Serena Cattari, coordinator of the PhD Program in Security, Risk and Vulnerability of the Unviersity of Genoa is  pleased to announce  the “2025 Edition of the PhD Autumn School in Security, Risk and Vulnerability: Insights from the RETURN project”.

The event will take place at the beautiful venue of the Annunziata convent -Bay of Silence in Sestri Levante (Liguria – Italy). The PhD Autumn School is funded by and involves the extended partership RETURN- multi-Risk sciEnce for resilienT commUnities undeR a changiNg climate.

The PhD School is targeted to Civil and Enviromental Engineering PhD candidates, post-doc researchers and early-career scientists working on seismic and flood risk at urban scale, who are interested in broadening their knowledge through a multi-risk approach!

The activities will include:

• Cross-cutting lectures and round tablesopen to all participants, aimed at exploring the key aspects of multi-risk studies. These sessions will draw on the expertise of researchers from the RETURN partnership and internationally renowned researchers, with the involvement of decision-makers engaged in mitigation policy planning and civil protection, as well as experts from the insurance sector and NatCat companies.
• Workshopswhere participants will work in groups to gain hands-on understanding of the interactions between exposure, vulnerability, and hazard in multi-risk studies, and the resulting impacts not only on the built and natural senvironments, but also on society.
• Lectures organized into two parallel sessions(each consisting of eight talks), allowing participants to choose based on their background—either in seismic or flood risk—to delve deeper into recent research developments in their area of interest.

A “3-Minute Flash Talk” competition is also planned, where participants will be invited to present their research in the most effective way possible. On Monday, September 22, participants will be key players in a dedicated poster session, during which a panel of experts will select six finalists. These finalists will then compete on the morning of Wednesday, September 24, to determine the top three winners, who will be chosen by an expert in science communication. The expert will also give a seminar, offering participants insights and practical advice on how to improve their communication skills.

Download the brochure

Pre-registration is open until July 15, 2025 – maximum number of participants: 35!!  NO REGISTRATION FEE!!!