Research output per year
Research output per year
Personal profile
Research interests
I am a rural and agricultural economist with a doctoral degree in agri-food economics and statistics and an interdisciplinary background in development studies.
My research deals with the decision-making of food value chain stakeholders, from farm to fork, and its implications for the sustainability of agri-food systems and the rural economy.
My projects have developed along two lines: consumer food behaviour, primarily in the domains of food waste generation and the uptake of novel products; and the socioeconomic impacts of agriculture (living standards, poverty and inequality) both in developed and developing countries.
Besides traditional econometric tools, my methodological skills include the design of surveys, and analysis of resulting data, economic experiments (behavioural and choice experiments), and agent-based modelling.
During my career, I have obtained funding from different sources at national and international levels, and managed interdisciplinary teams of researchers as project PI.
Related documents
Education/Academic qualification
PhD, Agri-Food Economics and Statistics
1 Oct 2012 → 16 Feb 2016
Award Date: 16 Feb 2016
Master, International Co-operation, Development and Human Rights, Università di Bologna
1 Oct 2008 → 13 Oct 2011
Award Date: 18 Oct 2011
Bachelor, International Development and Co-operation Studies, Università di Bologna
1 Sept 2005 → 23 Jul 2008
Award Date: 23 Jul 2008
External positions
Reviewer of Horizon Europe project, European Commission
18 Sept 2025 → 7 Dec 2025
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 1 No Poverty -
SDG 2 Zero Hunger -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities -
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities -
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 15 Life on Land
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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Envisioning the Isle of Coll’s future: what role for housing?
Piras, S., Hopkins, J., Rendall, J. & Miller, S., 11 May 2026Research output: Other contribution (including Policy/Stakeholder briefings) › Other contribution
Open Access -
Farmers’ perceptions of agricultural risk sources: Evidence from Tunisia
Rached, Z., Chebil, A., Thabet, C., Khamassi, F., Soula, R. & Piras, S., 10 Mar 2026, In: New Medit. 2026 n.1, nm2601a.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Guidelines and resources for developing likely and aspirational scenarios of rural and island places in a workshop
Piras, S., Hopkins, J., Rendall, J. & Miller, S., 6 Mar 2026, 6 p.Research output: Other contribution (including Policy/Stakeholder briefings) › Other contribution
Open Access -
Pastoral assemblages: Dynamics and adaptive capacity in the Net-Zero transition. Poster presented at the Agricultural Economics Society 100th Anniversary Conference at Wadham College Oxford.
Beattie, L. & Piras, S., 23 Mar 2026.Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster › peer-review
Open Access -
Preferences for olive oil between taste and healthiness: An incentivised experiment in Morocco and Tunisia
Piras, S., Barlagne , C., Clement, J., Mokhtari, N., Thabet, C., Tura, M. & Williams, I., 20 May 2026, In: Q Open. qoag017.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Antonio Fronteddu, Fairness of large-scale renewable energy projects: Windfarm developments in Scotland and beyond, University of Greenwich, Dr Luca Tasciotti
Piras, S. (Examiner)
1 Oct 2025 → 31 Mar 2029Activity: Examination or supervision
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Rural and Island Transport Research at The James Hutton Institute
Wilson, R. (Contributor) & Piras, S. (Contributor)
30 Jun 2023 → …Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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JHI-E1-1: Scottish Government discussion
Hopkins, J. (Contributor) & Piras, S. (Contributor)
8 Jun 2023 → …Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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An innovative scenario tool to assess spatial justice interventions.
Currie, M. (Contributor), Piras, S. (Contributor), McKee, A. (Contributor) & Pinker, A. (Contributor)
15 Mar 2021 → …Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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Markets, society and sustainability
Barlagne , C. (Speaker), Piras, S. (Speaker), Duckett, D. (Speaker), Kuhfuss, L. (Speaker) & Ovando Pol, P. (Speaker)
21 Feb 2020Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
Datasets
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FoodLAND - Dataset and protocols of auction / eye-tracking experiment on consumers' preferences for olive oil in Tunisia and Morocco
Piras, S. (Supervisor), Clement, J. (Supervisor), Barlagne , C. (Supervisor), Mokhtari, N. (Other), Thabet, C. (Other), Suurmets, S. (Data Manager) & Tura, M. (Contributor), Zenodo, 27 Feb 2024
Dataset
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Survey and experimental datasets of Line 2 "Food waste in children's behaviour at school and at home" of the project "How the hell do you eat?", Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy
Piras, S. (Creator), Righi, S. (Creator) & Setti, M. (Creator), Zenodo, 11 Feb 2025
Dataset
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Datasets of choice experiment surveys on Places to Live, Ways to Travel, and Local Food conducted in Scotland
Piras, S. (Supervisor) & CHEN, J. (Data Manager), Zenodo, 28 Nov 2025
Dataset
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Dataset of choice experiment surveys assessing consumers' and farmers' preferences for five underutilised crops in different European countries
CHEN, J. (Data Manager), Mzek, T. (Creator) & Piras, S. (Supervisor), Zenodo, 1 Jul 2025
Dataset
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FoodLAND - Dataset on producers' socio-economic conditions, operational and technological states, and behavioural experimental results
Piras, S. (Supervisor), Kuhfuss, L. (Supervisor), Marini Govigli, V. (Contributor), Alboni, F. (Data Manager), Kapour, G. (Data Manager) & Setti, M. (Supervisor), The James Hutton Institute, 15 Dec 2023
Dataset