Biography

Laura Capranica is full Professor of Sport Sciences at the University of Rome Foro Italico, acting as President of the Master’s Degree on Sport Coaching, and a board member of the Presidents of Italian Degrees in Sport Sciences. She is the President of the “European Student as Athlete” (EAS) Network, and a member of the Consultative Committee of EPAS Council of Europe.
She had been awarded a Fulbright Student Fellowship at Indiana University (1986), a Fulbright Scholar Fellowship at Indiana University and University of Kansas (1992), and a Mobley International Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Public Health of Indiana University, Bloomington, USA (2011). Laura Capranica has been a founder of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity (EGREPA) and its Secretary from 1992 to 1997; founder of the Italian Society of Movement and Sport Sciences (SISMES, 2007) and member of its Executive Board (2011-2014). She is a Visiting Professor in several European Universities under the Erasmus programme, is an Associate Editor of the Strength and Conditioning Research journal, Frontiers in Psychology, and and Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology. Furthermore, she acts as an Expert Evaluator (GEV) for the Italian Academics (VQR, ANVUR) and as a reviewer for several international journals.
Prof. Capranica has been the coordinator of the PhD programme “Sport Exercise and Ergonomics”, the coordinator of the European Intensive Programme on Sport Performance (2009-2012) and of the European Science Foundation “Exploratory Workshop on The Future of Research in Sport Participation in the Lifespan” (2011); the National partner of the European Programme “Women’s International Leadership Development” (2010-2012), EUROMED Programs on Gender Equity in the Mediterranean Countries (2004-2007), and the European project “Facilitating higher education for athletes: WINNER education model” (2013-2016); partner of the Research Projects of National Interest (PRIN) “Sport practice in the EU as a new right of citizenship and as a sensor of cultural change“ (2008-2010) and “Impact of Physical Activity on healthy aging: Multidisciplinary analysis of mechanisms and outcomes” (2012-2015); work Package Leader for “Determinants of physical activity behaviour across the life course” of the European Project Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity-Knowledge Hub (DEDIPAC-KH, 2013- 2016); partner of the European studies on “The minimum quality requirements for dual career services” (2016), “Sport qualifications acquired through sport organisations and (sport) educational institutes” (2016), and “Research for Cult Committee - Qualifications/dual careers in sports” (2016), the ERASMUS+ Collaborative Partnership Media as a channel of Athletes’ Dual Careers promotion and education (EdMedia, 2019-2021), Education Model for Parents of AThletes In Academics (EMPATIA, 2018-2020), Athletic migration: Dual career and qualification in sports (AMID, 2018-2020), More Than Gold (2019-2020), Sport Opens Schools (SOS, 2019-2021), STARTING 11: The European Dual Career Toolkit (S11, 2019-2022), BRAnd Values Alignment through Dual Career (BRAVA-DC, 2021-2023), EDucating Judo Coaches for Older practitioners (EdJCO, 2021-2023), NewMiracle (2021-2023) and Para-Limits (2021-2023); and Vice Chair of the European COST Action Determinants of Physical Activities in Settings (2020-2023); Member of the European Task Force Sport Satellite Accounts.
Prof. Capranica authored more than 180 scientific papers and has given over 250 lectures and communications in national and international conferences and meetings on the identification of determinants (e.g., social, psychological, biological, organizational, and technical) for sport practice and performance in the lifespan; the development of the knowledge based, tools and resources needed to understand the effects of sport and exercise on human health; and the enhancement of bilateral translational links between laboratory and field evaluations of sports performance.