Hi everyone,
Please see the notice below about opportunities for joining the Primate Society of Great Britain's Research Subcommittee. I served on it for several years - the primary duties are to review grant applications. It's a good opportunity to learn about how these types of grants are evaluated and to see how these systems work.
Very best wishes and happy 2025!
Sharon
The PSGB Research Subcommittee is seeking 2–3 new members to join the committee and contribute to the ongoing development and impact of its work.
The Research Subcommittee focuses on all aspects of primate research, addressing diverse questions related to behaviour, cognition, social organization, biology, health, and population dynamics. A key responsibility of the Subcommittee is reviewing applications for PSGB research grants, conducted twice a year.
We are particularly interested in applications from researchers with expertise in behavioral ecology, field endocrinology, and environmental sampling. Early-career researchers and individuals from underrepresented groups in primate research are strongly encouraged to apply.
If you are interested, please send a personal statement and CV to Dr. Stefano Kaburu at rwp(a)psgb.org.
Join us in shaping the future of primate research!
Let me know if you have questions or need further information.
All the best,
Dr Stefano Kaburu (Convenor of the Research Subcommittee)
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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
Academic editor: PLOS ONE
________________________________
Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear all,
This is a kind reminder that today Kirsten Sutherland (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) will present a talk titled "How do groups of great apes navigate social dilemmas?: PhD overview" in person.
I hope you can join us in the Psychology Common Room at 4pm. There will be chimpanzee videos!
Abstract All social animals encounter social dilemmas: situations where the best interests of the individual are in conflict with the best interests of the group. Much of the existing experimental comparative psychology work focuses dyads of NHPs, providing an incomplete picture of how group-living primates cooperate. This collection of PhD studies aims to examine what facilitates and constrains cooperation in great apes beyond dyadic interactions.
you can also join online https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%…<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NTliODBlNDQtMzM1MC00…>
Have a nice holiday and happy new year!
best,
Alex
________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear all,
In the next (and last) BERG/SHAIR meeting of the year Kirsten Sutherland (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) will present a talk titled "How do groups of great apes navigate social dilemmas?: PhD overview"
Abstract All social animals encounter social dilemmas: situations where the best interests of the individual are in conflict with the best interests of the group. Much of the existing experimental comparative psychology work focuses dyads of NHPs, providing an incomplete picture of how group-living primates cooperate. This collection of PhD studies aims to examine what facilitates and constrains cooperation in great apes beyond dyadic interactions.
We will meet in person at 4pm Wednesday in the common room--and you can also join online https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NTliODBlNDQtMzM1MC00…
All the best,
Alex
________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Please join me in congratulating Jade Hooper who passed her viva voce today.
Her thesis is entitled "Exploring Social Inequalities in Dog bites and Strikes Using Administrative Data Sources" and she was supervised by Paul Lambert (Faculty of Social Sciences), Tony Robertson (BES) and myself.
Jade is a regular attendee of BERG/SHAIR meetings - she used to organise them!
Congratulations directly to Jade please - jade.hooper(a)stir.ac.uk
Hannah
Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith
Professor, Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG)
Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling, FK9 4LA
Scotland
E-mail: h.m.buchanan-smith(a)stir.ac.uk<http://h.m.buchanan-smith@stir.ac.uk/>
Home page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/257464>
Marmoset care<https://www.marmosetcare.stir.ac.uk/>
Animal Welfare 24/7 across the lifespan<https://www.animalconcepts.eu/247approachtopromotingoptimalwelfareforcaptiv…>
Welfare of dogs <https://nc3rs.org.uk/housing-and-husbandry-dogs>
________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear all,
In the next BERG/SHAIR meeting Marie Padberg, PhD student from the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, will give a presentation titled "Is altercentrism WEIRD or GREAT? Insights from cross-cultural and comparative studies on the altercentric bias in false belief tasks"
The meeting will be online, but we will broadcast it from the Psychology Common Room at 4pm. Here is the abstract:
Altercentrism, meaning the effortless processing of other individuals' mental states, was long believed to be human unique. I challenge this view with two studies showing that a) the way this phenomenon is studied in WEIRD populations is not culturally universal and that b) also great apes show an altercentric bias with a similar developmental trajectory to human infants.
Teams link for the talk: Teams link https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NTliODBlNDQtMzM1MC00…
Also, apologies for a mistake I made. Yesterday I forgot to record Zsuzsa Lugosi's talk.
best,
Alex
________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear all,
In the next BERG/SHAIR meeting Zsuzsa Lugosi will give a presentation titled " Investigating the ways children (aged 6-11) connect to nature at the Natural history Museum, London."
As usual, we will meet in the Psychology Common Room at 4pm. The presentation will be in person and you will also have the chance to follow it via Teams . You can find the abstract below
The relationship humans foster with nature is complex but as often with relationships, a good one comes with many benefits. The benefits of a strong connection to nature is relatively well understood, however it is less well understood how this relationship develops through childhood. Children between the ages of 6-11 are interesting to study as their time is well structured by the school, which includes nature and nature contact to a varying degree. However, from the literature we know that knowledge is not the best route to a strong connection to nature, emotions are. So looking at experiences outside of the school where children have unstructured time are a good starting point. The Natural History Museum set out to connect young people with nature and designated vast resources to do so, but they do not fully understand whether these resources meet the aim. My work intends to fill in the gap in our knowledge on how children may connect to nature at the NHM as well as provide actionable knowledge to the museum.
I will present some of my findings as well as the unexpected direction this took my point of view of the research on nature connectedness.
Teams link https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NTliODBlNDQtMzM1MC00…
best,
Alex
________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear all,
This is a short reminder that today we will meet at 4pm in the Psychology Common Room. The idea is that core BERG members talk about their grant ideas, proposals and current research.
all the best,
Alex
________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Hi everyone,
Please see below for a PhD studentship opportunity!
Sharon
https://iapetus2.ac.uk/studentships/mandrills-and-microbes-ii-the-gut-micro…
Details of the competition are here: https://iapetus2.ac.uk/
Please encourage any student who might be eligible and interested to apply.
The next important deadline is for international applicants: Monday 9th December 2024.
--------------------------
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
Academic editor: PLOS ONE
________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
Dear all,
For next week there are no presenters, but we will still meet (Wednesday 27th, Psychology Common Room 4pm). The idea is that core BERG members use their time (if they wish) to briefly present current projects, grant ideas, proposals, results, etc to each other. I would personally present the results of some studies in preparation. Please let me know whether you want to present some work by Tuesday next week. If you present, send me your slides as well. I will then accommodate the time according to the number of presenters. We can discuss further details after today's meeting if necessary.
best.
Alex
________________________________
Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
