Sofia Forss
Evolutionary Biologist interested in Animal Behavior and Cognition, especially the interlink between socio-ecological factors, motivation and learning.
www.sofiaforss.com
- urban impacts on primate diet in areas of human co-existence - find out more in our latest paper 🐒🏡@urbanvervetproject.bsky.social Anthropogenic and Social Influences on Diet of Semi‐Urban Vervet Monkeys Using DNA Metabarcoding - Ecology and Evolution - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
- sometimes you have to pause and just be grateful ✨for having such kind and awesome colleagues - who knows exactly what you need 🫶🏼
- So proud and happy to have such an amazing field team, wishing you all a very joyful festive season with our latest Newsletter ✨👇🏼
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Sofia ForssLovely piece on how meerkats deal with climate change by @chameauleon.bsky.social in National Geographic: www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti... I had the pleasure to chat with Camille about the importance of understanding how extreme heat changes food availability 🐛 for meerkats
- Can’t imagine a better PhD topic 😉👇🏼 Cognitive development i. ecologically relevant settings 💪🏻
- PhD scholarship alert! Are you interested in cognitive evolution? Do you want to know how development influences cognitive traits? Do you love hanging out with birds in the forest? If the answer to these questions is yes, please apply to work with us! 1/2 🧪 www.wgtn.ac.nz/scholarships...
- Reposted by Sofia ForssExciting PhD opportunity to develop tech and software to record and understand wild animal behaviour. Fully funded by EPSRC DLA. Based at @uniexecec.bsky.social; co-supervised by Alex Thornton (@cornishjackdaws.bsky.social), @kjhockings.bsky.social and collaborators. Apply: tinyurl.com/5fr73snt
- Reposted by Sofia Forss#PhD position! Comparing #foraging and #cognition in #hummingbirds and #bumblebees Fieldwork in the Canadian Rockies, lab experiments at @newcastleuni.bsky.social, and ecological modelling at @uniofstandrews.bsky.social Details (including my email) here: iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
- Reposted by Sofia Forss3 year postdoc funded by @ukri.org NERC on between-group cooperation in the Shark Bay dolphins is now live - please share widely 🙏 www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
- Reposted by Sofia Forss🚨Who wants to work with Kalahari meerkats? A MSc project with @mathildemartin.bsky.social at the University of Zurich. #bioacoustics 🧪
- Interested in early life learning and cognitive development ? In our new pre-print we present data on developmental trajectories of three cognitive traits spanning wild meerkat pups critical life transitions 👇🏼 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Field Activities 🙌🏼
- Reposted by Sofia ForssLooking for a #PhD? Interested in #SocialBehaviour #BiologicalMarkets #Fieldwork? Want to be based in #Bristol? Check out this project with me, @ljnbrent.bsky.social & #PatrickKennedy: tinyurl.com/aja54nr6 For UK-domiciled Black-heritage applicants Get in touch for more information Please #share
- Reposted by Sofia Forss❓ Want to join us? 📢 Fully funded #PhD for UK-domiciled Black heritage candidates 🐵 Biological market monitoring & manipulation in social animals #mongooses #macaques #fieldwork 👥 With me, #LaurenBrent & #PatrickKennedy 🎓 @bristolbiosci.bsky.social ℹ️ www.findaphd.com/phds/project... 🙏Share widely
- 🚨In this new Pre-print we present our findings on Monkey-Dog interactions 🐒🐕🦺🐒🐕🦺 @UrbanVervet Living with urban fear: vervet monkey response to an evolutionarily new predator www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Sofia Forss⭐PhD position available!⭐ Come join us @imprs-qbee.bsky.social to study communication and collective behavior in animal groups! We're looking for someone excited to use computational approaches to tackle biological questions, using our full-group tracking datasets imprs-qbee.mpg.de/121465/analy...
- in the beginning of September the UVP hosted a few days with our collaborators from the Sinergia project on gut-microbiom axis & behavior. Looking forward to see what the urban diet reveals in terms of health 🐒🍕🐒 @UrbanVervet Project @SimbithiEcoEstate
- Reposted by Sofia Forss**PhD POSITIONS** I am recruiting 1-2 PhD students to work on sociality and cognition in Monk Parakeets, starting Fall 2026. Full ad is here: hobsonresearch.com/index.php/20... (please help spread the word!)
- Reposted by Sofia ForssWe are hiring - PDRA position exploring how information access shapes social dynamics in killer whales. Collaboration with @samellisq.bsky.social @drwhale.bsky.social Prof Dan Franks (York) start 1st Nov (or ASAP) end 31st Oct 2028. Apps close on 19th Oct. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOT336/p...
- Reposted by Sofia Forss@durhampsych.bsky.social current has 5 (FIVE!!) PhD studentships being advertised! 3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution 2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions. Please share and apply! www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...
- The Urban Vervet Projects educational work is featured in local South African news 🐒 Thanks Stef 🙏🏻 www.citizen.co.za/north-coast-...
- Reposted by Sofia Forss🚨 Junior Research Fellow position (+possible PhD conversion) studying Emergent Collective Intelligence for Ephemeral Resource Tracking. Based with Akanksha Rathore at BITS Pilani (India) and including visits to Konstanz (Germany) to collaborate with us! Apply by 12 September. More info 👇
- 🐕 Dogs, 🐺Wolfs & 🇸🇪 Sweden - sounds like a fantastic combination to me 👇🏼
- 🚨 PhD position in behavioural evolution 🚨 Come do your PhD with me in Linköping, Sweden, using the domestic dog (and some wolves) to answer fun questions on how complex behaviours develop and evolve. Application deadline September 24 2025 🧪 🌍 🦊 #AcademicSky #ScienceJobs liu.se/en/work-at-l...
- News from Kalahari on Meerkat foraging ontogeny 👇🏼
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- For a long time we been wondering how the human “WEIRD” syndrome also is present in comparative cognitive research. In our new Paper led by @elisa_bandini we report on the existing biases in chimpanzee research 🚨👇🏼 @Einstein_Berlin
- Do you have expertise in Animal Behavior & in Editorial work? Open position below👇🏼
- We are seeking a full-time Managing Editor for our journal Animal Behaviour. This editor will be involved in all stages of the publication process & must have a general understanding of the topics covered. Position starts Oct 1, application deadline July 31. More details: www.asab.org/opportunities
- Thanks to the Diverse Intelligence Community for all these inspiring days & impressions in Sydney 🙏🏻 @chriskrupenye.bsky.social @katelaskowski.bsky.social @divintelligence.bsky.social @maxkw.bsky.social
- Reposted by Sofia ForssA new theme issue in #PhilTransB looks at how and why animal minds have evolved to be so different from one another, framing animal #cognition as a diverse set of solutions to life’s many challenges buff.ly/csMZa3R
- 🚨New PrePrint out on the Kalahari Meerkats. In this study we quantified two axes of sociality to explain how developmental needs of pups shape meerkat social life. @zoejturn.bsky.social Neumann Christof & Tommaso Sacca ecoevorxiv.org/repository/vie…
- Working with @wildcognition.bsky.social on this paper was so much fun: drawing from our research with mammals (primates & hyenas) we discuss to what extent the urban niche poses novel cognitive challenges or whether they are exapted to exploit urban resources link.springer.com/article/10.1...
- Reposted by Sofia ForssWe are looking for a Research Assistant to contribute to our ongoing analysis of dolphin acoustic data from West Wales - collaboration between @wtsww.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social 🐬 Deadline is 29th June - please share widely! www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
- 🚨 In our new Preprint we studied how anthropogenic foraging experience relate to behavioral flexibility and innovativness in urban vervet monkeys 🐒 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Team catch up with the urban vervet heroes coming to an end at beautiful coast of Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. Thanks @ccenni.bsky.social Valeria Simenova, Durre & Lukas 🙏🏻🐒
- Reposted by Sofia Forss1/3 www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate... PhD studentship! Comparative Analysis and Modelling of Collective Behaviour in Natural and Artificial Systems. **this scholarship for UK residents only, as defined by UKCISA regulations** Details below! Please RT (AI-generated image)
- One of my favorite topics - intelligence across systems at Swissnex Day 2025, very nice to be able to contribute with a perspective representing the animal world.
