Please see below for details of a funded PhD opportunity which may be of interest to some in this group.
Christine.
From: Kavanagh, Eithne <eithne.kavanagh(a)ntu.ac.uk>
Sent: 02 December 2025 16:40
To: Christine Anna Caldwell <c.a.caldwell(a)stir.ac.uk>
Subject: Fully-funded PhD opportunity
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________________________________
Hi Christine,
I hope you're well! I was wondering if you might be kind enough to circulate the following advertisement for a fully-funded PhD studentship to any relevant students in your Behaviour and Evolution Research group, or anyone who might be interested please?
A fully-funded PhD opportunity is available at the Psychology department at Nottingham Trent University, supervised by Dr. Eithne Kavanagh, Professor Bridget Waller and Dr. Ella McLoughlin (link here<https://www.ntu.ac.uk/study-and-courses/postgraduate/phd/phd-opportunities/…>; deadline 13th February). We are seeking a student with a keen interest in the evolution of social behaviour. The project will focus on social hierarchies and their associated nonverbal behaviour and health outcomes. Informal enquiries are encouraged and can be directed to eithne.kavanagh(a)ntu.ac.uk<mailto:eithne.kavanagh@ntu.ac.uk>.
<Link again: https://www.ntu.ac.uk/study-and-courses/postgraduate/phd/phd-opportunities/…>
If you could pass this on to anyone interested it would be much appreciated!
Many thanks,
Eithne
Dr. Eithne Kavanagh // staff profile<https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/social-sciences/eithne-kavanagh> // ERC FACEDIFF<https://www.facediff.co.uk/>
Senior Lecturer and Research fellow
E: eithne.kavanagh(a)ntu.ac.uk<mailto:eithne.kavanagh@ntu.ac.uk> // Twitter: @eithnekavanagh // Bluesky: @eithnekavanagh.bsky.social
Evolution and Social Interaction Research Group<https://www.ntu.ac.uk/research/groups-and-centres/groups/evolution-and-soci…>
Nottingham Trent University
[cid:590c75cf-2e24-4d0e-81bc-4d3d84dce934]
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________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear All,
Apologies but we had to reschedule Floriane's seminar to the 25th of February 2026. The next BERG seminar is next week and will be led by Faye Whiley from the Missing Lynx Project.
Best wishes,
Pawel
-------------------------------
Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his)
Lecturer in Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG)
Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling, FK9 4LA
Scotland, UK
@pawel-fedurek<https://bsky.app/profile/pawel-fedurek.bsky.social> @berg-stirling<https://bsky.app/profile/berg-stirling.bsky.social>
Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…>
I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday).
________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear BERGers and SHAIRers
I’ll be taking a lot of my old primate, animal behaviour, ecology, welfare, evolutionary psychology etc books to charity next week so if anyone wants to come and have a look and select any I’ll be in office (3A79) from 3-4 pm on Friday 28th Nov and you’re welcome to pop by and take your pick!
Best, Hannah
Sent from Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
________________________________
Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear All,
Just to let you know that there is no seminar this week. Next week we have Floriane Fournier (Université Jean Monnet) talking about her research on bonobo communiction.
Best wishes,
Pawel
-------------------------------
Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his)
Lecturer in Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG)
Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling, FK9 4LA
Scotland, UK
@pawel-fedurek<https://bsky.app/profile/pawel-fedurek.bsky.social> @berg-stirling<https://bsky.app/profile/berg-stirling.bsky.social>
Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…>
I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday).
________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
See attached postdoctoral position
--------------------------
Sharon Kessler (she/her), PhD
Lecturer in Psychology
Cottrell Building Room 3B92, Faculty of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, SCOTLAND
Tel: +44(0)1786 467 651
Email: sharon.kessler(a)stir.ac.uk
Website: https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1104622#research; https://www.sharonekessler.com/
Book review editor: International Journal of Primatology
If I am your personal tutor, here’s how I can help<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/professional-services/student-academic-and-cor…>. You can also get support from the Student Services Hub<https://www.stir.ac.uk/student-life/support-wellbeing/>.
[cid:9c954831-303f-40b4-8d46-d7da8e07e846]<https://www.stir.ac.uk/student-life/support-wellbeing/student-support-servi…>
________________________________
From: Radespiel, Ute <ute.radespiel(a)tiho-hannover.de>
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2025 12:17 PM
To: Kiene, Frederik <frederik.kiene(a)tiho-hannover.de>; Tobias van Elst <tob.velst(a)posteo.de>; Anne Yoder, Ph.D. <anne.yoder(a)duke.edu>; Nina Farwig <farwig(a)staff.uni-marburg.de>; Lounes Chikhi CNRS <lounas.chikhi(a)cnrs.fr>; Jordi SALMONA - IRD -EDB <jordi.salmona(a)ird.fr>; helena-marisa osorio-teixeira <helena-marisa.osorio-teixeira(a)ird.fr>; 'Pablo Orozco Ter Wengel (Orozco-terWengelPA(a)cardiff.ac.uk)' <Orozco-terWengelPA(a)cardiff.ac.uk>; Katerina Guschanski <Katerina.Guschanski(a)ed.ac.uk>; brooke.crowley(a)uc.edu <brooke.crowley(a)uc.edu>; Chris Barratt <c.d.barratt(a)gmail.com>; Gabriele Sgarlata <gabriele.sgarlata(a)gmail.com>; george.tiley(a)gmail.com <george.tiley(a)gmail.com>; Ganzhorn, Prof. Dr. Jörg <joerg.ganzhorn(a)uni-hamburg.de>; Nicholas Mundy <nim21(a)cam.ac.uk>; Fichtel, Claudia <claudia.fichtel(a)gwdg.de>; Shawn Lehman <shawn.lehman(a)utoronto.ca>; Dominik Schüßler (dominik.schuessler(a)posteo.de) <dominik.schuessler(a)posteo.de>; Travis Steffens <tsteffen(a)uoguelph.ca>; Sharon Kessler <sharon.kessler(a)stir.ac.uk>
Cc: Pröhl, Heike <Heike.Proehl(a)tiho-hannover.de>
Subject: job announcement for Hannover, Institute of Zoology
CAUTION: This email originated from outside University of Stirling. Do not follow links or open attachments if you doubt the authenticity of the sender or the content.
________________________________
Hi all,
We have a postdoctoral position opening up in our Institute and I would like to ask you to circulate the attached announcement within your academic network to whoever you may think could be suitable for it.
You will see that it is kept rather broad, and applications may therefore come from different research fields.
However, there is one critical aspect: Part of the teaching will need to be done in German to undergrad students – so some knowledge of the German language is a partial requirement for the job !
Many thanks for your help, and I hope that you are well!
Best wishes,
Ute
Prof. Ute Radespiel
Institute of Zoology
University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation
Buenteweg 17
30559 Hannover
Germany
Tel. +49-511-9538430
and
Associate Professor (status only)
University of Toronto
Canada
https://gtoe2026-passau.de/call-for-sessions.html
[cid:image001.jpg@01DC5A1D.5B4A2710]
________________________________
Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear BERGers,
A reminder that today we have a seminar with Dr Eleonore Rolland (CNRS, Bron, France) giving a talk entitled "Evidence of organized but not disorganized attachment in wild Western chimpanzee offspring (Pan troglodytes verus)" (abstract below). The meeting will be held online (link below).
Abstract:
Human attachment theory outlines three organized types: secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant, all considered adaptive responses to maternal care for offspring survival. In contrast, disorganized attachment is hypothesized to be maladaptive and therefore uncommon in wild mammals, though this remains untested. We assessed attachment types in 50 wild chimpanzees (ages 0–10 years) in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. Using 3,795 h of mother and offspring focal observations, we found no behaviours indicative of disorganized attachment. To explore organized attachment, we analysed a subset of 18 immature chimpanzees and their behavioural responses to 309 natural threatening events. Their responses showed organized attachment patterns: some sought maternal closeness (secure-like), while others displayed independence (insecure-avoidant-like). Our study supports the hypothesis that organized attachment types are adaptive and have a long evolutionary history.
Link to the meeting:
BERG research seminars | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…<https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/3816460052135?p=xsEIefROgXSXlZHxc0>>
BERG seminar schedule (Fall 2025)
Date
Speaker
Affiliation
Title
Chair
Format
19-Nov-25
Eleonore Rolland
Eleonore Rolland
tbc: mother-infant attachment in wild chimpanzees
Pawel
Online
26-Nov-25
TBC - Offered to Roxanne Hawkins
Clare
03-Dec-25
Floriane Fournier
Université Jean Monnet
"tbc: The role of nonlinear phenomena in vocal emotional expression and perception in bonobos "
Pawel
Online
10-Dec-25
Faye Whiley
The Missing Lynx Project
tbc: Social science in stakeholder engagement for lynx co-existence
Clare
Online
Best wishes,
Pawel
-------------------------------
Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his)
Lecturer in Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG)
Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling, FK9 4LA
Scotland, UK
@pawel-fedurek<https://bsky.app/profile/pawel-fedurek.bsky.social> @berg-stirling<https://bsky.app/profile/berg-stirling.bsky.social>
Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…>
I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday).
________________________________
Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
This PhD opportunity may be of interest to some (particularly our current Masters students).
From: Elizabeth Renner <elizabeth.renner(a)northumbria.ac.uk>
Sent: 17 November 2025 10:58
To: Elizabeth Renner <elizabeth.renner(a)northumbria.ac.uk>
Cc: Lee Shepherd <lee.shepherd(a)northumbria.ac.uk>; Merryn Constable <merryn.constable(a)northumbria.ac.uk>
Subject: recruiting a PhD student (funded) for 2026-2027
CAUTION: This email originated from outside University of Stirling. Do not follow links or open attachments if you doubt the authenticity of the sender or the content.
