CV page
Gabriele Greco
Hi!
I’m a scientist with a background in physics and materials science.
I love to explore and tackle scientific topics from a multidisciplinary perspective.
Presentation
My research is focused on spider silks and spider biomechanics.
I love spiders, nature, and all their related cultural topics.
I enjoy hiking, animal watching, and all kinds of outdoors activities.
Teaching
2023 – Current – Invited lecturer for “Bioinspired Engineering” course at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
2022 – Current – Invited lecturer for “Biomaterials and Biomedical Technologies” Master course at the University of Trento
2021 – Organizer and lecturer in the Ph.D. course “Introduction to Mechanics of soft materials” at the Graduate School for Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences).
2016 – Current – Invited lecturer at the course Surface Physics and Nanostructures, Master Degree in Physics, University of Ferrara.
Research
Spider Silks and webs; Spider Biomechanics; Spiders' behavior and ecology; Biomechanics; Biomimicry and biomimetic approach; Experimental Mechanics
Active projects:
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF: EPASS – Expanding the properties of Artificial Spider Silk; 01/09/2023 - 31/08/2025
Background
2020 PhD in Civil, Environmental and Mechanics Engineering cum laude.
Thesis: “Experimental nanomechanics of natural or artificial spider silks and related systems”
Special label “Doctor Europaeus”
2016 Master’s Degree in Physics. University of Ferrara. 110/110 cum laude.
Thesis: “Mechanical Properties of spider’s silk: investigation of nonlinear stress regimes under
Quantized Fracture Mechanics”
2014 Bachelor’s Degree in Physics. University of Ferrara. 110/110 cum laude.
Thesis: “I-V characteristic of nanocrystalline semiconductors for sensors application”
2010 High school graduate. Liceo Ariosto di Ferrara. 100/100 cum laude
Supervision
Current:
PhD student (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) Viktoria Langwallner, co-supervision
Past:
Sara Residori, “Mechanical properties of different chitin-based structures: the example of spiders”.
Andrea Fiorese, “Interaction between a spider and an artificial Kevlar® web, the cutting phenomenon”.
Mattia Cipriani, “Design and realization of artificial spider orb webs”.
Massimo De Nardi, “Morphology and soil characteristics of a tarantula tunnel”.
Matteo Colombo, “Spider lifting mechanics”.
Erik Caldart, “Did spiders invent the concrete?”.
Jacopo Tagliapietra, Sharpness and morphology variation of more than 100 spider species teeth.
Selected publications
- G. Greco, B. Schmuck, S. K. Jalali, N. M. Pugno, A. Rising, Influence of experimental methods on the mechanical properties of silk fibers: A systematic literature review and future road map, Biophysics Rev. 4, 031301, 2023, doi: 10.1063/5.0155552
- B. Schmuck, G. Greco, F. G. Bäcklund, N. M. Pugno, J. Johansson, and A. Rising, Impact of physio-chemical spinning conditions on the mechanical properties of biomimetic spider silk fibers, Communications Materials, 3, 83, 2022, doi: 10.1038/s43246-022-00307-6
- G. Greco, T. Arndt, B. Schmuck, J. Francis, F. G. Bäcklund, O. Shilkova, A. Barth, N. Gonska, G. Seisenbaeva, V. Kessler, J. Johansson, N. M. Pugno & A. Rising, Tyrosine residues mediate supercontraction in biomimetic spider silk, Communications Materials, 2021, 2, 43, doi: 10.1038/s43246-021-00147-w
- G. Greco, N. M. Pugno, How spiders hunt heavy prey: the tangle web as a pulley and spider’s lifting mechanics observed and quantified in the laboratory, J. R. Soc. Interface, 2021, 18: 20200907, doi: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0907. (Cover article)
- G. Greco, Jonas Wolff, Nicola Maria Pugno, Strong and tough silk for resilient attachment discs: the mechanical properties of piriform silk, in the spider Cupiennius salei (Keyserling, 1877)., Front. Mater., 2020, 7:138. doi: 10.3389/fmats.2020.00138
The full list of my publications can be found here:
Links
Publications list:
