Positions on ASAB Council

Three positions are 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. 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.

Current Ordinary Memebers are listed on our website