MPI-AB Behavioural Ecology Graduate Course
MPI-AB Behavioural Ecology Graduate Course: Lectures and discussions on behavioural ecology topics
- Date: Dec 11, 2025
- Time: 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Alex Jordan, Caroline Schuppli, Andrea Flack, Kamran Safi, Brendan Barrett, Meg Crofoot, Serena Ding, Urs Kalbitzer, Ari Strandburg-Peshkin, Barbara Fruth
- MPI-AB group leaders, directors, senior scientists
- Location: Bückle St. 5a, 78467 Konstanz
- Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
- Contact: ajordan@ab.mpg.de
- Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures
- Open to all students and postdocs
- Bücklestrasse 5a Level 4 Room 4.16, in-person attendance only
- Course Coordinator – Alex Jordan
During Winter semester 2025/2026 we are offering a graduate course in Behavioural Ecology. The course will run on Thursday mornings beginning at 10:00 with a lecture from an MPIAB Group Leader exploring a core theme in Behavioural Ecology, and be followed at 11:00-12:30 with a discussion of three papers in the area – one classic paper, one recent synthesis, and one empirical paper – which will be provided by the lecturer for that topic. The lectures themselves will not be research talks, but will provide a fundamental summary of each topic. The discussion round will emphasise past and current trends in each area, and provide a forum to discuss and debate approaches. Attendance for the entire session is strongly encouraged. Check the Mattermost channel for updated information.
- Introduction to Behavioural Ecology - from Aristotle to Tinbergen 23rd October 2025 – Alex Jordan 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
- Animal Cognition 30th October 2025 – Caroline Schuppli 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
- Sexual Selection and Mate Choice 6th November 2025 – Alex Jordan 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
- Navigation and Migration 13th November 2025 – Andrea Flack 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
- Economics of Behaviour 20th November 2025 – Kamran Safi 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
- Multi-level selection 27th November 2025 – Brendan Barrett 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
- Living in Groups 4th December 2025 – Meg Crofoot 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
- Mechanisms of Behaviour 11th December 2025 –Serena Ding 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
==BREAK==
- Competition 8th January 2026 – Urs Kalbitzer 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
- Social Learning 15th January 2026 – Caroline Schuppli 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
- Cooperation 22nd January 2026 – Ari Strandburg-Peshkin 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
- Foraging 29th January 2026 – Barbara Fruth 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
- Synthesis of Topics in Behavioural Ecology 5th February 2026 – All Instructors 10:00 Lecture – 11:00 Tutorial
Recommended textbooks, specific readings will be supplied by lecturers via Mattermost
- Principles of Animal Behavior Dugatkin
- Evolutionary Behavioral Ecology Westneat and Fox
- Social Behaviour Székely, Moore, and Komdeur