The inaugural International Workshop on Geotechnical Risk and Uncertainty (IWGRU2026), organized by the ISSMGE Technical Committee on Risk Assessment and Management (TC304), was successfully held from 6 to 8 June 2026 at Tongji University in Shanghai, China. The workshop attracted about 100 participants from more than 10 countries, including China, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Spain, Japan, Korea, the United States, and Turkey. Attendees comprised leading academics, practicing engineers, researchers, and postgraduate students, reflecting the global interest in this rapidly evolving field.
The workshop was launched with opening remarks by Prof. Zhenmin Shi, Vice President of Tongji University, who welcomed the international delegation and highlighted Tongji’s long-standing strengths in civil engineering and risk research. Prof. Michael Hicks, Chair of TC304 and Professor at Delft University of Technology, delivered an address outlining the committee’s ongoing efforts to promote reliability-based design, risk assessment, and risk management practice within the geotechnical community. He expressed his strong hope that this new workshop series would serve as a catalyst for deeper international collaboration.
The scientific programme featured four invited keynote lectures, each addressing a critical frontier in geotechnical risk and uncertainty:
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Prof. Hongwei Huang (Tongji University, China) delivered a lecture on “Multi-dimensional Risk Assessment and Its Application in the Construction of an Undersea Tunnel in China,” demonstrating the application of dynamic risk coupling and prediction models to major infrastructure projects.
Prof. Hongwei Huang -
Dr. W.M. Cheung (Head of Geotechnical Engineering Office, CEDD, Hong Kong SAR, China) presented “A Story of Slope Engineering and Landslide Risk Management in Hong Kong,” offering a comprehensive review of the territory’s slope safety management system, digital monitoring, and resilience strategies under extreme rainfall conditions.
Dr. W.M. Cheung -
Prof. Jinsong Huang (University of Newcastle, Australia) spoke on “Bayesian Back Analysis for Long-term Soft Soil Settlement Prediction,” illustrating how field monitoring data can be integrated with prior knowledge to update and refine long-term settlement forecasts for soft ground engineering.
Prof. Jinsong Huang -
Prof. Iason Papaioannou (National Technical University of Athens, Greece) presented “Gaussian Process-based Site Characterization and Uncertainty Propagation in Offshore Monopile Design,” introducing probabilistic site modelling techniques that propagate cone penetration test (CPT) data and spatial variability into offshore foundation reliability assessments.
Prof. Iason Papaioannou
In addition to the keynotes, the workshop featured 10 parallel technical sessions, encompassing over 50 presentations across a broad spectrum of topics, including: geotechnical resilience under climate change and digitalization, data-driven site characterization, Bayesian methods and machine learning for geotechnical data, geological uncertainty modelling, flood protection infrastructure risk, generative AI for uncertainty quantification, natural hazard risk assessment, and offshore geotechnical risk and safety. These sessions reflected the discipline’s clear trajectory from traditional reliability analysis towards multi-source data fusion, intelligent modelling, and risk-informed decision support.
A highlight of the workshop was the panel discussion entitled “Future of Geotechnical Reliability and Risk: Challenges, Opportunities, and Priorities for the Next Decade,” moderated by Prof. Michael Hicks and Prof. Jie Zhang (Vice-Chair of TC304). Fifteen leading experts from academia and practice participated, engaging in a dynamic exchange on spatial variability characterization, the impacts of extreme climatic events, AI adoption and its challenges, standardization of reliability-based design, and the translation of research into engineering practice. The discussion also devoted significant attention to nurturing the next generation of risk practitioners.
During the closing ceremony, Prof. Jie Zhang, Vice-Chair of TC304 and Professor at Tongji University, summarized the workshop’s achievements. He noted that IWGRU2026 successfully brought together cutting-edge research and real-world engineering experiences, showcasing the immense potential of reliability methods, probabilistic modelling, digital technologies, and risk management concepts to address contemporary geotechnical challenges. The workshop has established a solid foundation for what is hoped will become a regular and influential international forum.
The TC304 looks forward to continuing its mission of advancing geotechnical risk and reliability practice through international exchange, collaborative research, and knowledge dissemination. Plans for future editions of IWGRU are already under discussion.