Federica Coppola

Federica Coppola is an Assistant Professor of Law at IE University Law School in Madrid, where she teaches comparative criminal law and law & behavior. Concurrently, she remains a Research Affiliate at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security, and Law's Department of Criminal Law in Freiburg, Germany. Her academic career spans institutions like Columbia University, University of Münster, University of Cambridge, and the European University Institute.

• Education: Ph.D. in Law (European University Institute, 2017); LL.M. in Comparative, European and International Laws (EUI, 2014); Dott. Mag. (University of Bologna, 2010).

Research Interests: Federica bridges criminal law, penal theory, and neuroscience, focusing on socio-environmental influences on culpability, trauma-informed sentencing, Eighth Amendment challenges, and human/social rehabilitation in justice systems. Her work critiques solitary confinement, mass incarceration, and integrates neuroscientific insights into legal frameworks.

Publications: Her recent works examine social rehabilitation, neuroscientific evidence in courtrooms, gender equity in prisons, and emotional models of punishment. These align with her advocacy for neuroscience-driven prison reform and trauma-sensitive legal practices.

Scientific Awards:

• Robert A. Burt Presidential Scholar in Society and Neuroscience (Columbia University, 2017-2020)

Projects: She leads the project Rethinking the Social Environment in American Criminal Law Theory, which explores socio-environmental factors in legal culpability, and co-leads Social Rehabilitation and Criminal Justice, focusing on modern rehabilitation paradigms.