Behavioural Biology
Graduate Meeting
Interested in hosting a graduate meeting yourself? Please do not hesitate to contact the section speakers. We will support you with the application for funds.
Joint Graduate Meeting: Animal Behaviour 2025
of the Ethological Society and the Behavioural Biology Section of the German Zoological Society (DZG)
08.10. – 10.10.2025
Location
University of Leipzig
We invite Bachelor and Master students, PhDs and early Post-docs to present and discuss their results with peers at the Joint Graduate Meeting of the Ethological Society and the Behavioural Biology Section of the German Zoological Society (DZG). The event is designed to provide a platform for undergraduate and graduate students to present their research, interact with peers, and engage in stimulating discussions about the latest trends and developments in the field of behavioural sciences.
For presenting your research you have the opportunity to give a talk (15+5 min) or present a poster in an informal and friendly atmosphere.
There will be no registration fees. The language of the conference is English.
Invited speakers
Melanie Dammhahn (University of Münster)
Thomas Bugnyar (University of Vienna)
FURTHER INFORMATION WILL FOLLOW
The organisers:
Dr Ahana A. Fernandez, Dr Sabine Kraus, & Dr Christian Nawroth
Short report: Graduate Meeting Behavioural Biology 2024
From 16.10-18.10 2024, the joint Graduate Meeting of the Behavioural Biology Section of the German Zoological Society (DGZ) and the Ethological Society (EthoGes) took place at the University of Rostock and the Research Institute of Farm Animal Biology (FBN) in Dummerstorf. The multi-day programme was diverse and multifaceted.
The first plenary talk was given by Dr Katja Liebal (University of Leipzig) on The attitude of children towards other animals – a comparative cultural perspective. Dr Liebal’s lecture was integrated into the lecture series „Zoologische Vorweisungen“. This lecture is open to all students and also to the interested public and the audience was accordingly mixed. The lecture and discussion round was a complete success and once again put our Graduate Meeting in the spotlight. The next day, Pizza Chow (University of Chester) gave another plenary talk on problem-solving in wild squirrels, which was also enthusiastically received.
Young scientists – from Master’s to postdoc level – gave 10 exciting presentations on a wide range of topics such as animal welfare, social behaviour, cognition and communication. In a poster session, four interesting posters were examined and discussed in detail. In a joint workshop, all participants, including the two plenary speakers, discussed questions relating to science and academic work. Questions submitted anonymously by all participants were collected in advance and divided thematically into discussion blocks.
On the last day, posters and presentation awards were distributed. The presentation awards went to Eva Mardus (‘The numerical competence of the greater spear-nosed bat Phyllostomus hastatus’). The poster award went to Anustup Bandyopadhyay (‘The impact of alternative reproductive tactics on the cognitive abilities of male wild house mice’). The event was rounded off with a guided tour of the FBN on Friday afternoon and a tour of the Marine Science Centre (University of Rostock) on Saturday morning. Overall, the Graduate Meeting ‘Animal Behaviour’, with over 31 participants, was a successful event that offered young scientists a platform to present their work and themselves and to make important contacts. Thanks to grants from the DZG and the Ethologische Gesellschaft, the Graduate Meeting could be held without a participation fee. We, the speakers of Behavioural Biology, are already looking forward to the next Graduate Meeting, which is expected to take place in Leipzig in October 2025.
Gruppenfoto des Graduate Meetigs Verhaltensbiologie 2024 (FBN Dummerstorf) Group picture of the Graduate Meeting Behavioural Biology 2024 (FBN Dummerstorf)
Joint Graduate Meeting: Animal Behaviour 2024
of the Ethological Society and the Behavioural Biology Section of the German Zoological Society (DZG)
16.10. – 18.10.2024
Locations
University of Rostock
Universitätsplatz 1, 18051 Rostock, Germany
&
Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN)
Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany
We invite Bachelor and Master students, PhDs and early Post-docs to present and discuss their results with peers at the Joint Graduate Meeting of the Ethological Society and the Behavioural Biology Section of the German Zoological Society (DZG). The event is designed to provide a platform for undergraduate and graduate students to present their research, interact with peers, and engage in stimulating discussions about the latest trends and developments in the field of behavioural sciences.
For presenting your research you have the opportunity to give a talk (15+5 min) or present a poster in an informal and friendly atmosphere.
There will be no registration fees. The language of the conference is English.
Important dates:
Deadline for abstract submission: 18th of August 2024.
Presenter notification: 16th of September 2024
Registration deadline (attendance without presentation): 30th of September 2024
Invited speakers
Dr Katja Liebal (University of Leipzig)
Die Einstellung von Kindern gegenüber anderen Tieren – eine kulturvergleichende Perspektive (“Children’s attitudes towards other animals – a cross-cultural developmental approach”)
Dr Pizza Chow (University of Chester)
Problem-solving in wild squirrels
Programme
You can download the recent programme for the Graduate Meeting here
ProgrammeProgramme Joint Graduate Meeting Animal Behaviour 2024
Venue
You can find more information on the University’s main building here.
