This semester, iMMC is hosting two visitors from National Taiwan University: professor Hervé Capart (2000 UCLouvain PhD graduate) and PhD student Yuan-Hung Chiu. They are coming for six months of academic exchanges with professor Sandra Soares-Frazão, her team of researchers in hydraulics, and other members of the GCE pole, as part of a collaborative project between UCLouvain and NTU titled "OPTIMIST: Optimizing mitigation strategies for buildings and infrastructure exposed to flood and seismic hazards", jointly funded by FNRS and the Taiwan National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). Capart and Chiu's research focuses on geomorphic risks to civil infrastructure, like the Taiwan mountain road bridge shown in the photograph that was partly buried by debris flows. The applied goal of the research is to propose improved strategies to mitigate risks from infrequent but high impact events, including landslides, floods and earthquakes.