Overview
Understanding the complex behaviour of cement-based materials (CBM) and concrete structures during their entire lifecycle demands that researchers transcend approaches based on a single discipline. Interdisciplinary work is known, however, to bring important challenges in the view of the need to combine approaches and methods that are very distinct by nature, as well as enabling adequate communication between scientific fields with different (sometimes conflicting) terminologies, different perspectives and different collaboration practices/dynamics.
Following the legacy of COST Action TU1404, which initiated the SynerCrete conference series in 2018, the 2023 Edition aims to continue the pursuit of bringing together relevant stakeholders in order to synergize their expertise by accelerating transfer of knowledge and promoting international and inter-speciality exchange of information, creating avenues for new developments towards more robust and sustainable solutions for cement-based materials and concrete structures. COST Action TU1404 “Towards the next generation of standards for service life of cement-based materials and structures” and associated RILEM TCs 287-CCS and 254-CMS have brought about significant interdisciplinary collaboration, mostly between material scientists and structural engineers, with involvement of several other disciplines. Bridging between experts in experimental work and experts in numerical simulation has also been a strong focus.
SynerCrete series goal is to support these established collaborations at the same time being open to all interested members of the scientific/practising community to encourage further development of the network. The focus of the conference is to communicate, discuss and arouse progress in research, development and application of CBM and structural concrete through combination of expertise from distinct fields of knowledge, including such exciting fields of research as performance-based design, 3D modelling for analysis/design, Building Information Modelling and even robotics, while keeping focus on multi-scale approaches at time and spatial levels. Specific attention is also paid to the challenges that are inherent to the combination of different expertises, and the ways through which better management and research collaboration can be achieved in the interdisciplinary research projects.
The conference will consist of lectures by researchers and other professionals from a variety of scientific disciplines in works targeted to cement-based materials and structures, as well as a selected panel of invited speakers. The conference is intended for researchers and practitioners at any career level who have interest in deepening knowledge on the targeted subjects.
Agnieszka Jędrzejewska and Fragkoulis Kanavaris
Chairs of SynerCrete’23
Miguel Azenha, Farid Benboudjema and Dirk Schlicke
Chairs of the Scientific Committee of SynerCrete’23
Conference Topics
The focus of the conference is given to synergising interdisciplinary expertise on cement-based materials and concrete structures towards more robust and sustainable solutions on both material and structural level.
Therefore, in the view of this global reasoning the following set of sub-topics was envisaged:
- Alternative concrete formulations for adaptation to climate change
- Concrete technology, durability and advanced material testing
- Cement replacement materials
- Bio-based, geopolymers, alkali-activated materials and other novel binders
- Natural and calcined natural pozzolans and calcination processes
- Performance-based and multiphysics/multiscale design and innovative testing
- Multi-scale in time and space modelling
- Multi-physics simulation and structural design
- Novel testing techniques
- Structural health monitoring (SHM) and maintenance management
- Proven techniques and new approaches for SHM
- Consideration of measurement data in maintenance strategies
- Infrastructure maintenance management
- Integral BIM-based planning
- Planning in a perfect BIM-environment
- BIM and structural design
- Novel approaches in BIM
- Practical examples
- Resource-responsible building
- Innovative building methods
- Recent developments on guidelines and standardization
- Sustainability and life-cycle assessment of concrete materials and structures
- Robotics and cement-based materials
- Digital fabrication
Venue
The event is scheduled to take place on the island of Milos in Greece.
Milos, known as the island of Aphrodite, is considered to be one of the most breath-taking destinations in the Cyclades island complex, with unique natural beauty. It is a Greek island known for its spectacular beaches and volcanic landscape, filled with mesmerising colours.
Milos has a long track history in mining owing to its geological morphology with high-quality kaolinite, bentonite, perlite and sulfur deposits found across the island. Few would also be aware that the island of Milos is regarded as an active volcano in the Aegean sea, which justifies the occurrence of the deposits of natural pozzolans in the wider region, such as volcanic ash.
The Milos Conference Center
The Milos Conference Center – George Eliopoulos is located at Adamas, Milos Island’s main port, on a 10,000 sq. meters plot. The Milos Conference Center is housed in a restored old kaolin processing plant, built in 1925, overlooking the gulf of Milos. It is an excellent sample of its period’s industrial architecture.
