As part of its academic activities, the ROSE School organizes an annual International Seminar, providing Master’s and PhD students with the opportunity to present and discuss their research in front of an audience of leading international experts.
Alongside these presentations, the event traditionally features a keynote lecture delivered by a distinguished scientist on a contemporary and highly relevant topic in the fields of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology.
The annual ROSE Seminar has been organised since 2001, the year of the School’s foundation. From its 15th edition in 2015 onwards, it has been officially named the Nigel Priestley International Seminar in honour of Professor Nigel Priestley, co-founder and Emeritus Director of the ROSE School.
Over the years, the Seminar has become a well-established and highly anticipated tradition within the ROSE community, offering a valuable opportunity to engage with leading experts, exchange ideas, explore cutting-edge research developments, and strengthen connections within the global seismic engineering community.

 

The 10th Nigel Priestley Seminar

The 10th Nigel Priestley Seminar will take place on 21–22 May 2026 at the Auditorium of Collegio Riboldi in Pavia.
The event will open on 21 May at 2:00 PM with the final PhD thesis defense of students enrolled in the ROSE (Earthquake Engineering) doctoral programme, followed by presentations of ongoing research by current ROSE PhD candidates. The day will conclude with the traditional Seminar Dinner on Thursday evening, 21 May.
On 22 May, the programme will continue with further presentations by ROSE PhD candidates.
The afternoon session will feature two of the seminar’s highlights: the Keynote Lecture by Prof. Paolo Franchin (Sapienza University of Rome) and the award ceremony of the 9th Nigel Priestley Prize.
The 2026 Nigel Priestley Prize will be awarded posthumously to Prof. Paolo Emilio Pinto, a globally recognised leader in earthquake engineering whose pioneering contributions to nonlinear modelling, structural reliability, and seismic risk assessment have profoundly shaped modern research and engineering practice, while influencing generations of engineers worldwide (further details can be found in the dedicated section below).
Participants will also have the opportunity to explore the latest activities of the Eucentre Foundation and the ROSE School.
The seminar will close with the Graduation Ceremony, celebrating students of the ROSE programmes who have successfully completed their studies.

The full programme is available here.
Contacts for information: info@roseschool.it

The Nigel Priestley Prize

Since 2008, the Seminar represents the occasion on which, every two years, a prestigious Prize is conferred to professionals and academics at any stage of their careers who have distinguished themselves through outstanding contributions to education or through exceptional creativity and innovation in the fields of earthquake engineering and engineering seismology.
The first recipient of the ROSE School Prize was Professor M.J. Nigel Priestley. The subsequent awardees include Professors V.V. Bertero (2010), L. Esteva (2012) and G.M. Calvi (2014). Following the passing of Professor M.J. Nigel Priestley, the Eucentre Foundation renamed the Prize into the Nigel Priestley International Prize. Since then, the awardees were Professors S.L. Kramer (2016), A.K. Chopra (2018), G. Fenves (2022) and M. Nakashima (2024).
The Prize consists of an art piece created by a renowned sculptor, offering an artistic interpretation of earthquakes and their impact on human beings, the environment, and culture.

The 2026 Nigel Priestley Prize will be awarded posthumously to Prof. Paolo Emilio Pinto, who passed away on 10 January 2026. An internationally renowned leader in earthquake engineering and Full Professor at Sapienza University of Rome, Prof. Pinto devoted more than five decades to research and teaching, leaving a profound and lasting impact on nonlinear modelling, structural reliability, and probabilistic seismic risk assessment. Among his most influential contributions is the Menegotto-Pinto model, which remains a cornerstone in the numerical simulation of nonlinear response and is widely implemented in advanced dynamic analysis software. His work significantly advanced the seismic safety of infrastructure, particularly bridges, anticipating key themes that are now central to resilience-based design strategies. Prof. Pinto maintained a strong and enduring connection with Eucentre and the ROSE School, where he educated generations of engineers and researchers from around the world, fostering a rigorous and responsible approach to data interpretation and modelling. This award recognises the exceptional value of his scientific and cultural legacy, which continues to shape the international earthquake engineering community.

Further details can be found here.