News

Our review of what we have accomplished in the year 2023 in the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour is published.

Just as when we humans reach for objects, the hummingbird hawk moth uses its visual sense to place its long proboscis precisely on a flower to search for nectar, according to a study by Konstanz biologists. This is why the moth is a great model organism for research into the visual control of appendages.

Konstanz health psychologist Britta Renner supported the German Bundestag citizens' council ‘Ernährung im Wandel’ ('Nutrition in Transition') in recommending free lunches for children.

Our cluster of Excellence Collective Behaviour (CASCB) is starting its sixth year of work! Almost 190 researchers are now involved. But what is the attraction of researching in this unique swarm? We showcase this in two promotion videos.

Gabriella Gall’s research is directed at understanding how individuals in groups communicate and coordinate group actions. More specifically, the biologist is interested in how the ability of an individual to coordinate effectively with others develops and what the fitness consequences of efficient communication are. She studies these questions in a range of bird species (domestic chicken and pūkeko) and is currently focusing on how experiences made within the egg affect hatching…

Andreagiovanni Reina, who is an expert on swarm robotics and collective decision-making, joined the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour in December 2023 as junior group leader.

After more than 35 years of surveillance, researchers from Michigan State University, the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, and the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz are exposing some of the secret workings of mobs. The team revealed that relationships and social interactions between hyenas can influence when two or more animals decide to work together to attack lions. This type of cooperative behaviour is called mobbing.

Honey bees and social wasps developed a similar solution for nest building although evolution separated them 179 million years ago. This is a new finding by researcher Michael L Smith from the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior published in PLOS BIOLOGY.

Perceptions about sustainability and healthy food choices are closely linked, as a study at the University of Konstanz shows