RootS25 will be preceded by the lecture of Prof. Lidija Zdravkovic from Imperial College London, entitled: “Geotechnical engineering for a sustainable society”.

The lecture will be held on the 5th of November in the afternoon (exact time to be decided).
The participants of RootS25 reaching Bari on the 5th of November can attend the lecture in the Aula Magna “Domus Sapientiae” (Politecnico di Bari).

Short Bio: Prof. Lidija Zdravkovic is a leading expert in computational geomechanics and serves as Professor and Head of Geotechnics at Imperial College London. After earning her civil engineering degree from the University of Belgrade in 1988, she spent four years there as an academic before moving to Imperial in 1992 for her PhD, which focused on soil strength and stiffness anisotropy. Her research centers on developing and applying advanced finite element methods—particularly through the ICFEP code—to analyze complex geotechnical problems such as unsaturated soils, soil dynamics, offshore wind turbine foundations, nuclear waste disposal, and geothermal energy. She has contributed to major engineering projects like Crossrail, the Shard, and Heathrow Terminal 5, authored over 100 academic papers, and coauthored two textbooks. Prof. Zdravkovic has also held key roles in professional organizations, including the ISSMGE and the British Geotechnical Association.