Rate My Professor Minna Karstunen

Minna Karstunen is Full Professor in Geology and Geotechnics and Head of Division of Geology and Geotechnics at the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology. She earned her PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Wales, Swansea in 1998 and holds an MSc(Tech). Before joining Chalmers in 2012, she worked at the University of Strathclyde from 2005 to 2013 as Reader in Geotechnical Engineering and served as Docent at Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University) from 1999 to 2014. She is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE). Karstunen leads a research group focused on advanced numerical modelling of geomaterials across scales, with emphasis on soft natural clays typical of the Nordic region. Her academic interests include constitutive modelling capturing anisotropy, destructuration, viscosity, and partial saturation effects in soft sensitive clays for applications in slope stability, embankments, deep foundations, and underground constructions.

Karstunen has 84 peer-reviewed publications listed on the Chalmers research portal, including the highly cited paper 'Modeling time-dependent behavior of soft sensitive clay' (Yin, Karstunen et al., Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 2011). Other notable works encompass 'Numerical simulations of stone column installation' (Castro and Karstunen, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 2010), 'From soft soil modelling to engineering application' (IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2021), and contributions to proceedings such as the Nordic Geotechnical Meeting (NGM2024) and Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering (NUMGE). She has secured funding for multiple national and EU projects, strengthening collaborations, including with Aalto University's Department of Civil Engineering where she taught numerical methods and supervised doctoral work. In 2023, Aalto University appointed her Honorary Doctor for her pivotal role in advancing geotechnics. Karstunen chairs the ISSMGE Technical Committee 214 on Soft Soils, delivers keynote lectures at international conferences, and heads research initiatives bridging advanced modelling with practical geotechnical engineering challenges.