ASAB Summer Newsletter 2025

Dear ASAB members,

Good evening and welcome to the latest edition of the summer newsletter!

I'd like to begin by thanking the ASAB Spring 2025 organising team at Liverpool John Moores University for putting together a fantastic programme of talks, plenaries, and a particularly engaging science communication workshop. I especially enjoyed watching the students bring their dinosaur dioramas to life on film — a creative and inspiring highlight. We were also pleased to have a digital "hublet" join us on Day 1 of the conference, hosted by our new ECR Representative, James Bukie.

ASAB Spring Meeting 2025 Organising Committee (LJMU)

In this newsletter you can find:

ASAB Council Positions Available
ASAB Spring 2025 Meeting Report
Upcoming Meetings (Kolkata & Edinburgh)
Grants News - June 1st 2025 deadlines
News from the journal Animal Behaviour
Update to Ethical Guidelines - membership input
Education News
News from Royal Society Publishing
🐾 Where to Study Animal Behaviour – Taught Postgrad Courses

As always, if you have any questions about ASAB's activities please get in touch at webeditor@asab.org. You can also keep up to date with announcements on animal behaviour opportunities in between our newsletters by joining our Animal Behaviour JISCMail!

If you want to contact specific members of the ASAB council, you can find their contact details here - we are always happy to answer your questions!

Happy reading everyone!

Sophia Daoudi-Simison

ASAB Communications Officer

Positions on ASAB Council

There are three positions available on ASAB Council to begin in January 2026.

The positions are: European Secretary, Secretary of Grants Committee and one Ordinary Member.

If you are interested in being nominated for one of these positions, and contributing to the work of ASAB, please send a 150-word statement outlining your motivation, experience and suitability for the role to the current ASAB Secretary, Elisa Frasnelli (elisa.frasnelli@unitn.it) by 20th June 2025.

Your nomination should be supported by at least two members of ASAB, also by email to elisa.frasnelli@unitn.it by 20th June 2025.

Nominated candidates will be put forward for an online election by the membership of ASAB. Council may nominate candidates and reserves the right to add nominations after the closing date in the event of a lack of suitable candidates. Council also reserves the right to generate a short-list of not less than three candidates per position for online elections. Officers and ordinary members of ASAB Council will normally serve three calendar years, commencing 1st January. Reasonable expenses are reimbursed to support attendance at Council meetings and associated ASAB conferences, and a small annual research grant is provided for ASAB Council Officers in support of animal behaviour research activity. Further information on the roles is provided below and on our website. For more details or to discuss the Officer roles, please contact the current Secretaries (contact details provided below).

Best regards,

Elisa Frasnelli (ASAB Secretary)

Further Information:

European Secretary

The remit of the European Secretary includes monitoring of developments in animal behaviour at the European level, including funding initiatives, meetings, political/institutional developments impacting on the subject and liaison between national subject societies. This role involves attending three ASAB Council meetings a year, and contributing to the affairs and decision-making of Council. Council meetings coincide with the three annual ASAB conferences, the Spring, Summer and Winter Meetings, with the ASAB Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the Winter Meeting. Prior to Council meetings and the AGM, the European Secretary has to prepare a written report, to raise points of discussion and/or to report recent activities. The European Secretary also chairs the Committee of European Societies for Behavioural Biology (CESBB), composed of chairs of 10 European societies for the study of animal behaviour, and by organisers of the past and forthcoming joint European Conference on Behavioural Biology. The CESBB was established in August 2004 as an umbrella organisation for behavioural biologists across Europe with the following key aims:

To promote communication and interaction within behavioural biology across European countries on issues that relate to research and teaching in the subject, in particular by overseeing the organization of the biennial European Conference on Behavioural Biology (ECBB).
To provide opinion and information to assist the formulation of public policy and funding at the European level as it affects the study of behaviour, by informing and engaging the European behavioural community with regard to the development of any new or revised EU regulations or initiatives at an early stage of their formulation, and ensuring that the views of the European behavioural societies are fully expressed and incorporated in them.
To provide opinion and information, and promote debate, about ethical and legislative issues surrounding the study of behaviour, and to ensure regulations or initiatives are constructive and workable by keeping a watching brief on new or revised EU regulations and initiatives relevant to the study of behaviour across Europe.

