Two IHCantabria researchers received the Extraordinary Doctorate Awards 2024

In the framework of the commemorative act of St. Thomas Aquinas, held yesterday in the auditorium of the University of Cantabria (UC), two researchers from the Institute of Environmental Hydraulics of the University of Cantabria(IHCantabria) ─Moisés Álvarez Cuesta y Héctor Lobeto Alonso─ received the 2024 Extraordinary Doctoral Awards, in the area of Engineering and Architecture, for their theses read in 2022.

The Extraordinary Doctoral Awards are honorary mentions granted by the University of Cantabria in recognition of the high level of quality of the doctoral theses of its students, in accordance with the provisions of the Doctoral Regulations. For this purpose, the UC Doctoral Commission evaluates the publications and patents associated with the doctoral thesis, the attendance to congresses and the participation in research projects during the pre-doctoral stage.

The doctoral theses of Moisés Álvarez Cuesta y Héctor Lobeto Alonso were awarded in the area of Engineering and Architecture, for their contribution to the advancement of knowledge in coastal and environmental engineering. Both thanked the UC Doctoral Commission for the delivery of their Extraordinary Doctoral Awards 2024, as well as their directors and IHCantabria, for ensuring the necessary means for the achievement of their doctoral theses.

“Receiving the Extraordinary Doctoral Award is a recognition that values many small and not so small sacrifices that go unnoticed day by day during the doctoral thesis period. It is an award for perseverance, which makes me especially excited and encourages me to face the new challenges that the future holds for me with the same determination with which I have worked during these years,” says Moisés Álvarez.

“This award is for me a huge illusion, a recognition of the effort and dedication invested during the doctorate, a culmination of the good times and a confirmation that even the not so good times were worth it. It is a boost for what is to come, to continue developing a research career, which I consider to be the most beautiful and enriching profession, with all the dedication and work it requires,” says Héctor Lobeto.

Doctoral thesis by Moisés Álvarez Cuesta

Moisés Álvarez Cuesta developed his thesis within the PhD Program in Coastal Engineering, Hydrobiology and Aquatic Systems Management (IH2O) of the UC. His doctoral thesis, entitled “Development of a methodology to obtain projections of shoreline evolution under climate change considering different temporal and spatial scales in a framework of uncertainty”, was supervised by Alexandra Toimil and Íñigo Losada.

In her PhD research, Alvarez focused on improving the characterization of coastal erosion and inundation impacts considering climate change to support coastal adaptation studies. To this end, she developed a set of numerical tools to assess and predict shoreline changes and how these changes affect inundation in coastal environments that can be very complex. For this doctoral thesis, Moisés Álvarez was also awarded the First Modesto Vigueras 2023 Prize of the Technical Association of Ports and Coasts, the most important recognition in Spain for young professionals in Port and Coastal Engineering.

Doctoral thesis by Héctor Lobeto Alonso

In the area of Engineering and Architecture, the researcher Héctor Lobeto Alonso was also awarded an Extraordinary Doctorate Prize. His doctoral thesis, entitled “Study of the climatic variability of marine surface dynamics: extremes and effect of climate change”, was directed by Melisa Menéndez and Raúl Medina, within the Doctoral Program IH2O of the University of Cantabria.

In his doctoral thesis, Lobeto developed new methods and climate products to improve the characterization of sea surface dynamics at regional and global scales. His research focused on wave and sea level, with particular attention to their extreme events, as both dynamics are crucial for the assessment of impacts in open ocean and coastal areas. To support the content of his thesis, Lobeto also evaluated climate variations at different time scales, especially those long-term variations that are induced by the effect of climate change.

His thesis was also awarded the Prize for the ‘Best Doctoral Thesis in Physics of the Atmosphere and Ocean’, after winning the Prize for the “Best Doctoral Thesis in Physical Oceanography” awarded by the Specialized Group of Physics of the Atmosphere and Ocean (GEFAO). of the Real Sociedad Española de Física(RSEF). These awards were received by Héctor Lobeto in mid-July 2024, during the celebration of the XXXIX Biennial of the Spanish Royal Society of Physics, held in Donostia.