Mineral-bonded composites
for enhanced structural impact safety

Mineral-bonded composites
for enhanced structural impact safety

Mineral-bonded composites
for enhanced structural
impact safety

GRK 2250/2 Summer School 2023

  • 26.06. - 29.06.2023

  • Prague, Czech Republic

The first Summer School for the third cohort of PhD researchers of the GRK2250 took place in the wonderful city of Prague, hosted by the colleagues of the Czech Technical University in Prague, with the great support and warm welcome of Prof. Radoslav Sovják. A dense and rich program of keynote lectures, scientific interactions and visits to the laboratories of the Experimental Center of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and the DYNLAB of the Faculty of Transportation Sciences was organized, providing a unique opportunity to establish new collaborations and strengthen existing ones.

Upon arrival, Prof. Sovják and his collaborators led the group through a tour of the Faculty, starting with an impressive rise to the roof, which provided a breathtaking view of Prague. The welcome barbecue organized on the campus was the perfect way to officially start the event.

Moving on to the scientific program, the opening lecture was given by Dr. Ravi Ranade, Associate Professor at the University of Buffalo, USA, on how to improve the resilience of strategic infrastructures with advanced materials, which is an extremely sensitive topic in the framework of our research group.

Prof. Jiří Němeček presented an interesting overview on the use of nanoindentation as a key technique to investigate the microstructure of concrete and cementitious materials in general, reporting on the latest studies carried out in the Nano Labs at CTU.
To emphasize the strong multidisciplinary orientation of the Summer School, the opening lecture of the second day was given by Dr. Christopher Künneth, Assistant Professor at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, on cutting-edge artificial intelligence approaches applied to problems pertaining materials science and engineering. Then, Prof. Amos Gilat, from the Ohio State University, USA, described the potential of digital image correlation for the detection of wave propagation phenomena in solids in his comprehensive lecture on Split-Hopkinson bar experiments, which raised the curiosity of many participants even coming from different backgrounds. Dr. Eric Jacques, Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech, USA, presented the latest results of his studies in the field of reinforced concrete structures subjected to blast loads, and also reported on the progress of the joint research conducted in collaboration with the GRK2250.

On the last day of the Summer School, Prof. Milan Jirásek, from CTU Prague, presented the most recent results of his research group, on the calibration of a damage-plastic model for concrete subjected to confined compression. During the sessions dedicated to the GRK doctoral projects, a special format was followed, taking advantage of the presence of the second and the third cohort together, presenting the results of the current research and the outlook for the forthcoming three years, triggering interesting discussions on possible research directions, ideas and collaborations.

Along with this diverse scientific program, there was a great opportunity to visit the beautiful center of the capital of the Czech Republic, immersed in the hectic atmosphere of authentic pubs, small streets and iconic squares.

The social dinner on the boat on the Vltava River was highly appreciated by the participants, providing a friendly and relaxed environment for informal conversations and even scientific exchanges.