The chair organises a meeting of this Committee every year at the ASAB summer conference or at the ECBB, usually before the ASAB Council meeting. The European Secretary is expected to identify at least one potential organiser for the ECBB more than two years before the forthcoming conference. The European Secretary circulates an annual report of their activities and stimulates debate with members of the CESBB, who are also expected to make suggestions and give their opinion on the best opportunity to organize the ECBB. The European Secretary maintains an updated list of members of the CESBB and their websites, which is shared with the ASAB Newsletter Editor to keep the CESBB information updated. The European Secretary should ensure that the present document and sufficient handover documentation are provided to the incoming Officer at the end of their term.

Current European Secretary: Dr Tereza Petrusková (kumstatova@post.cz)

Secretary of the Grants Committee

The Secretary of the Grants Committee represents the Grants Committee, a small group who assists with reviewing grant applications in charge of ASAB grants, one of ASAB’s major activities in supporting the animal behaviour community. Primarily this involves leading the assessment and decision-making on grants for conference attendance (for the three conferences ASAB supports each year) and grants for research (research grants and undergraduate project scholarships, with three rounds of each per year). The Secretary of the Grants Committee prepares a report for, and attends, the three Council meetings per year. The Grants Secretary works closely with the Grants Committee and the Treasurer. The role requires someone with an attention to detail and comfortable with both handling confidential information and processing numerical data. The Secretary of the Grants Committee will normally serve three calendar years, commencing 1st January, will be expected to have relevant experience, preferably with ASAB Council, and would ideally have previous experience of the ASAB Grants Committee.

Current Secretary of the Grants Committee: Prof Christos Ioannou (C.C.Ioannou@bristol.ac.uk)

Ordinary Members of ASAB Council (x1 position available)

This role involves attending three ASAB Council meetings a year, and contributing to the affairs and decision-making of Council. Council meetings coincide with the three annual ASAB conferences, the Spring, Summer and Winter Meetings, with the ASAB Annual General Meeting held at the Winter Meeting. As an Ordinary Council Member, you may be requested to help in promoting ASAB’s activities, for example by joining or contributing to the work of our committees.

A Fond Farewell and a Warm Welcome

Before we introduce our new Meetings Secretary, we’d like to take a moment to say a heartfelt thank you and farewell to Joah Madden, our outgoing Secretary. Joah’s dedication, attention to detail, and calm coordination behind the scenes have been vital to the smooth running of our meetings. His hard work and warmth have left a lasting impact, and he will be truly missed. Thanks Joah, for everything you've given to the role.

We’re delighted to announce that Vivek Nityananda has been elected by you, our members, as our new Meetings Secretary — congratulations, Vivek! 🎉

Vivek is an active member of the ASAB EDIA Committee and was part of the organising team for the ASAB 2024 Winter Meeting in Edinburgh. With his experience and dedication, we’re confident he’ll thrive in this role. Be sure to say hi to him at the next meeting!!!

ASAB Spring Meeting 2025 Report

The ASAB Spring Meeting always shines a spotlight on students and early career researchers — and this year’s event at Liverpool John Moores University was no exception! Things kicked off with a fantastic science communication workshop, run in collaboration with Silverback Films. The day covered all the nitty gritty of scientific filmmaking, from both the creative and production sides. We were lucky to be joined by Dr Tom Fletcher and Tom Land from Silverback, along with LJMU’s own Camilla Affleck and Professor Peter Falkingham, who all brought brilliant insight and energy to the sessions.

There were two fantastic plenary talks over the two days including: (1) Rahia Mashoodh - BBSRC Future Leader Fellow at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge - on Parental care shapes the evolution of molecular genetic variation; (2) Jolle Jolles - Senior Sceintist at the Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC) - on From Individual Heterogeneity and Collective Behaviour to Environmental Change: Behavioural Insights in a Changing World. However, it was not just the plenary sessions that impressed attendees; the contributed talks, flash talks along with the posters presented by the students were of an exceptionally high quality. In particular congratulations to the ASAB Spring 2025 student winners:

🏆 standard talks (pictured left): Francesca Angiolani-Larrea, Gabriel Melhado & Justin Tsz Hin Lo

🏆 posters (pictured top right): Madeline Davis, Kirstin Gaffney & Jakob Wiil

🏆 flash talks (pictured bottom right): Jillian Hendricks & Helana Norman

🏆 Congratulations also to Liran Samuni (pictured below left, with ASAB President Melissa Bateson on the right), this year’s recipient of the prestigious Christopher Barnard Award! She delivered a fascinating talk titled “What can chimpanzees and bonobos teach us about the evolution of cooperation and conflict?” - the videos from her field site really brought the behaviours to life and offered a really compelling glimpse into the social world of our non-human primate cousins.

