Giulia Formici, graduated in Law at the University of Parma, holds a Ph.D. in Public, International and European Law from the University of Milan La Statale (2021).
Between 2020 and 2021, she has been awarded a post-doc grant in Public Comparative Law at the Department of Law, Politics and International Studies of the University of Parma, based on a project funded by Region Emilia-Romagna (Program "High Competencies") and focused on the regulatory issues related to Novel Foods and, in particular, to edible insects and cultured meat.
Since 2022, she has been a Fixed-term Researcher Type A (RTD/A) in Public Comparative Law at the Department of Italian and Supranational Public Law of the University of Milan La Statale. Here, she co-taught courses in Public Comparative Law and Advanced Public Comparative Law.
In February 2023, she obtained the National Scientific Habilitation (ASN) as Associate Professor in Comparative Law (12/E2).
Since December 2023, she holds the position of Fixed-term Researcher Type B (RTD/B - Senior Lecturer) in Public Comparative Law (IUS/21) at the Department of Law, Politics and International Studies of the University of Parma.
In 2022, she was awarded the SIRD Younger Comparatists Prize for her contribution titled "Regulating 'Inedible' Food: Cultural Identity, Food Safety, and Food Divide" by the Società Italiana per la Ricerca nel Diritto Comparato.
She passed the Bar Exam (2016) and holds a Second-level Master's Degree in "Health, Environment and Food: European Law and Risk Regulation", University of Parma (a.y. 2016/2017).
Giulia Formici is currently involved in the research activities of the "Food for Future" Project (Department of Excellence 2023-2027, Department of Law, Politics and International Studies, University of Parma; https://www.foodforfuture.unipr.it/) and is a member of various research projects, including the Jean Monnet Module (Erasmus+ Programme) titled "Feeding Future Generations Sustainably: Legal Challenges and Scientific Innovation" (University of Milan); PRIN 2022 "The Food of Future, the Future of Food. Novel Food, Innovation, Sustainabilty and Legal Issues"; HARD-DISC "Human-Centered Approach and Regulatory Dimension in Developing an Interoperable and Secure Cyberspace", part of the SERICS Project (Security Rights in Cyber Space").
Since 2024, she is Principal Investigator of the research project "AI-Biometric Systems and Fundamental Rights Protection: Legal Challenges and Regulatory Solutions in a Comparative Perspective", funded by the University of Parma through the action "Bando di Ateneo 2024 per la ricerca".
Starting in 2026, she will serve as member of the Area 12 Committee (Legal Sciences) of the University of Parma.
She is member of several research centers, including: Coordinated Research Center "Innovation for Well-Being and Environment" (University of Milan); BRICS Parma Research Group (www.brics.unipr.it); University Centre for Bioethics (UCB - University of Parma); Research Center "Ecological Transition, Sustainability and Global Challenges" (University of Teramo); Center for Studies in European and International Affairs" (University of Parma).
Giulia Formici is member of the Doctoral Board for the PhD program in Legal Sciences of the Univeristy of Parma (and formerly University of Parma and University of Modena and Reggio) starting from the XL Cycle. She has lectured in various Ph.D. courses (University of Parma, University of Sassari, University of Perugia) and is a member of several examination committees.
She has participated in numerous conferences in Italy and abroad and has undertaken research and teaching periods at several foreign universities (Centre for IT & IP Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; TCD Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; Universitat Wien - Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law -, Wien; Univesidad de Almeria, Spain).
She is member of several scientific associations, including the Italian Association of Comparative Law (AIDC), the Association of Comparative and European Public Law (DPCE), the Council of European Studies (CES) at Columbia University, and the Devolution Club.
From 2022 to 2025, she has been Secretary and member of the Executive Board of the Alumni e Amici dell'Università degli Studi di Parma Association (https://www.alumniamici.unipr.it/).
Her main research areas can be summarized as follows: law and innovation; the impact of Big Data and technological innovation on fundamental rights; data retention for security purposes; mass surveillance systems and their consequences on workers' rights; digital welfare systems, digital divide, and social inequalities; AI-powered identification systems based on biometric data (also for border management and immigration management purposes); facial recognition systems and their regulatory discipline in the EU and the USA; BRICS; innovation in the agri-food sector and the connection between innovation and sustainable development; the right to food and "food sustainability"; Novel Foods and regulatory challenges at the national and European levels (balancing food safety, consumer protection, free movement of goods, scientific innovation, food security, and the development of sustainable solutions); the study of peculiar categories of Novel Foods: insects as food and feed; the regulatory regime of so-called cultured meat (cultivated or synthetic meat).