It was abandoned and derelict for many years, falling apart before the ruin was fully restored with high aesthetic standards and respect to its original architecture. The initial concept was to be preserved and serve as a characteristic benchmark of the country’s industrial heritage. The ultimate decision was the edifice to be used as the home for conferences, cultural and other events, solving thus one of the Island’s perennial problems, the lack of modern large multipurpose halls.
Social events: Gala dinner and boat tour
The conference dinner takes place at ‘Kipos café’, a fabulous tavern placed on the top of the hill with an amazing view over a Kipos beach, mesmerising with its crystal-clear turquoise waters. The restaurant offers traditional Greek and Mediterranean cuisines, including kleftiko, dakos and fish, as well as delicious coffee. A taste of local folk music will be given by the music duo of the Milos Cultural Centre.
The boat tour is designed to take approximately 5 hours and visit via sea the most beautiful spots of Milos island. With the boat tour an amazing opportunity will be given to participants to witness the most mesmerising landscapes, seas and coastlines in Greece in a truly unique experience. The boat will be specifically chartered for the day only for those associated with SynerCrete’23 conference and their accompanying persons – an unconventional opportunity for socialising and networking!
Committees
Organizing Committee
Agnieszka Jędrzejewska (Chair), Silesian University of Technology, POLAND
Fragkoulis Kanavaris (Chair), ARUP, London, UK
Dirk Schlicke, Institute of Structural Concrete, TU Graz, AUSTRIA
Farid Benboudjema, ENS Paris-Saclay, FRANCE
Miguel Azenha, ISISE, University of Minho, PORTUGAL
General information
News feed
Scientific Committee
Miguel Azenha (Chair), ISISE, University of Minho, PORTUGAL
Farid Benboudjema (Chair), ENS Paris-Saclay, FRANCE
Dirk Schlicke (Chair), Institute of Structural Concrete, TU Graz, AUSTRIA
Ali Abbas, UK
Jean-Luc Adia, FRANCE
Syed Yasir Alam, FRANCE
Ouali Amiri, FRANCE
Sofiane Amziane, FRANCE
Carmen Andrade, SPAIN
Shingo Asamoto, JAPAN
Umberto Berardi, CANADA
Susan Bernal Lopez, UK
Violeta Bokan Bosiljkov, SLOVENIA
Ruben Paul Borg, MALTA
Alexandra Bourdot, FRANCE
Matthieu Briffaut, FRANCE
Antonio Caggiano, ITALY
Alejandro Caldentey, SPAIN
Arnaud Castel, AUSTRALIA
Jean Philippe Charron, CANADA
Fanjie (Sam) Chen, AUSTRALIA
Özlem Cizer, BELGIUM
Florence Collet, FRANCE
Alexis Courtois, FRANCE
Aveline Darquennes, FRANCE
Nele De Belie, BELGIUM
Abobakr Elwakeel, UK
Eduardo Fairbairn, BRAZIL
Rui Faria, PORTUGAL
Miguel Ferreira, FINLAND
Etore Funchal de Faria, BRAZIL
Ivan Gabrijel, CROATIA
Dariusz Gawin, POLAND
José Granja, PORTUGAL
Tulio Honorio, FRANCE
Ole Jensen, DENMARK
Agnieszka Jędrzejewska, POLAND
Sri Kalyana Rama Jyosyula, INDIA
Gintaris Kaklauskas, LITHUANIA
Fragkoulis Kanavaris, UK
Antonios Kanellopoulos, UK
Anja Klausen, NORWAY
Barbara Klemczak, POLAND
Eduardus Koenders, GERMANY
Konstantin Kovler, ISRAEL
Markus Krüger, AUSTRIA
Jacek Kwasny, UK
Laurie Lacarriere, FRANCE
Rodrigo Lameiras, BRAZIL
Marco Liebscher, GERMANY
Paulo B. Lourenço, PORTUGAL
Lino Maia, PORTUGAL
Ippei Maruyama, JAPAN
Enrico Masoero, UK
Thomas Matchei, GERMANY
Shishir Mundra, SWITZERLAND
Sree Nanukuttan, UK
Cécile Oliver-Leblond, FRANCE
Małgorzata Pająk, POLAND
