Giacomo Moretti obtained his MSc degree in Energy Engineering from the University of Pisa in 2013 and the Diploma as Honors Student from Scuola Sant’Anna (Pisa) in 2014. He pursued his PhD studies at Scuola Sant’Anna, graduating in 2017. During his PhD, he was a visiting researcher at the Institute for Energy Systems, University of Edinburgh (2016).
He subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Scuola Sant’Anna (2017–2020) and as a research fellow at Saarland University, Germany (2020–2022), supported by a European Marie Curie Fellowship. In 2022, he was appointed assistant professor (tenure track) at the University of Trento, where he became associate professor of Mechanics of Machines in 2025.
His research focuses on the development of electromechanical systems based on functional materials, in particular electroactive materials. During his PhD, he investigated the use of electroactive polymers—a class of functional materials employed in electrostatic machines—as electromechanical generators for ocean wave energy harvesting. He later expanded his research to applications of electrostatic machines and electroactive materials in fields such as acoustics, soft robotics, and fluidics.
In 2024, he was awarded a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for his work on electrostatic machines.