Stefano Galati is joining the PMG

Stefano, welcome to the University of Bergen!

Thank you very much! I am truly excited to join the team and to contribute to its research activities. I look forward to learning from all of you and to sharing my own experiences and ideas.

Since most of us don’t know you well, can you tell us a bit about your background?

I come from Salento, a region at the very bottom of the heel of Italy. There it is usually warm and sunny, but the rumours about Bergen’s rain and darkness didn’t discourage me, as I actually prefer the mountains to the seaside. I completed a BSc in Mechanical Engineering at Università del Salento, and later moved to Milan for my MSc in Mathematical Engineering – Computational Science. For my master’s thesis, I implemented a Nitsche-type method for solving bilateral contact problems in linear elasticity involving a slipping fault, and compared it with a more standard approach based on Lagrange multipliers. My main academic interests are Mathematical Modelling, Numerical Analysis, and Scientific Computing. Outside of work, I enjoy hiking in nature and playing the piano.

Why did you choose to pursue a PhD?

I have always had the desire to dig deeper into what I learn, and I would have regretted leaving behind the more theoretical aspects of my studies in favour of a purely practical path. Pursuing a PhD felt like a natural continuation of my academic journey. I believe that within the Porous Media Group I can find a good balance between applied mathematics and further developing my skills in scientific computing.

Your PhD project is part of the gigaCCS project. Can you tell us a little bit about your project?

gigaCCS is a collaborative project between 39 partners from industry, research institutes, and other organisations. The gigaCCS research centre aims to advance the global implementation of CCS at gigatonne scale, since large-scale CCS projects are essential to achieving a net-zero future.

I will be working on Work Package 3.1 (regional storage scale-up). My goal is to improve the mathematical and simulation models for large-scale poroelastic response at the basin scale. To achieve this, I will rely on mathematical tools such as homogenization, upscaling, and numerical analysis.