Arnaud Perrot, FRANCE
Nivin Phillip, INDIA
Bernhard Pichler, AUSTRIA
Mário Pimentel, PORTUGAL
John Provis, UK
Vlastimir Radonjanin, SERBIA
Ketan Ragalwar, USA
Mezgeen Rasol, FRANCE
Michael Raupach, GERMANY
Kyle Riding, USA
Emmanuel Roziere, FRANCE
Łukasz Sadowski, POLAND
Małgorzata Safuta, POLAND
Jacqueline Saliba, FRANCE
Florence Sanchez, USA
Jorge Sánchez Dolado, SPAIN
Javier Sánchez Montero, SPAIN
David Santillan, SPAIN
Suresh Seetharam, BELGIUM
Alain Sellier, FRANCE
José Sena-Cruz, PORTUGAL
Marijana Serdar, CROATIA
Carlos Serra, PORTUGAL
Ruben Snellings, BELGIUM
Mohammed Sonebi, UK
Carlos Sousa, PORTUGAL
Stéphanie Staquet, BELGIUM
Prannoy Suraneni, USA
Vít Šmilauer, CZECH REPUBLIC
Reignard Tan, NORWAY
Luping Tang, SWEDEN
Jean-Michel Torrenti, FRANCE
Julio Torres Martín, SPAIN
François Toutlemond, FRANCE
Neven Ukrainczyk, GERMANY
Jens Peder Ulfkjaer, DENMARK
Luca Valentini, ITALY
Gideon van Zijl, SOUTH AFRICA
Roman Wan-Wender, BELGIUM
William Wilson, CANADA
Mateusz Wyrzykowski, SWITZERLAND
Guang Ye, THE NETHERLANDS
Ismael Yurtdas, FRANCE
Kamyab Zandi, USA
Hongzhi Zhang, CHINA
Xiangming Zhou, UK
Mariusz Zych, POLAND
Dates & Submission
Submission of the papers is managed through the submission platform sciencesconf.org. Use the button below to go to the submission platform.
Call for abstracts is closed.
Submission of full papers is closed.
The acceptance of the final versions of full texts has been completed. The Authors of the accepted papers have been invited for oral presentations of their work during the event. To confirm your participation, please complete your registration.
To publish the paper in the Proceedings there must be a unique registration associated with the paper (i.e. each registered participant is eligible to publish one paper).
Presentations during the event can be made only by the registered authors of the accepted full papers.
-
Abstract submission (extended!) 15.09.2022
-
Notification of abstract approval 31.08.2022 / 30.09.2022
-
Full text submission (extended!) 01.12.2022
-
Notification of full text approval (extended!) 14.01.2023
-
Final full text submission (extended!) 14.02.2023
-
Early-bird registration (extended!) 01.06.2022 - 28.02.2023
-
Regular registration 01.03.2023 - 31.05.2023
-
The event (extended!) 14-16.06.2023
14.06: morning - TC meetings; afternoon - TC sessions; evening - welcome reception
Registration
Registration is open. Regular registration fees apply.
Gala dinner: to be held on Thursday 15.06 at a traditional vineyard in Milos. Cost - 75€. Registration to Gala dinner is closed (the capacity of the venue has been reached)!
Visit of Milos: a boat trip around the Milos island to be held on Saturday morning 17.06 half a day (9am - 2:30pm). Cost - 75€. Registration to the boat tour is still possible.
Registration fees
-
Early-bird registration fees before 28.02.2023
-
Regular 500€
-
RILEM member 400€
-
Student 250€
-
Regular registration fees 1.03 - 31.05.2023
-
Regular 600€
-
RILEM member 500€
-
Student 300€
Programme
Keynote speakers

Maria Stefanidou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GREECE)
"Substituting natural pozzolan with artificial derived from industrial perlite waste for mortar production."

Jean-Michel Torrenti (Gustave Eiffel University, FRANCE)
"Fast carbonation of recycled concrete aggregates - the results of the FastCarb project."
