Past Courses / Events

Intra-specific competition is especially challenging for colonial species because the number of individuals is higher near the colony, and resources are depleted faster. Coexistence with conspecifics hence depends on mechanisms that minimize competitive interactions and favor resource partitioning ... [more]

Movement allows organisms to access resources and avoid unfavourable environmental conditions, predators, and competition, while facilitating the redistribution of nutrients, energy, and species across ecosystems that are kilometres to continents apart. However, movement comes at a cost, and ... [more]

Nocturnal bird migration over land generally occurs across a broad spatial front but might have distinct spatiotemporal patterns at sea, shaped by the ecological barrier effect and unique environmental drivers. Understanding offshore movements is essential not only for building a comprehensive ... [more]

The empirical literature on mutual helping for direct fitness (often termed cooperation within species and mutualism between species) has long been dominated by the aim to test model predictions from rather stylised games, such as the iterated prisoner's dilemma. However, more empirically informed ... [more]

Studying behavioral evolution presents a unique challenge due to the absence of fossils and the complex relationship between behavioral form (observable traits) and function (its effect on the environment). This link is shaped by dynamic interactions of internal states, phylogeny, and ... [more]

A career in science is a rather difficult undertaking to plan, much depends on external factors that are difficult to influence, such as the publication of the right job openings at the right time and not two years too early or too late, the famous, always negative third reviewer, and the deadline ... [more]

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Take a scrap piece of paper from your desk and crumple it into a ball. It may not be immediately apparent, but this everyday object exhibits rich mechanical properties that can provide insights about efficient memory storage, novel computation strategies, and even the dynamics of earthquakes ... [more]

Long-distance migrations are full of choices. Migrating animals have to make a plethora of decisions about routes, timings, stopovers and destinations, each of which can influence their development and breeding success. In such cases, relying only on innate information is highly risky, and so, many ... [more]

I have been studying Bornean orangutans at Sepilok and Danum Valley in Malaysia. My focus is on male reproductive tactics and food-sharing behavior. I am also interested in the social development of great apes during the “adolescent” period. [more]