Courses, Defenses & Events

May 06, 2026

IMPRS organised events in 2026

  • 1st conference on multiple global change factors and plant invasions, 30. March - 2. April 2026 in Konstanz, website
  • IMPRS Symposium: 16. - 17. April, tba
  • IMPRS PhD student retreat: 18. - 20. May 2026, Tübingen
  • Data Visualisation Workshop: 12. June, U KN, M701
  • Grant Proposal Writing Workshop: 2. - 3. July 2026, U KN
  • Scientific Writing Workshop: 6. - 7. July 2026, U KN
  • Welcome Week: 5. - 9. October 2026, U KN / Möggingen

Please also keep an eye on the courses, workshops, and coachings offered via the Planck Academy (MPG) and the Konstanz Research School (KRS) at the U KN!

 

Upcomming Events, Seminars, Courses

The progression of hunting decision-making in lions

Rado Seminar by Elena Iannino
  • Date: May 22, 2026
  • Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Elena Iannino
  • Location: Bückle St. 5a, 78467 Konstanz
  • Room: Seminar room MPI-AB Bücklestrasse + Online
  • Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
  • Contact: ksafi@ab.mpg.de
Predation is a multistage process shaped by behavioral decisions that unfold from rest to pursuit, with each stage shaped by interacting environmental, social, and prey-related factors. Decomposing this sequence offers a mechanistic understanding of predator–prey interactions, as drivers of success ... [more]

When Fear Enters the Lab: Bullying, Power, and the Erosion of Scientific Integrity

Institute Seminar by Leah P. Hollis
  • Date: May 26, 2026
  • Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Leah P. Hollis
  • Associate Dean for Access, Equity and Inclusion; Professor of Education, Education Policy Studies Penn State University. Leah P. Hollis EdD, the inaugural Associate Dean of Access, Equity and Inclusion is national and international expert on workplace bullying. Her most recent book, Instrumental Social Justice in Higher Education Eight Surveys for Workplace Bullying and Social Justice Research which was released by Routledge publications in 2024, is an extension of her work on bullying in higher education. Other notable work includes Human Resource Perspectives on Workplace Bullying in Higher Education addresses structural problems that enable workplace bullying. She has spoken nationally and internationally to help over 350 schools address incivility on campus. Dr. Hollis has an extensive career in higher education administration and has held senior leadership and faculty posts. Dr. Hollis has taught at Northeastern University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Rutgers University. Dr. Hollis received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Africana Studies from Rutgers University and her Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her Doctorate of Education from Boston University as a Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellow. Also, Dr. Hollis continued her professional training at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, Higher Education Management Development Program. She earned certification in Project Management and Executive Leadership at Stanford University and Cornell University, respectively. Hollis is also the recipient of the AERA Social Justice Award for 2024.
  • Location: Bückle St. 5a, 78467 Konstanz
  • Room: Seminar room MPI-AB Bücklestrasse + Online
  • Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
Workplace bullying is increasingly recognized as a serious threat to employee health and organizational sustainability, yet in the United States it is still framed primarily as a legal or interpersonal issue rather than a public health concern. Drawing on survey data from 729 higher education ... [more]

Workshop: When Work Makes You Sick - How Workplace Bullying Undermines Health, Wellness, and Human Sustainability

Workshop with Leah P. Hollis
  • Date: May 27, 2026
  • Time: 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Leah P. Hollis
  • Associate Dean for Access, Equity and Inclusion; Professor of Education, Education Policy Studies Penn State University. Leah P. Hollis EdD, the inaugural Associate Dean of Access, Equity and Inclusion is national and international expert on workplace bullying. Her most recent book, Instrumental Social Justice in Higher Education Eight Surveys for Workplace Bullying and Social Justice Research which was released by Routledge publications in 2024, is an extension of her work on bullying in higher education. Other notable work includes Human Resource Perspectives on Workplace Bullying in Higher Education addresses structural problems that enable workplace bullying. She has spoken nationally and internationally to help over 350 schools address incivility on campus. Dr. Hollis has an extensive career in higher education administration and has held senior leadership and faculty posts. Dr. Hollis has taught at Northeastern University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Rutgers University. Dr. Hollis received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Africana Studies from Rutgers University and her Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her Doctorate of Education from Boston University as a Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellow. Also, Dr. Hollis continued her professional training at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, Higher Education Management Development Program. She earned certification in Project Management and Executive Leadership at Stanford University and Cornell University, respectively. Hollis is also the recipient of the AERA Social Justice Award for 2024.
  • Location: Bückle St. 5a, 78467 Konstanz
  • Room: Seminar room MPI-AB bücklestrasse 4.06
  • Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
  • Contact: mhieber@ab.mpg.de
Workplace bullying is increasingly recognized as a serious threat to employee health and organizational sustainability, yet in the United States it is still framed primarily as a legal or interpersonal issue rather than a public health concern. Drawing on survey data from 729 higher education ... [more]

Big Cats, Bigger Question

Institute Seminar by Natalia Borrego
  • Date: Jun 2, 2026
  • Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Natalia Borrego
  • Natalia Borrego is a behavioral ecologist and evolutionary biologist whose research explores the proximate and ultimate drivers of behavior, cognition, and sociality. Using African lions (Panthera leo) as a model system, her work combines high-resolution biologging technology, traditional ecological knowledge from expert San trackers, captive experiments, and field studies across multiple ecosystems to investigate how animals make decisions, solve problems, coordinate socially, and adapt their behavior under varying ecological conditions.
  • Location: University of Konstanz
  • Room: ZT 702 + online
  • Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
  • Contact: lrosales@ab.mpg.de
Much of what we know about lion behavior comes from resource-rich systems such as the Serengeti. Yet lions inhabit an extraordinary diversity of environments ranging from productive savannas to semi-arid deserts, forests, and coastal ecosystems, and these contrasting systems can impose ... [more]

Studying gulls: What can we learn from these opportunistic, flexible, and explorative species?