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Sofia ForssHumans have many unusual traditions. But did you know animals’ strange behaviors can become culture too? Out now in Current Biology (doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...) we show the rise and spread of a surprising tradition: interspecies infant abduction. Interactive timeline (www.ab.mpg.de/671374) 🧵 (1/12)
- Reposted by Sofia Forss🚨 Out this week in @pnas.org 🚨 The flagship paper from my PhD @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social @livingingroups.bsky.social - We show surprising statistical similarities in animal behaviour across states, individuals, and even species. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... (🧵 1/10)
- Reposted by Sofia ForssPostdoc job alert! I'm hiring a 3-yr postdoc to work on our Social Modifiers of Primate Lifespans grant. Job info and how to apply below. Deadline June 1. Pls share! jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...
- Reposted by Sofia ForssJoin the MacaqueNet family! We’re looking for a postdoc to study the link between social structure and lifespan across species, using MacaqueNet data and a new life-history database. Feel free to reach out—I'm happy to chat about MacaqueNet, CRAB, or living in Exeter. shorturl.at/xyNsL
- Postdoc job alert! I'm hiring a 3-yr postdoc to work on our Social Modifiers of Primate Lifespans grant. Job info and how to apply below. Deadline June 1. Pls share! jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...
- Reposted by Sofia ForssDon't miss the new special issue in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B on animal culture and conservation Edited by @pbrakes.bsky.social, @ellengarland.bsky.social, @lucymaplin.bsky.social, @emma-carroll.bsky.social, Alison L Greggor, and Andrew Whiten. royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Does your research apply to the Goals of Einstein Foundation? Promoting robustness, replicability and transparency in science? Then don’t miss the chance of an Early Career Award 👇🏼
- meanwhile in Kalahari - some serious babysitting professionals with one of our study group guarding 12 pups !
- Happy Easter from Kalahari’s beautiful light show, and a nice coincidence to run into German Colleagues at KRC @mdammhahn.bsky.social
- Surely you have heard of/ used novel object paradigms to assess animal personality? In this paper we validate exploration behavior through a battery of stimuli in both social and individual conditions and across a longer period of time. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Reposted by Sofia ForssNew Postdoc position! 🐵🐵🐵🐵 On the socioecology of cognition in primates, based in Paris @mnhn.fr @cnrs.fr, with field work It has it all: - the best science - the best macaques - the best beaches - the best people - the best office view #Eiffeltower Join us!
- Reposted by Sofia ForssWe are hiring! Jointly with the Social Minds Lab at UMich, we are accepting applications for a full-time lab coordinator for research on cognition in #children, adults, and #primates. Read more at: sites.lsa.umich.edu/cognitive-ev...
- Reposted by Sofia ForssPaola Cerrito, who is starting her own Hominin Evolution Group at the University of Zürich, has just opened a great PhD position. Fantastic opportunity for someone interested in human life history evolution. I am lucky to collaborate with Paola. She is a terrific scholar @nccrlanguage.bsky.social
- Reposted by Sofia ForssDo you have a research interest in how AI can harm or benefit non-human animals? I'm recruiting a Research Officer to drive forward the "Animals and AI" priority area of The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience at the LSE. Please apply by 6 May! 🐖🐔🐟 jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...
- Reposted by Sofia ForssPostdoc opening in beautiful Stockholm 🇸🇪! Join us at Karolinska Institutet to explore how interdependent traits shape social learning and cultural evolution. 🧠 Behavioral + computational work 🤝 Work w/ labs in Amsterdam @lucasmolleman.bsky.social & Leuven Details: shorturl.at/Wzy9o
- Reposted by Sofia Forss🚨New in @science.org🚨 With Simon Townsend (@nccrlanguage.bsky.social) and Martin Surbeck, we have investigated whether wild bonobos can combine calls in complex combinations, similar to how humans combine words into sentences 🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #ScienceResearch #AnimalCommunication
- Reposted by Sofia Forss🐦 We are recruiting two field managers to work with us in South Africa on the fantastic sociable weaver system 🐦 Tasks include breeding monitoring and overseeing the field team activities 🪶 Deadline for applications: 20/04/2025 For more information: sociableweaverproject.com/recruitment/...
