Personal Information
- Full Name : Giovanni Michele Porta
- Date of birth : 29 October 1981
- Role : Associate Professor
- Email : giovanni.porta@polimi.it
- Office : Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32
- Telephone : +39-02-23996256
Associate Professor with expertise in uncertainty quantification, scientific machine learning, inverse modelling and computational methods for water resources, porous media and environmental systems. My research develops uncertainty-aware computational methods that integrate physics-based modelling and data-driven approaches to improve the prediction of flow, transport and reactive processes across scales ranging from the pore to the catchment and geological scale. Applications include groundwater and surface water systems, contaminant transport, soil processes and subsurface energy resources. A central aspect of my work is translating methodological advances into practical solutions for environmental management through collaborations with academia, industry and government. Current research focuses on trustworthy AI, physics-informed machine learning and uncertainty-aware modelling for environmental systems.
Education and Professional Career
Visiting researcher at CSIRO, Agricolture&Food
2026Visiting Professor at School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia.
From 2019Associate professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.
From 2018Assistant professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.
2015 - 2018Research associate, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.
2010 - 2015Adjunct professor, School of Industrial and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.
2013 - 2015Research
My research develops conceptual, mathematical and computational methods to improve the prediction of flow, transport and reactive processes in porous media under uncertainty. I combine physics-based modelling, inverse methods and scientific machine learning to advance uncertainty-aware approaches for environmental and subsurface systems. Applications span groundwater resources, contaminant transport, soil processes and subsurface energy systems across scales ranging from the pore to the geological scale. The overarching goal of my research is to translate methodological advances into practical tools that support sustainable management of water, energy and environmental resources. Current research focuses on reactive transport, environmental risk assessment, uncertainty quantification and trustworthy AI for environmental modelling.
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Teaching
Since 2011 I held the tenure of courses of Fluid Mechanics, School of Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano as wells as Hydraulics and Applied Hydraulics at the School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano. Since 2018 I contributed developing and designing new lecture materials based on flipped and blended classroom methodologies for the course of Fluid Mechanics. In 2019 I was Unit lecturer of the Master course Advanced Water Resources Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney (Australia). I was Assistant lecturer in PhD courses at Polimi. page on Politecnico website.
National and International Research Projects
URSOILL (Horizon-Europe)
2025 - 2029Development of innovative solutions for urban soil restoration through Living Labs.
ICOSHELLs (Horizon-Europe)
2024 - 2028Experimental Site Coordinator. Co-creation of Living Labs for sustainable agricultural soil health.
AGROBLUE (Italian Agency for Development Cooperation)
2026 - 2028Technical Expert. Water security assessment and integrated water resources management in Kenya.
REMEDI (Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network)
2021 - 2025Project Manager. Research and doctoral training on groundwater remediation and reactive transport.
PRIN
2023 - 2025Uncertainty Quantification of Coupled Models for Water Flow and Contaminant Transport (Italian Ministry of University and Research) Research Unit Coordinator.
AMAZING (Polisocial Award, Politecnico di Milano)
2023 - 2024Scientific Leader. Sustainable water management and resilient human settlements in the Aures region.
Industrial Research Programme with Eni SpA
2016 - 2021Principal Investigator of five projects on uncertainty quantification, inverse modelling, scientific machine learning and environmental applications.
Royal Society International Exchanges
2018 - 2021Co-Principal Investigator. Data assimilation and uncertainty quantification for subsurface transport processes.
RECYCLE (Horizon 2020 RISE)
2020 - 2025Research team member. Sustainable management and recycling of pesticide contaminants.
EnviroSphere (University of Sydney Research Excellence Initiative)
2018 - 2021International collaborator. Uncertainty-aware modelling of contaminant transport in agricultural soils.
WE-NEED (Water JPI)
2016 - 2019Research team member. Groundwater modelling and water resources sustainability.
IMVUL (Marie Curie Initial Training Network)
2011 - 2012Research supervisor. Groundwater vulnerability assessment and doctoral training.