GEOENGINEERING

Structure of educational activities and any curricula

The study path is divided into two years, organized in a way to maximize interdisciplinary training and provides for a single track structured in two paths with the objective of providing also integrative knowledge to the personal preparation deriving from the previous career.
The "for engineers" path will provide compensatory knowledge mainly in the field of geological disciplines.
The "for geologists" path will provide compensatory knowledge mainly in the field of engineering disciplines. The two paths will differ by 18 ECTS based on specific disciplines of constrained choice. The 120 ECTS that make up the LM (Master’s Degree) will be divided into disciplines delivered in English, of which:

• 60 ECTS of disciplines delivered in the 1st year and 30 ECTS of disciplines delivered in the 2nd year;
• 12 ECTS of activities freely chosen by the student, delivered in the 2nd year;
• 6 ECTS of training and orientation internship, delivered in the 2nd year;
• 12 ECTS for the Final Exam.

Regarding the articulation of educational activities, the study plan is attached, including recommended free choice exams and prerequisites.

The Course of Study in brief

International Master's Degree Course in class LM-35 – Environmental and Territorial Engineering, aimed at the preparation of specialized technicians in the activities of monitoring, management, and design of systems and works for the reduction of geo-hydrological risk.
The Course of Study (CdS) has an international character due to the delivery of the entire educational offering in the English language and has a marked interdisciplinary approach, maximizing the existing synergies between many of the disciplines proper to civil-environmental engineering and geological sciences and technologies.
At the same time, in order to guarantee in any case a full recognizability and functionality of the new Geoengineering graduate within the Italian and European professional and regulatory contexts, the curriculum of the CdS is aimed at the training of technicians with an engineering-type professionalism, applied to geological and hydraulic problems and based on basic knowledge also proper to earth sciences.
Within the framework of training graduates with the cultural background deriving from the study plans of the already composite existing educational offering, the CdS aims at the creation of an integrated cultural and professional profile focused on the themes of geological risks connected to surface, sub-surface, and gravitational slope hydrological processes, in order to train technicians capable of having a vision as broad and updated as possible regarding the theme of territorial management and mitigation.
The Master's Degree in Geoengineering in Class LM-35 – Environmental Engineering intends to represent an educational offering complementary to the existing one: through the orientation toward specific and increasingly current interdisciplinary themes of territorial protection from geo-hydrological risks (only partially present in existing LMs) and the international character marked by the delivery of the entire educational offering in English, it aims to attract additional Italian and foreign students compared to those of the already existing LM-35, whose cultural project validity remains in any case unaltered.

Specific educational objectives of the course and description of the educational path

The Master's Degree Course in Geoengineering aims at the training of experts capable of using the acquired knowledge to interpret, describe, analyze, control, and manage complex environmental realities and territorial engineering problems that require an interdisciplinary approach, with particular reference to geo-hydrological processes and problems.
The specific educational objectives consist of the construction of the capacity to:
• know and know how to develop methods and techniques for territorial investigation and data analysis, which also allow integration at different territorial scales;
• know the methodologies and use prevention technologies for the protection of humans and the environment from geo-hydrological risk;
• know how to face problems related to the monitoring, control, and management of the environment and the territory, evaluated according to the criteria of sustainability and environmental ethics;
• have competencies for the assessment of risk and environmental impacts, also through the formulation of models and the use of conceptual and methodological tools provided by environmental planning;
• deeply know the theoretical-scientific aspects of environmental and territorial engineering, in which they are capable of identifying, formulating, and solving—even in innovative ways—complex problems, such as protection against landslides and floods, or those requiring an interdisciplinary approach;
• be equipped with the fundamental tools for the quantitative analysis of engineering systems within the framework of geological processes, their temporal evolution, and their modeling, especially for application purposes;
• be capable of conceiving, planning, designing, and managing complex and/or innovative systems, processes, and services at a territorial scale;
• possess the necessary knowledge to operate the restoration and conservation of the quality of territorial systems, particularly those with high anthropization;
• possess the necessary knowledge to prevent the degradation of environments as a consequence of environmental and geological processes, also for the purpose of protecting anthropic activity.
These specific educational objectives of the course stem from an evolution, both in a specialist and interdisciplinary sense, of educational objectives typical of the reference class of environmental engineering. The need for the establishment of an Engineering-area path that is markedly interdisciplinary toward the Earth Sciences area arises from the requirement to focus toward a common application field, that of protection against geo-hydrological risk, which is assuming an ever-growing importance on the national and international scene.
The educational path consists of an integration of knowledge and competencies from the geological, applied-geological, geotechnical, structural, hydrological, and hydraulic sectors, as well as applied mathematics, achieved through a study plan divided into two years that provides for the acquisition of a number of ECTS consistent with the educational objectives for each of the aforementioned disciplinary sectors. In the first year, the interdisciplinary integration includes the consolidation of numerical methods and statistics. The student is required to take the mandatory courses provided for by the Regulations, with the possibility of including elective groups in homogeneous sectors, to be integrated with exams chosen by the student, internships and apprenticeships at companies and public bodies, and a final exam, the characteristics of which are described in the Regulations.
The methods by which the expected learning outcomes are verified consist of formative assessments, intended to detect the progress of the class and the effectiveness of the learning processes, carried out in an agreed and planned manner, or rather profit exams, aimed at evaluating and quantifying with a grade the achievement of the overall objectives of the courses, which certify the degree of individual preparation of the students. For some activities and courses, individual or group design/project activities may be proposed under the guidance of a professor. The degree course intends to apply—within the limits set by current laws—tools aimed at validating credits recognizable upon entry for previous competencies (from different training systems or professional experience), such as skills audits, resorting to the advice of experts from different sectors (from both a training and technical point of view).

Admission requirements for the courses of study

Access to the Master’s Degree in Geoengineering is permitted to graduates of three-year degrees, pursuant to DM 270/04, or to holders of equivalent program titles pursuant to previous regulations (specifically DM 509/99), or of a first-level university degree obtained abroad (and therefore not attributable to the national subdivision). For access to the Master’s degree course in Geoengineering, knowledge of the English language of at least CEFR B2 level is mandatory, proven either by a three-year diploma obtained in the English language or by the presence in the three-year curriculum of at least 3 ECTS of English language of an equal or higher level, or through the presentation of a certificate issued by the University Language Centre, or by other body acknowledged by the Ministry. Any certification must have been obtained within the 5 years preceding the request. Furthermore, the possession of curricular requirements defined in terms of the possession of specific minimum numbers of ECTS obtained in sets of scientific-disciplinary sectors, as reported in the attached Table, is required.
Should the number of ECTS found be lower than those indicated, or if it is not possible to apply the table in the case of candidates in possession of an access title obtained abroad, the final decision and any indications to be provided—in case of acceptance—in terms of an interview and/or an integration of ECTS, will nonetheless be delegated to the Degree Programs Teaching Committee.

PERSONAL PREPARATION REQUIREMENTS:
After having verified the possession of the curricular requirements and language knowledge, personal preparation is deemed satisfied by graduates who present a graduation grade greater than or equal to 90/110 (or equivalent grade for those graduated abroad). For students who enrol conditionally (con riserva), the average achieved in the exams taken within the path followed by the graduate in the original Bachelor’s degree (CdL) will be considered, which must be greater than or equal to 22 (or equivalent grade for students of foreign degree programs).
In other cases, and in any case whenever the opportunity is recognized, the student will be required to undergo a supplementary interview with the Teaching Committee or its Delegate, following which the Committee will decide on the admissibility or otherwise of the candidate.