Thesis opportunities
Several thesis topics are available, ranging from modelling to theoretical issues. If you are a Bachelor's or Master's student and might be interested in working with me on your thesis, feel free to contact me.
Research interests
Mathematical modelling of bio-inspired locomotion
- Locomotion of soft-bodied, biological and robotic crawlers
- Friction anisotropies produced by bristle-like elements
- Stick-slip and nonlinear behaviours in friction
- Qualitative properties, stabilization and optimal control for crawling locomotion
Dynamical systems and ODEs
- Topological methods in nonlinear analysis, degree theory
- Twist conditions for Hamiltonian systems, Poincaré–Birkhoff theorem and its higher dimensional generalizations
- Qualitative properties of dynamical systems, stability, attractors, persistence and permanence
- Evolutionary game dynamics, ecological models and population dynamics
- Reversible systems
Calculus of variations and its applications to mechanics
- Rate-independent systems and sweeping processes
- Multiscale models and evolutionary convergence for generalized gradient flows
- Vanishing inertia approximations
- Applications of calculus of variations to friction and elastoplasticity