Tentative Programme
-
TC meetings (morning) + TC sessions (afternoon) Welcome reception (evening) 14 June 2023
-
Conference sessions + Gala dinner (evening) 15 June 2023
-
Conference sessions 16 June 2023
-
Visit of Milos (morning - half day) 17 June 2023
Special sessions
RILEM TCs related to the topics of the conferece will organise special sessions and/or TC meetings within SynerCrete’23, including:
TC 275-HBD: Hygrothermal behaviour and durability of bio-aggregate based building materials
(Chaired by Sofiane Amziane & Florence Collet)
TC 281-CCC: Carbonation of concrete with supplementary cementitious materials
(Chaired by Nele de Belie & Susan Bernal Lopez)
TC 283-CAM: Chloride transport in alkali-activated materials
(Chaired by Arnaud Castel & Shishir Mundra)
TC 287-CCS: Early-age and long-term cracking analysis in RC structures
(Chaired by Miguel Azenha & Fragkoulis Kanavaris)
TC 298-EBD: Test methods to evaluate durability of blended cement pastes against deleterious ions
(Chaired by William Wilson & Prannoy Suraneni)
TC 299-TES: Thermal energy storage in cementitious composites
(Chaired by Jorge Dolado & Antonio Caggiano)
TC MCP: Accelerated mineral carbonation for the production of construction materials
(Chaired by Ruben Snellings & Thomas Matschei)
TC 302-CNC: Carbon-based nanomaterials for multifunctional cementitious matrices
(Chaired by Florence Sanchez & Marco Liebscher)
Awards & Special Issue
Best Papers Awards
Papers presented during the Conference and published in the Proceedings are eligible for one of the three awards:
Best International Collaboration Award
Open to all accepted papers co-authored by the Authors affiliated in the institutions from at least 2 distinct countries.
Best Interdisciplinary Award
Open to all accepted papers which reach over disciplines.
Best PhD Research Award
Open to all accepted papers co-authored by PhD students as first authors. Papers MUST be submitted as ‘Full paper (1st author is PhD student)’.
Papers are recommended for the Awards by the Reviewers and chosen by independent Juries whose members are selected from the Scientific Committee.
Each paper can be awarded only in one category.
The Awardees will be waived of the registration fee. The fee will be returned to the registered Author whose registration is associated with the awarded paper.
The Authors of the awarded papers will be also invited to feature in the Special Issue of the Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology.
The Awards will be announced during the Gala dinner on 15 June.
Special Issue
The authors of selected papers presented at SynerCrete’23 will be invited to submit original contributions related to their participation in the conference in the special issue of the Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology (published by Japan Concrete Institute, and indexed according to ‘Journal of Citation Reports’) related to SynerCrete’23. ACT Journal publishes original scientific papers or technical reports on innovative or advanced techniques of concrete industry.

Travel
The island of Milos is located approximately 186 km from Athens. It is accessible either by plane (Athens International Airport to Milos Airport), or by ferry from Piraeus, the International Port of Athens.
- By Plane
- By Ferry
High-speed ferries operate from Piraeus, the port of Athens, to Milos’ main harbour (Adamas). The typical duration of the journey is 4 hours. There is a direct connection between Athens International Airport and Piraeus Port via subway and overground railway.
Accommodation
There are several accommodation options in the wider region of Adamas in Milos. Some accommodation options within walking distance from the venue are given in the list (with links).
Accommodation Tax: The Greek government has introduced the accommodation tax on January 1st, 2018. You may find below the additional tax per room / per night – depending on the type of the hotel:
- one or two stars: 0.50€
- three stars: 1.5€
- four stars: 3€
- five stars: 4€
-
Suggested Hotel Indicative cost per night in single room
-
Iliopetra Rooms 70-90€
-
Ippocampos * 70-90€
-
Dionysis Hotel * 70-90€
-
Semiramis Hotel * 70-90€
-
Hotel Eleni ** 70-90€
-
Aeolis Hotel Milos ** 70-90€
-
Capten Giorgantas ** 70-90€
-
Meltemi Hotel ** 70-90€
-
Anezina Hotel ** 70-90€
-
Liogerma Hotel ** 70-90€
-
Milos Hotel ** 100-130€
-
Portiani Hotel ** 100-130€
-
Glaronisia Hotel *** 100-130€
-
Santa Maria Village **** 180-190€
Proceedings
Publication of a paper in the Proceedings requires a unique registration associated with the paper, i.e. each registered participant is eligible for publication of one paper.
The Proceedings will be accessible for delegates prior to the conference.

All accepted papers will be published by Springer as RILEM Bookseries and indexed in SCOPUS and Google Scholar.
Sponsors
Gold sponsors
For information on how to become a Sponsor, please email us directly to info@synercrete.com.
Institutional support




Past Editions
Full site of SynerCrete’18 here.