Nicola Prodi was born on March 1st 1971 in Reggio Emilia. He graduated cum laude in Physics at the University of Bologna in December 1994 with a thesis work entitled "Simualtion and visualization of energetic quantities for sound fields". Then in March 2001he got the Doctorate of Philosophy from the same University with the discussion of a thesis entitled "Systems for the analysis and synthesis of the acoustics of theatre halls" (in Italian). Since 1998 he is working at the Department of Engineering of the University of Ferrara, at present with the qualification of research assistant. He is also trained as a professional oboe player from the Music School "A.Peri" of Reggio Emilia and as a bass singer from Music School "O.Vecchi" of Modena.

Prior to 1997 he worked at the Cemoter Institute of the CNR (Italian National Research Council) in Ferrara. He spent research periods at the Department of Acoustical Technology of the Technical University of Denmark (1996), at the Institut fur Tekniche Akustik in Aachen (1997) and at the Acosutics Laboratory of the Kobe University (JP). He is currently involved in national research projects financed both by the CNR and the MURST (Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific and Technical Research) and also on international actions financed by the EU.

His main research activities regard sound intensity theory and measurement and room acoustics. In this latter field he is interested in the auralization procedure and in the development of means for measurement and reproduction of the characteristics of acoustic spaces, regarding especially the acoustics of opera houses. He is also making researches in the field of psycoacoustics regarding the subjective preference of listeners to sound fields in enclosures.