Carola Ricci is associate professor of International and Human Rights Law at the University of Pavia (since 2008) and of the University Advanced School of Pavia (Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, since 2024). She is currently Rector’s Delegate for Cooperation and Africa for the University of Pavia (since October 2025) and reference person for Social Inclusion for the Office for Sustainable Actions.
Previously Senior Researcher and Post-Doc Research Fellow of international and EU law at the law school of the University of Milan, she holds a PhD in international law from the same University, where she also specialized in EU law and economics after graduation.
She is member of the Scientific Board of the interfaculty PhD Course in Public Law, Criminal and International Justice at the University of Pavia and of the National PhD Programme on Sustainable Development and Climate change (PhD SDC).
She is ‒and have been since many years‒ principal investigator of different research projects, among which some on the multilevel protection on economic, social and cultural rights with a special focus on right to food and on judicial cooperation (financed both by private and public sponsors, selected in open calls). PI of different transdisciplinary and international projects on multilevel protection of the right to food in preparation for EXPO2015 funded by public and private entities (2009-2015), currently member of two multidisciplinary projects financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU (2022-2025) on different issues pertaining sustainable food systems and agri-food tech, respectively named ONFOODS (“Research and innovation network on food and nutrition sustainability, safety and security ‒ working on foods”, Spoke 7 on “Policy, behaviour and education”, PI for a sub-project on Food Waste Reduction and Prevention (DEFOWA), under Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.3, PE0000003, F13C22001210007, proposing a policy brief with a special focus on the Directive No 2025/1892) and NODES (“Nord Ovest Digitale E Sostenibile”, Digital and Sustainable Italian NorthWest, Spoke 6 on “Innovation and primary production”, grant agreement no. ECS00000036); and PI of a project on Digital Accessibility and Social Inclusion (called RISID) funded by Fondazione Cariplo.
She had been previously member of a EU Cost Action project on food waste valorisation, called “EUbis”, a pan-European network comprising of experts from 32 European countries (2015-2017); and of the Italian delegation in the “Working Group on Food Right for All”, with the mission of drafting the final document for States’ delegates present at Expo2015 in Milan.
She has been visiting scholar at Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley; at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (London, UK); at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law (Hamburg, Germany); at the London School of Economics (LSE) and invited visiting fellow at Nairobi University (Kenya). She is author of three monographs (one of which on the right to food) and edited different collective works, including two on food safety in a multilevel perspective, as well as many others on economic, social and cultural rights of vulnerable people, and private international law issues (with a specific focus on EU judicial cooperation in civil matters). She published widely in academic journals, edited different collective books and co-authored thematic reports for the European Commission (DG Justice) and Parliament. She has been external expert for various European Commission DG Justice Programs on cooperation in civil justice and private international law. She is a member of the board of (peer reviewed) law journals (Rivista di Diritto Internazionale Privato e Processuale, Alimenta and Quaderni di Scienze Politiche) and member of the Scientific Committee of the International Center on Law Science and New Technologies – ICLT, and of the Milan Bar Association (since 2002).
Carola Ricci is associate professor of International and Human Rights Law at the University of Pavia (since 2008) and of the University Advanced School of Pavia (Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, since 2024). She is currently Rector’s Delegate for Cooperation and Africa for the University of Pavia (since October 2025) and reference person for Social Inclusion for the Office for Sustainable Actions.
Previously Senior Researcher and Post-Doc Research Fellow of international and EU law at the law school of the University of Milan, she holds a PhD in international law from the same University, where she also specialized in EU law and economics after graduation.
She is member of the Scientific Board of the interfaculty PhD Course in Public Law, Criminal and International Justice at the University of Pavia and of the National PhD Programme on Sustainable Development and Climate change (PhD SDC).
She is ‒and have been since many years‒ principal investigator of different research projects, among which some on the multilevel protection on economic, social and cultural rights with a special focus on right to food and on judicial cooperation (financed both by private and public sponsors, selected in open calls). PI of different transdisciplinary and international projects on multilevel protection of the right to food in preparation for EXPO2015 funded by public and private entities (2009-2015), currently member of two multidisciplinary projects financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU (2022-2025) on different issues pertaining sustainable food systems and agri-food tech, respectively named ONFOODS (“Research and innovation network on food and nutrition sustainability, safety and security ‒ working on foods”, Spoke 7 on “Policy, behaviour and education”, PI for a sub-project on Food Waste Reduction and Prevention (DEFOWA), under Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.3, PE0000003, F13C22001210007, proposing a policy brief with a special focus on the Directive No 2025/1892) and NODES (“Nord Ovest Digitale E Sostenibile”, Digital and Sustainable Italian NorthWest, Spoke 6 on “Innovation and primary production”, grant agreement no. ECS00000036); and PI of a project on Digital Accessibility and Social Inclusion (called RISID) funded by Fondazione Cariplo.
She had been previously member of a EU Cost Action project on food waste valorisation, called “EUbis”, a pan-European network comprising of experts from 32 European countries (2015-2017); and of the Italian delegation in the “Working Group on Food Right for All”, with the mission of drafting the final document for States’ delegates present at Expo2015 in Milan.
She has been visiting scholar at Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley; at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (London, UK); at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law (Hamburg, Germany); at the London School of Economics (LSE) and invited visiting fellow at Nairobi University (Kenya). She is author of three monographs (one of which on the right to food) and edited different collective works, including two on food safety in a multilevel perspective, as well as many others on economic, social and cultural rights of vulnerable people, and private international law issues (with a specific focus on EU judicial cooperation in civil matters). She published widely in academic journals, edited different collective books and co-authored thematic reports for the European Commission (DG Justice) and Parliament. She has been external expert for various European Commission DG Justice Programs on cooperation in civil justice and private international law. She is a member of the board of (peer reviewed) law journals (Rivista di Diritto Internazionale Privato e Processuale, Alimenta and Quaderni di Scienze Politiche) and member of the Scientific Committee of the International Center on Law Science and New Technologies – ICLT, and of the Milan Bar Association (since 2002).