- Reposted by Sofia Forss🚨 Job opportunity 🚨 A 3-year post doc position is opening as part of my #APELANG project funded by the @agencerecherche.bsky.social It’s about multimodal combinatorial communication in wild #chimpanzees 🐵 Job ad here: maelleroux-research.weebly.com/apelang.html And here 👇🏻
- For all my South African Colleagues - Do you know anyone with honors in environmental science/ wildlife management looking for a position 👇🏼@SimbithiEco @UrbanVervet
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Crazy to see a local boy band from Swedish speaking Finland spreading the Sauna Fever in Europe 😂🇫🇮💪🏻
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- An interesting assessment of the link between brains and behavior 👇🏼
- 🚨 Shrew paper alert! 🚨 Our latest study found that brain size changes stayed on track, but behavior? 🤔 Not so much❗ Captivity makes shrews hyperactive and less motivated to learn, hinting at chronic stress. 🐾 Curious? Full paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rsos... #Shrews @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
- Reposted by Sofia Forss🌿 Become a Field Site Manager for the Moyen Bafing Chimpanzee Project in Guinea! 🌿 We're seeking a dedicated individual to oversee operations and support research starting as early as April 2025. Be part of a team exploring chimpanzee behavioral ecology in the stunning PNMB!
- Reposted by Sofia Forss"In this project [towards your PhD], you will develop models to study the coevolution of ageing and sociality...& evolution of eusociality and multicellularity." Sounds interesting? Look here! Bonus: you'll work with a supervisor with an infectious laugh. www.universiteitleiden.nl/vacatures/20...
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- athis sounds like one issue to look forward to 🥰
- I am excited to announce that @neeltjeboogert.bsky.social and I are co-editing a special collection in the journal Animal Cognition on "Cognition in the Wild". Submissions are due by June 15. We are excited to see the amazing work you have been doing! link.springer.com/collections/...
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- interesting and exciting avenues 👇🏼
- @jeffsebo.bsky.social @birchlse.bsky.social and I put a lot of philosophy into our new Science Perspective on animal consciousness. Mill's analogical argument + inference to the best explanation + careful experiments = justification for consciousness in many animals. Where might it end?
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Sofia Forss🚨Come work with us in charming Tübingen and become a member of our growing Freigeist group! We offer a 2-year postdoc position on the communicative plasticity in wild and captive bonobos, fully funded by @volkswagenstiftung.bsky.social. Applications open until March 15th. bit.ly/4gVa5Je
- Don’t forget to apply for Disi summer school 2025 👇🏼
- Review of applications starts March 1st! Apply here: disi.org/apply/
- a week fresh northern air with some of natures most mesmerizing shows 🤍🇫🇮
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Sofia ForssNew #PhDposition (cultural psychology) at the Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology at MPI-EVA: the project focuses on social cognition and will involve research in Germany (Leipzig), Namibia and Polynesia. Application deadline: March 1st, 2025 www.eva.mpg.de/comparative-...
- Join the Disi Community - Is your research related to intelligence and diversity of minds? Then take the chance to expand your horizons and form new interdisciplinary scientific friendships - Apply for Summer School 2025 ✨👇🏼✨
- 📣📣📣 Applications for the 2025 Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) are now open!! Are you interested in intelligence, mind, and cognition in all its forms? Early-career scholars from any discipline—and storytellers in any medium—are encouraged to apply! More info: disi.org
- Well isn’t that a “sexy” title that wakes you up, when opening your morning desktop 🤩😂 (also sounds super interesting) 👇🏼
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Sofia Forss[Not loaded yet]