________________________________
Dear colleagues and friends,
I am recruiting a PhD student! I would be grateful if you could share the advert with suitable candidates (ideally with a Masters degree in progress or in hand): https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/bridging-the-species-divide-animal-mi…
The project is entitled "Bridging the species divide: Animal minds and the human-animal relationship". The student will ultimately work with pet owners, using both qualitative and quantitative methods, to understand their experiences of mind perception with their pets. (n.b., this is not an animal cognition project.) The PhD is competitively funded, and open to both UK and international students: funding covers both stipend and tuition. The closing date for applications is 23 January 2026.
Northumbria is a great place to do a PhD: we have a supportive department with an active community of PhD students, postdocs, and ECRs. The vibrant city of Newcastle offers access to both cultural and natural attractions (and of course, lots of potential participants).
If prospective students have any questions, they can feel free to reach out to me via this email address.
Thanks very much!
Liz
Dr Elizabeth Renner (she/her)
Assistant Professor
[Northumbria University Logo]
E: elizabeth.renner(a)northumbria.ac.uk<mailto:elizabeth.renner@northumbria.ac.uk>
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________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear BERGers,
This Wednesday (4pm) we have a seminar with Dr Eleonore Rolland (CNRS, Bron, France) giving a talk entitled "Evidence of organized but not disorganized attachment in wild Western chimpanzee offspring (Pan troglodytes verus)" (abstract below). The meeting will be held online (link below).
Abstract:
Human attachment theory outlines three organized types: secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant, all considered adaptive responses to maternal care for offspring survival. In contrast, disorganized attachment is hypothesized to be maladaptive and therefore uncommon in wild mammals, though this remains untested. We assessed attachment types in 50 wild chimpanzees (ages 0–10 years) in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. Using 3,795 h of mother and offspring focal observations, we found no behaviours indicative of disorganized attachment. To explore organized attachment, we analysed a subset of 18 immature chimpanzees and their behavioural responses to 309 natural threatening events. Their responses showed organized attachment patterns: some sought maternal closeness (secure-like), while others displayed independence (insecure-avoidant-like). Our study supports the hypothesis that organized attachment types are adaptive and have a long evolutionary history.
Link to the meeting:
BERG research seminars | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…<https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/3816460052135?p=xsEIefROgXSXlZHxc0>>
BERG seminar schedule (Fall 2025)
Date
Speaker
Affiliation
Title
Chair
Format
19-Nov-25
Eleonore Rolland
Eleonore Rolland
tbc: mother-infant attachment in wild chimpanzees
Pawel
Online
26-Nov-25
TBC - Offered to Roxanne Hawkins
Clare
03-Dec-25
Floriane Fournier
Université Jean Monnet
"tbc: The role of nonlinear phenomena in vocal emotional expression and perception in bonobos "
Pawel
Online
10-Dec-25
Faye Whiley
The Missing Lynx Project
tbc: Social science in stakeholder engagement for lynx co-existence
Clare
Online
Best wishes,
Pawel
-------------------------------
Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his)
Lecturer in Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG)
Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling, FK9 4LA
Scotland, UK
@pawel-fedurek<https://bsky.app/profile/pawel-fedurek.bsky.social> @berg-stirling<https://bsky.app/profile/berg-stirling.bsky.social>
Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…>
I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday).
________________________________
Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear BERGers,
This Wednesday (4pm) we have a seminar with Dr Melissa Berthet (University of Rennes) giving a talk entitled "Bonobo vocal communication and the evolution of compositionality" (abstract below). The meeting will be held online (link below).
Abstract:
Compositionality- the capacity to combine meaningful elements into larger structures whose meaning depends on the meanings of the parts and the way they are combined- is a hallmark of human language. In this talk, I will present new findings on the compositional capacities of wild bonobos. Specifically, by conducting a comprehensive investigation of meaning and adapting methods from linguistics, I will show that bonobo vocal communication extensively relies on compositionality. This suggests that the ability to construct complex meanings from smaller vocal units was already present in our ancestors at least 7 million years ago.
Link to the meeting:
BERG research seminars | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…<https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/3816460052135?p=xsEIefROgXSXlZHxc0>>
BERG seminar schedule (Fall 2025)
Date
Speaker
Affiliation
Title
Chair
Format
12-Nov-25
Mélissa Berthet
University of Rennes
tbc: vocal behaviour in bonobos
Pawel
Online
19-Nov-25
Eleonore Rolland
Eleonore Rolland
tbc: mother-infant attachment in wild chimpanzees
Pawel
Online
26-Nov-25
TBC
Clare
03-Dec-25
Floriane Fournier
Université Jean Monnet
"tbc: The role of nonlinear phenomena in vocal emotional expression and perception in bonobos "
Pawel
Online
10-Dec-25
Faye Whiley
The Missing Lynx Project
tbc: Social science in stakeholder engagement for lynx co-existence
Clare
Online
________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
