Elena Prandoni
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
For Elena Prandoni, studying a PhD in exercise physiology is an opportunity to explore a subject she's genuinely passionate about while contributing new knowledge to the field.
“My doctoral research looks at stress responses and changes in physiological parameters associated with training twice or once in endurance running. Endurance athletes often aim to achieve high training volumes and, as a result, it’s common for them to train twice a day.
“My research seeks to improve our understanding of the physiological implications of twice-per-day training and to investigate the impact of performing a training session before fully recovering from the previous one. Ultimately, this work will contribute to more effective training stress management and load monitoring.”
Elena’s PhD research is being supervised by Dr Ed Maunder and Professor Andrew Kilding.
Freedom to explore new ideas
As someone who really enjoys exploring new things, a PhD was the logical next step, says Elena who came to AUT as an international student from Italy.
“The PhD enables me to continue learning and gain deep knowledge about something I’m genuinely interested in. I’m always surprised by the level of freedom I have in managing my PhD, and by how supportive my supervisors are when it comes to academic decisions.”
She enjoys being based at the AUT Sport Research Institute New Zealand (SPRINZ) for her studies.
“What I enjoy most is the supportive environment and the people around me. I value the opportunity to learn from others, and the freedom to explore new ideas and try new things.”
Advice for other students
Expecting to complete her studies in 2027, Elena has some great advice for other students.
“My advice is to find what you’re truly passionate about, then work hard to achieve your goals.”
She wouldn’t hesitate to recommend AUT and SPRINZ to other students.
“I’d definitely recommend studying here. I ended up here almost by chance – I wanted a new challenge and moving to the other side of the world certainly provided one, especially since I had always been fascinated by New Zealand – but looking back, I’d make exactly the same decision.”