On Thursday and Friday, the meeting will take place in the Conference Centre of the FBN in Dummerstorf (about 12 km outside of Rostock).
Travel
Connections to Rostock: You can reach Rostock by car, bus, train or ferry (https://www.rostock.de/en/transport/arrival-parking.html).
Connections from Rostock to Dummerstorf: We will offer a shuttle transfer from Rostock city centre to Dummerstorf in the morning and the afternoon on Thursday and Friday. For individual travelling, there are frequent bus connections going from Rostock-Dummerstorf-Rostock and an S-Bahn station in the next village (Kavelsdorf) that will bring you to Rostock main station.
Accommodation possibilities
Catering during the meeting & Social dinner
Social dinner (self-paid)
Catering during the meeting
Coffee, tea, beverages, and cookies will be provided for the small breaks. We have planned pizza and sandwiches for the lunch breaks. Please let us know if you have any allergies or intolerances when registering. Alternatively, there are supermarkets and a bistro near the institute.
Don´t miss this opportunity and join us for a fun and stimulating meeting, get to know your peers and grow your network. We are looking forward to seeing you in Dummerstorf. If you have any questions don´t hesitate to contact us.
The organizers:
Dr Ahana A. Fernandez, Dr Sabine Kraus, & Dr Christian Nawroth
Brief report: Graduate Meeting Behavioural Biology 2023
The joint Graduate Meeting of the Behavioural Biology Section of the German Zoological Society (DGZ) and the Ethological Society (EthoGes) took place in Bielefeld from 08.11-10.11.2023. The three-day programme included two excellent plenary talks, outstanding oral presentations by students and an exciting poster session.
The plenary talks were held by Dr Angela Stöger (Institute for Sound Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences) on communication and cognition in elephants and by Dr Antonino Calapai (Primate Centre Göttingen) on a new adaptive approach to cognitive training in captive primates. Young scientists – Master to Postdoc level – gave 16 exciting talks on various topics such as animal welfare, social behaviour, cognition and behavioural physiology. During the poster session, five interesting posters were examined and discussed in detail. In a joint workshop, all participants, including the two plenary speakers, additionally discussed questions relating to science and academic life. The event was closed with a guided tour of the Department of Behavioural Biology at Bielefeld University.
With over 30 participants in total, the Graduate Meeting of Behavioural Biology was a successful event. Thanks to grants from the DZG and EthoGes, the Graduate Meeting could be held without a participation fee.
Two presentation prizes were awarded to: Elena Groneberg (“Lefty or righty? Investigating behavioural lateralisation in rats”) and Annkatrin Pahl (“Dwarf goats show altruistic behaviour in a novel food giving paradigm”).
The poster prize went to Jana Deutsch (“Goats staring at video screens – behavioural responses of goats to images of familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics”).
Registration open for the joint Graduate Meeting of the Ethological Society and the Behavioural Biology Section of the DZG
You can register now! We are looking forward to your registration.
Here are some important key dates:
Abstract deadline: 15th of September
Registration (attendance without presentation) deadline: 13th of October
Joint Graduate Meeting of the Ethological Society and the Behavioural Biology Section of the DZG
This year’s graduate meeting will take place from 08.11. – 10.11.2023 in Bielefeld.
We cordially invite Bachelor and Master students, PhD students and early postdocs to present their results in the form of a talk or poster in an informal and friendly atmosphere and to discuss with their peers.
As guests, Dr. Angela Stöger (University of Vienna) & Dr. Antonino Calapai (German Primate Center Göttingen) will accompany this meeting.
There will be no registration fees. The conference language will be English. We will inform about the registration formalities and further details here soon.
We are looking forward to seeing you!
2022
30.11. – 01.12.2022 Virtual Graduate Meeting of the Behavioural Biology Section of the DZG
Keynote speaker:
Mirjam Knörnschild
Tobias Krause
Anja Guenther
2019
23.10. – 25.10.2019 Joint Graduate Meeting of the Ethological Society and the Behavioural Biology Section of the DZG at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön
Keynote speaker:
Prof. Dr. Heiko Rödel
Dr. Barbara Caspers
Prof. Walter Arnold
2017
11.05. – 12.05.2017 Joint Graduate Meeting of the Ethological Society and the Behavioural Biology Section of the DZG at the Institute of Animal Welfare & Animal Husbandry
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut in Celle
Keynote speaker:
Marc Naguib
Lars Schrader
Wiebke Schuett
2016
03.-05.06.2016 Joint Graduate Meeting of the Ethological Society and the Behavioural Biology Section of the DZG at the Biological Station Gülpe (University of Potsdam)
Keynote speaker:
Julia Ostner
Tim Caro