In addition to the educational sessions, the conference organisers also planned a fun conference dinner at Bundobust 🍻 — a hidden jem in the centre of town with an amazing Indian inspired street food menu and a great selection of craft beers. The atmosphere was super chill but still buzzing, making it easy for everyone to mingle, chat, and keep the conversations going well into the evening. A perfect end to a packed and inspiring 1st day!

Once again thank you to everyone on the organising team!

Looking forward to seeing you all again at the next meeting!

Sophia, ASAB Comunications Officer

Upcoming Meetings

Get out your calendars, it's time to plan for this year's ASAB meetings!

Behaviour/ASAB Summer Meeting 2025

Visit the conference website for information and registration.

When: 25th to 30th August 2025

Where: Kolkata, India 🇮🇳

All conference attendance grants deadlines are 1st April 2025 (see also childcare & accessibility grants):

Conference attendance grants up to £800: only for applicants (all seniorities) who are based in India.

Conference attendance grants up to £2500: only for applicants (all seniorities) who fall in the ‘Developing Country’ category – excluding India – as defined on the Behaviour 2025 website.

Conference attendance grants up to £2000: only for applicants (all seniorities) who fall in the ‘Developed Nations’ category as defined on the Behaviour 2025 website.

Abstracts submission deadline: 15th February 2025

Registration deadline: June 30th 2025

Late registration opens: July 1st (onwards) 2025

We are thrilled to invite you to Behaviour 2025, the 38th International Ethological Congress, in Kolkata, India! Since its inception in 1952, this congress has been a hub for ethologists to connect and advance the field. Behaviour 2025 will celebrate the diversity of ethological research, showcasing multidisciplinary studies, innovative methodologies, and an array of model systems.

India’s rich biodiversity and its vibrant, growing community of behaviour researchers make it an ideal setting for this event. By hosting the congress in the Global South, we hope to inspire meaningful conversations and foster lasting connections among researchers at all career stages.

ASAB Winter Meeting 2025

When: 15th & 16th December 2025

Where: Edinburgh, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Conference attendance grants more than £500 (only Developing Country applicants): 1st August 2025 (see also childcare & accessibility grants)

Conference attendance grants up to £500: 1st October 2025 (see also childcare & accessibility grants). Others requiring an early decision may also apply in this round

Abstracts submission deadline: TBC

Registration deadline: TBC

Conference Theme: How sensory information affects behaviour

Grants Committee News

Details of how to apply for ASAB Research Grants, Undergraduate Project Scholarships, Conference Attendance, Childcare and Accessibility Grants, and Interdisciplinary Workshop Grants can be found here.

The next application deadlines are:

1st June 2025 for Research Grants and Undergraduate Project Scholarships
1st June 2025 for Childcare and Accessibility Grants (where a Conference Attendance Grant is not also sought) for Behaviour 2025 in Kolkata, India.
1st October 2025 for Conference Attendance, Childcare and Accessibility Grants for ASAB Winter 2025 in Edinburgh, UK (1st August 2025 for Developing Country Applicant Conference Attendance grants)

🚨 Changes are coming to Research Grants from the 1st October 2025 deadline:

ASAB’s mission is to promote and support the study of animal behaviour. A key component of this is to diversify and expand the animal behaviour research community. ASAB Council has approved proposed changes to the selection criteria for Research Grants to better align the criteria with EDIA principles, to make access to these grants more equal, inclusive and more diverse in who is awarded these grants. I will be updating the Research Grant page and application form after the 1st June deadline with full details.

Grants awarded in the February 2025 application round:

Research Grants: 14 applications were received and 3 grants were awarded:

Marta Sofia Candeias Soares “A role for social touch: behavioural and dopaminergic response of physical contact in coral reef fish” (£9364)
Andrew Vowles “Anti-predator behaviour of shoaling fish in an illuminated world” (£8918.48)
Svitlana Kudrenko “Predator-prey interactions, warfare ecology, effects of anthropogenic disturbances on wildlife” (£3365)

The total to be awarded is £21,647.48.

