Paolo Valera graduated in Geological Sciences on February 26, 1996 in the University of Cagliari, where he discussed the experimental thesis: "Remote Sensing and Economic Geology of the Wukro-Negash area (Tigray - Northern Ethiopia)".
In the academic year 1996/97 he was accepted in the 12th cycle of Doctorate (Ph.D.) in the University of Trieste, the thesis being "Sustainable development and natural resources in Ethiopia".
He collaborates since 1994, with a subsidiary organization of the Ministry of Mines of Ethiopia, as mining geologist, for the Kenticha Tantalum deposit (at present being exploited), and in the Lega Dembi gold deposit.
In the period 1996-1997 he participated, as consultant, in a project of the technical cooperation program with the Ethiopian University organized and financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for a metallogenic map of the northern area of the Mekelè Outlier (Ethiopia).
In 1999 he was consultant of the Sardinia Gold Mining as mining geologist.
In the year 2000 he achieved the qualification to practise as a geologist.
In the same year, immediately after to have achieved the Doctorate (Ph.D.) position (26/02/2000), he signed a contract with the DIGITA (Dipartimento di Geoingegneria e Tecnologie Ambientali, Università di Cagliari, i.e. Dep. of Geoengineering and Environmental Technologies, University of Cagliari), as consultant for the activity of qualified support, dealing with the geochemical sampling of stream sediments.
In the period June - August 2001 he carried out a consultancy in the field of the project "Cartografia Geochimica Internazionale: Progetto IGM-Italia" (International Geochemical Mapping: IGM-Italy project) for the Department for the Study of the Territory and its Resources (DIPTERIS), Genoa University.
On September 2001, he was winner of a biennial scholarship of the University of Cagliari, with subject "Distribution of the heavy metals in the Hydrographic net of Sardinia and its fallout on the water reserves".
In 2002 he went to Ethiopia to acquire further data on the Ethiopian Rift, and to carry out field observations for the production of a Metallogenic Map of a large part of the Ethiopian Rift, at present in preliminary draft.
On September 11, 2003 he was officially declared "Cultore della Materia" ("Student of the Subject") in the field of the scientific Area GEO 09 - "Mining Georesources and Mineralogical-Petrographic Applications for the Environment and the Cultural Assets", through a declaration of the President of the Engineering Faculty, University of Cagliari, in application of the art. 23 of the Faculty Regulations.
In the same year the biennial scholarship was renewed, for the work follow-up.
In 2003 he started a collaboration program with the CRS4 "Centro di Ricerca, Sviluppo e Studi Superiori in Sardegna" (Research Center, Development and Superior Studies in Sardinia) for the accomplishment of a system for web transmission data and related services in the resources field.
In 2004 he was consultant for economic evaluation of the gold-bearing deposit "Esperanza", located in the northern part of the Western Peruvian Cordillera (Yubé area, Contumaza Province).
In the same year he was involved in the project "GEOBASI" (GEOCHEMICAL BASELINES OF ITALY), funded by the ANPA "Agenzia Nazionale di Protezione Ambientale" (National Agency for Environmental Warning).
In 2005 he was the promoter and organizer, with the aid of some colleagues, of the "Workshop degli Assegnisti UNICA (WAU)" (Workshop of Young Researches of the Cagliari University).
In the last part of 2005, in the project-pilot "System GRID for the management of geo-database distributed", in collaboration with the CRS4, he developed and started the laboratory of analysis.
From 1996 he is consultant, also in collaboration, for geological, geotechnical, idrogeological, and hydraulic studies for private customers.
In the fields of the studies carried out for the Degree thesis, for the Ph.D thesis, and for several other researches, he has a continuous and special collaboration activity with the Ethiopian Researchers of the Addis Ababa University.
He won the competition of "University Researcher", and in such a position he belongs to the staff of the DIGITA from May 2006
paolo valera