and Environmental Monitoring and Risk Management - EIT4SEMM", University of Bologna.

I was member of the National Committee of Geotechnical Engineering (Giunta del Gruppo Nazionale di Ingegneria Geotecnica) in the period 2012-2015.

I am currently Accounts Auditor of the Italian Geotechnical Association.

Secretary of the organizing Committee of the International Symposium on Design and Practice of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Structures. Honoring research achievement of Prof. Dov Leshchinsky. Bologna, Facoltà di Ingegneria, 14-16 October 2013.

Chair of the Organizing Committee of VI Convegno Nazionale dei Ricercatori di Geotecnica (CNRIG), Bologna, 22 - 23 September 2016.

Chair of the Organizing Committee and member of the Scientific Committee of the "5th International Symposium on Cone Penetration Testing (CPT'22)", Bologna, 8-10 June 2022.

Member of the Scientific Committee of the 7^th International Conference on Geotechnical and Geophysical Site Characterization, Barcelona (Spain), 18-21 June 2024.

Member of the Organizing Committee of the 28th Italian Geotechnical Conference (Convegno Nazionale di Geotecnica).

Editor of the volume Geotechnical Engineering in Multidisciplinary Research: from Microscale to Regional Scale. Proc. VI Convegno Nazionale dei Ricercatori di Geotecnica, CNRIG2016. Procedia Engineering, Vol. 158 (2016).

Editor of the volume Cone Penetration Testing 2022. Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Cone Penetration testing. CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group (2022).

I was granted a patent (together with my colleagues Irene Rocchi and Guido Gottardi) on a testing instrument for checking the degree of saturation of a pressure sensor unit of a piezoocone (Patent no. US 10,538,891 B2).

My research interests mainly include the following topics:

• computational geomechanics, with special reference to the development of implicit algorithms for the integration of non-standard elastoplastic models and the modelling of non-linear geotechnical problems using a Generalized Plasticity approach;
  
• Cone penetration testing for the geotechnical characterization of intermediate soils deposits and analysis of partial drainage effects;
• The geotechnical response of river embankments in both static and seismic conditions, with special reference to the analysis of backward erosion piping phenomena and the development of effective mitigation strategies against piping progression.
  

Teaching Activity

Since 1999 I have been deeply involved with the teaching activity in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Bologna. From 1999 to 2005 I gave practical classes and tutorials within the Master degree courses in Soil Mechanics. 

Since 2006 I have been teaching in the following areas:

2006

• Soil Mechanics, 1st Level Degree Course, Bachelor in Environmental Engineering
• Soil Mechanics, 1st Level Degree Course, Bachelor in Civil Engineering

2007

• Soil Mechanics, 1st Level Degree Course, Bachelor in Environmental Engineering
• Soil Mechanics, 1st Level Degree Course, Bachelor in Civil Engineering
• Lectures on "Constitutive modelling of soils" within "Geotechnical Engineering", graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering

2008

• Soil Mechanics, 1st Level Degree Course, Bachelor in Environmental Engineering
• Lectures on "Constitutive modelling of soils" within "Geotechnical Engineering", graduate course, 2nd Level Degree Course in Civil Engineering

• Soil Mechanics, 1st Level Degree Course, Bachelor in Environmental Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering, (1st part, 30h)) graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering

• Soil Mechanics, 1st level degree course, Bachelor in Environmental Engineering

• Soil Mechanics, 1st Level Degree Course, Bachelor in Environmental Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering

• Geotechnical Modelling Laboratory, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering

2013

• Geotechnical Modelling Laboratory, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering

2014 -2020

• Geotechnical Modelling Laboratory, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering
• Soil Mechanics, 1st level degree course, Bachelor in Environmental Engineering.

2020-2021

• Geotechnical Modelling Laboratory, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Environmental Engineering, Curriculum "Earth Resources Engineering".

2021 to date

• Geotechnical Modelling Laboratory, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering, graduate course, 2nd Cycle Degree in Civil Engineering
• Soil Mechanics, 1st level degree course, Bachelor in Environmental Engineering.