Undergraduate Project Scholarships: 8 applications were received and 3 grants were awarded:

Jamicen Ele Boyd “Reversal learning in gastropods: testing for cognitive complexity” (£4249.58)
Ewan Caldwell “Analysing the Memory Patterns and Capabilities of Rufus Hummingbirds in the Canadian Rocky Mountains” (£4015)
Thomas Edward Young Goodbourn “The effects of self-fertility stage on pheromone signalling in hermaphroditic Pristionchus pacificus” (£3920)

The total to be awarded is £12,184.58.

Conference Attendance Grants for Spring 2025 (Liverpool):

We had 74 applicants. 56 applicants were successful, with the total funds awarded being £24,208.81. One award was later withdrawn as the applicant (value £250) did not meet the membership criteria by completing their membership on time, so 55 applicants are still eligible to be reimbursed.

Childcare Grants for Spring 2025 (Liverpool): One application was received and was awarded for £184.20.

Accessibility Grants for Spring 2025 (Liverpool): No applications were received.

Grants awarded in the April 2025 application round (for Behaviour 2025 in Kolkata)

Conference Attendance Grants for Behaviour 2025 (Kolkata):

At the deadline we had 136 applications for a total funding requested of £150,860.60. We awarded funding to 71 applicants for a total of £68,723.98. 28 of these applied in the ‘India’ category (mean award £440), 2 in the developing nations excluding India category (mean £1015), and 41 applied in the developed nations category (mean £1325 per award).

Childcare Grants for Behaviour 2025 (Kolkata): To date, two applications have been received and one was awarded for £500.

Accessibility Grants for Behaviour 2025 (Kolkata): No applications have been received to date.

News from Animal Behaviour

ASAB are able to support so many animal behaviour endeavours (e.g., three conferences a year, a wide range of grant options and many educational activities) because of the funding that we receive from the publisher (Elsevier) of our society journal, Animal Behaviour. That funding will only continue to exist if the journal remains a success. There are three main ways that you can help:

Submit your great work to us. We publish primary research, methods and dataset papers, as well as reviews and commentaries (view guide for authors here). There are prizes each year!
Accept reviewer invitations from our journal. If you are understandably limited in the time you have, please prioritise reviewing for society journals.
Become part of the editor team. The journal has both Editors and Consulting Editors. Editors are assigned manuscripts that they select reviewers for and then make decisions on following review. Consulting Editors are asked to provide speedy reviews in two situations: either when there have been long delays on a paper (e.g., reviewers have not responded) or when there is a split decision between initial reviewers. Being a Consulting Editor is often a stepping stone to becoming a full Editor.

If you are interested in being part of the editor team for 2026, please contact the Executive Editor, Andy Radford (andy.radford@bristol.ac.uk) for more information.

Thank you!

News from the Ethical Committee

Dear ASAB Members,

It is time to review our Guidelines for the ethical treatment of nonhuman animals in behavioural research and teaching. Please, do suggest improvements based on new literature, new findings in the field of animal welfare. Particularly, we think that our attention should be turned now to the welfare others groups of invertebrates, such as insects, also in tune with the new scientific and cultural feeling which now recognise to these animals the possibility to possess a certain level of sentience, and therefore the possibility to experience sufferance.

Guidelines can be found on our website here

We will be delighted to receive your comments by Monday, the 23rd of June. Please contact the Secretary for the Ethical Committee — Augusto Vitale (augustovitale083@gmail.com)

Thank you in advance for your insights and collaboration!

Education Committee News

We have been out and about and busy, the student subcommittee have already been making themselves invaluable and a source of enthusiastic inspiration.

The year started with celebrating the United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science. These brilliant women agreed to subjects of these science worksheets. Available to download from the website. Thank you Dorothy Cheney, Anindita Bhadra, Sue Healey and Danielle N. Lee.

This fantastic pair, helped out at Wapping High School in March. Big Bang Schools sponsored by Engineering UK and the RAF supported this science fair organised by Head of Science, Sam Wilkes. The Education Officer attended with engagement activities and was supported by QMUL – A big thank you to Elisabetta Versace, Robyn Roach and Alex Davidson. Robyn and Alex and Charlotte chatted to over 200 young people about animal behaviour, their research and working as scientists.