Institute Seminar by Stefan Garthe
  • Date: Jun 9, 2026
  • Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Stefan Garthe
  • Stefan Garthe is a marine ecologist and ornithologist. After earning his Ph.D. from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany, he moved to the Research and Technology Center (FTZ) on the North Sea coast in Büsum, which is an external station of Kiel University. He was appointed a professor at Kiel University and director of the FTZ. Stefan Garthe was president of the German Ornithological Society from 2013 to 2018 and an adjunct professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada. He has dedicated most of his career to studying seabirds, a field in which he has worked for 35 years with an emphasis on northern gannets and several gull species. He has produced over 320 publications and led more than 90 national and international projects focusing on seabird ecology, the environmental impacts of offshore wind energy, and marine protected areas.
  • Location: MPI-AB Möggingen
  • Room: Seminar room MPI-AB Möggingen + Online
  • Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
  • Contact: wikelski@ab.mpg.de
Gulls are a taxonomic group of birds known for their flexible, opportunistic behaviour, their use of a wide range of habitats, and their strong response to human activities. Since 2008, we have GPS-tracked more than 800 individuals of seven gull species in Europe and three in the Americas. We have ... [more]

Sex roles in coucals - a unique model system to answer Tinbergen's 4 questions

Rado Seminar by Wolfgang Goymann
  • Date: Jun 12, 2026
  • Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Wolfgang Goymann
  • Location: MPI-AB Möggingen
  • Room: Seminar room MPI-AB Möggingen + Online
  • Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
  • Contact: ksafi@ab.mpg.de
Female-biased investment into zygote formation (anisogamy) often leads to ‘Darwinian sex roles’ with stronger male competition and larger female choice. Often, this also comes with larger female investment into parental care. In some species, however, these sex roles are ‘reversed’ with females ... [more]

Data Visualization Workshop

  • Date: Jun 12, 2026
  • Time: 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Max Q Capelle
  • Location: U KN, M701
[more]

Keeping the Wild Working: Predators, Processes, and the Ethics of Intervention

Institute Seminar by Sam Ferreira
  • Date: Jun 16, 2026
  • Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Sam Ferreira
  • Dr Sam M. Ferreira, PhD is a senior conservation ecologist and internationally recognised authority on large mammal population dynamics, restoration ecology and evidence-based conservation management, with more than three decades of experience integrating theoretical ecology with applied conservation across Africa and the Southern Hemisphere. For the past 18 years and currently he serves as Large Mammal Ecologist in Scientific Services at South African National Parks (SANParks), where his work focuses on the spatial and temporal dynamics of large mammals, including elephants, rhinoceroses and large carnivores, directly informing adaptive management in complex protected area systems. In parallel, he is the Scientific Officer of the IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group, leading scientific reporting on rhino population trends and management and providing technical input to international policy processes, including CITES. He also holds academic appointments as Adjunct Professor at the Department of Nature Conservation and Marine Science of Cape Peninsula University of Technology and Extraordinary Professor at the Faculty of Law of North-West University, reflecting sustained engagement in postgraduate supervision, academic mentorship and research capacity development. His research has made a sustained and measurable contribution to wildlife conservation and management across southern and eastern Africa, evidenced by the authorship or co-authorship of more than 160 peer-reviewed publications that have attracted over 5 500 citations (h-index > 40). This work has advanced understanding of population dynamics, spatial ecology, and demographic drivers, improved monitoring methodologies widely applied by conservation agencies, and informed adaptive, landscape-scale management approaches in major protected areas. The consistent uptake of this research in operational planning, regional and continental assessments, advisory processes and international conservation policy debates underscores its enduring scientific, management and policy impact.
  • Location: Bückle St. 5a, 78467 Konstanz
  • Room: Seminar room MPI-AB Bücklestrasse + Online
  • Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
  • Contact: nborrego@ab.mpg.de
Large predators have a talent for stirring strong feelings. We admire them, fear them, argue about them, and then write long papers about how everything is going wrong. This talk takes a different path. It asks a simple question: what do large predators do for ecosystems—and why does that matter ... [more]

Turning tracks into risk: probabilistic estimation of bird collisions at wind turbines

Institute Seminar by Moritz Mercker
  • Date: Jun 23, 2026
  • Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Moritz Mercker
  • Moritz Mercker is a trained biologist and mathematician with a PhD in applied mathematics. Early in his career, he worked as an ornithologist on different offshore and island field stations, including the North Sea island of Trischen, where long-term bird monitoring and close exposure to protected ecosystems shaped his strong ecological perspective. He currently works at the interface of ecology, statistics, and applied mathematics. Alongside his involvement in academic research on biomathematical methods, he runs a biostatistical consultancy supporting ecological assessments and environmental decision-making. His work is driven by the conviction that biodiversity conservation and the expansion of renewable energy can and must be reconciled through rigorous, data-driven approaches.
  • Location: MPI-AB Möggingen
  • Room: Seminar room MPI-AB Möggingen + Online
  • Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
  • Contact: fiedler@ab.mpg.de
Expanding wind energy requires reliable ways to assess collision risks for birds, especially for protected species. We present a probabilistic framework that translates animal movement data into spatially explicit estimates of collision risk at wind turbines. Using GPS tracking of different breeding ... [more]

Institute Seminar by Simon Garnier

Institute Seminar by Simon Garnier
  • Date: Jun 30, 2026
  • Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Simon Garnier
  • Location: University of Konstanz
  • Room: ZT 702 + online
  • Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
  • Contact: jdavidson@ab.mpg.de
[more]
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