A big thank you to Nicki Phillips (University of Lincoln) for sitting as the subcommittee representative on the education committee. Nicki experienc —ed first-hand, some of the work of the committee when she volunteered to hang out at Swindon’s Festival of Tomorrow. We entertained and engaged people as they visited the shops, chatting about animal behaviour and encouraging families to test their sensory and intellectual skills.

Nicki has also written the following, based on her experience of the ASAB Spring Conference.

(Pictured from the left: Jade Goddard, Flóra Talyigás, and Nicki Phillips)

As the ASAB Spring Conference is aimed at postgraduate students and postdocs, this event was the perfect opportunity to promote The Student Subcommittee. The Student Subcommittee was formed in 2024 to support and expand upon the work of the Education Committee and to represent the interests of students in the ASAB community. Led by Education Committee Secretary Lindsay Murray, we had the opportunity to talk to students about our upcoming plans and recruited a few new members along the way. The merchandise proved very popular, and I hope everyone has been enjoying their colouring books! Part of the resources we are creating focus on career paths and aim to highlight different areas of research within the field of animal behaviour: a few students signed up to have their research in the spotlight, but if anyone else is interested please get in touch. Furthermore, we would love to hear from students if they have any ideas of ways the Subcommittee can support ASAB student members and any activities they feel would be beneficial. The Spring Conference is always a brilliant event, and this year was no exception. For me, the highlight this year was the science communication workshop and learning how to make short films showcasing our research. A huge thanks to the team behind the conference, and to Silverback Films for running the workshop. As always, I enjoyed hearing about everyone’s research and learned a lot about the large range of species and methodologies being discussed. I appreciated the opportunity to network, met some wonderful people who I hope to keep in touch with, and enjoyed catching up with others who I have met throughout my time as an ASAB member. Looking forward to the next event.

(Pictured from left to right: Ophelia, Lindsay and Charlotte)

The education committee currently meets twice a year, our Spring Meeting had an extra bonus. We met at the Discovery Room of The Linnean Societry London and were treated to a tour of the building by the Society’s archivist Liz McGow. Allowed into the vault we were surrounded by the collection and materials originally belonging to, or produced by the man himself. The building eminates learning and curiosity from every nook and cranny, if you get a chance to go – visit https://www.linnean.org. Open to the public, it’s a dreamy quiet spot in the surrounding business, you can work in the library or be distracted by the wonder of the exhibitions.

News from the Royal Society Publishing

Royal Society Publishing has recently published a special issue of Philosophical Transactions B entitledAnimal culture: conservation in a changing world compiled and edited by Philippa Brakes, Lucy Aplin, Emma L Carroll, Alison L Greggor, Andrew Whiten and Ellen C Garland and the articles can be accessed directly at www.bit.ly/PTB1925

A print version is also available at the special price of £40.00 per issue from sales@royalsociety.org

Thinking About Studying Animal Behaviour?

If you're passionate about animal behaviour — or know students who might be — be sure to check out (and share!) these fantastic courses where they can dive into the subject. It's a great way to explore the science behind behaviour, from fieldwork to theory, and start building a career in this exciting area of research!

Here are a few places that offer taught postgraduate degrees in Animal Behaviour:

University of Exeter: MSc Animal Behaviour
University of Chester: MSc Animal Behaviour
University of St Andrews: MSc Animal Behaviour
Manchester Metropolitan University: MSc Animal Behaviour & Evolution
University of Edinburgh: MSc Applied Animal Behaviour & Welfare
University of Stirling: MSc Human-Animal Interactions
University of Lincoln: MRes Animal Behaviour & Welfare
Newcastle University: MRes Animal Behaviour
Utrecht University: MSc Environmental Biology
University of Groningen: MRes Behavioural & Cognitive Neurosciences
Université Bourgogne-Franche-Comté: MSc Behaviour, Ecology & Wildlife Management

Please note that this is not a comprehensive list, f you offer a relevant course and would like to share it with our members then please feel free to post them via our Animal Behaviour JISCMail!

That’s all for this edition — thanks for reading!

We hope you’ve enjoyed catching up on the latest from the ASAB community. As always, if you have news, events, or stories to share, we’d love to hear from you - please contact the Communications Officer (webeditor@asab.org).

You can also keep up to date with what’s going on via our website and social media channels:

🦋 Bluesky: @asab.org
📷 Instagram: @asab_org
🇫 Facebook: Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour

Until next time!