Awards

Awards page – picture of a black-headed gull landing

An overview of all academic awards and funding opportunities of the Ethologische Gesellschaft e.V., including deadlines, can be downloaded here.

Niko Tinbergen Award
The Ethologische Gesellschaft e.V. awards the Niko Tinbergen Award every other year to outstanding post-doc level researchers in Behavioural Biology or closely related fields. The award is named after Prof. Nicolaas Tinbergen (1907–1988), one of the founding fathers of the field of Behavioural Biology. Every student of animal behaviour learns about the four Tinbergian questions [1]. The importance of considering the ontogeny, mechanisms, functions and evolution of behavioural traits has not diminished since Tinbergen published his seminal paper in 1963 in Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie (now Ethology), which also sponsors the Tinbergen Award. Tinbergen considered it important to differentiate between, but also to study, all four questions. A few years ago, Robert Sapolsky proposed an updated view of the four Tinbergen questions, aligning them on a continuous time axis [2]: right when a behaviour occurs, one can ask what mechanisms triggered it (e.g. neurons firing, gene expression or hormone concentrations making it more likely). Looking further back, one can consider ontogeny, i.e., what early-life effects or hormonal priming made the behaviour more likely to occur. Going back further still, one can examine the evolutionary history of the behaviour, i.e., when it first occurred in a lineage. Looking into the other direction – the future – the behaviour may have consequences for survival and reproduction, increasing or decreasing the likelihood of its occurrence in future generations. This continuous view of the four questions neatly demonstrates the necessity of studying all four to arrive at a holistic view of behaviour – and demonstrates how relevant Tinbergen still is – even decades after his seminal paper got published.

The award entails:

  1. A certificate stating the name of the candidate, signed by the current president of the society;
  2. A cheque of €1500, which is donated by the journal Ethology (Wiley);
  3. The recipient is invited to give a keynote talk about their work at the European Conference on Behavioural Biology and to present an overview in the EthoNews;
  4. The recipient is invited to write a review article for or organise a special issue in Ethology (Wiley).

The candidate is expected to have been a member of the Ethologische Gesellschaft e.V. for at least one year. Candidates must have obtained their doctoral degree within the past six years, excluding any substantial leave periods, such as extended sick leave or parental leave (i.e., one year per child for women and taken paternal leave for men). All eligibility criteria, including the exact awarding date of the PhD, must be clearly stated in the application.

Any member of the society may nominate candidates, and self-nominations are also welcome. Nominations should be submitted in English and must include a brief summary of the candidate’s scientific achievements, a curriculum vitae, and a list of publications. All documents should be combined into a single PDF file and sent to our funding officer.

The committee responsible for reviewing applications consists of the (extended) council of the society, although other society members may be invited to join the committee. If fewer than two candidates are nominated in a given round, the nomination deadline may be extended. In the case of fewer than two nominations, the award will not be granted.

The deadline for the nomination of the next award is 31 December 2029. A list of all awardees can be found here.

[1] Tinbergen, N. 1963 On aims and methods of ethology. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 20, 410-433.
[2] Sapolsky, R.M. 2017 Behave.  The biology of humans at our best and worst. London, Penguin.

Ebo Gwinner Award
Eberhard (Ebo) Gwinner was a German ornithologist and chronobiologist [3]. Gwinner has been a member of the Ethologische Gesellschaft since its foundation. Following his doctorate in classical ethology, during which he studied “expressive and social behaviour of the raven” – supervised by Konrad Lorenz – he continued his career by studying biological rhythms and behavioural endocrinology. Gwinner combined these backgrounds to coin his trademark, integrative research on biological timekeeping under both natural and experimental conditions. He is most recognised for his seminal work on circannual rhythms. Gwinner pioneered many fields that unfolded beyond his lifetime, for example, research on light pollution and urbanisation in wild organisms. Across subjects, much of his research revolved around bird migration, a topic that fascinated him throughout his lifetime and that he studied in daring and persistent experiments across continents.

Gwinner fostered an inclusive approach to research and leadership that was highly unusual in his time and his research institution, with a goal of facilitating diversity. For example, he explicitly supported women in science. By this approach, he created an atmosphere in which everybody, from cleaning, technical and administrative staff to school pupils, doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers and senior academics, felt appreciated, valued and fully part of the department. This fostered an exceptionally open and scientifically stimulating atmosphere which significantly contributed to the lasting scientific legacy of Gwinner and his team. For sure, the breathtaking views of the department across rolling hills right into the Bavarian Alps aided at widening the scientific horizon. So did vivid scientific discussions regarding planned projects in formal and informal gatherings, such as the daily coffee break (where many ideas for scientific projects were born), visits to the local monastic brewery, evening parties, or after work volleyball tournaments. These events generated a familiar atmosphere in which almost everybody identified themselves with, and felt responsibility for, what was – affectionately – called “The Insti”. Ebo Gwinner’s scientific legacy includes his talent for “leading without leading.” Gwinner thus promoted a very contemporary and modern view of scientific excellence that outlived his untimely death in 2004.

To be eligible, potential awardees must present their work at the Annual Meeting of the Ethologische Gesellschaft in form of a talk or a poster. At the time of presentation, they must be a student (BSc, MSc or PhD). The prize comes with prize money of €200 for the best poster and the best talk. A jury, selected by the organisers of the Annual Meeting of the Ethologische Gesellschaft, awards the prize winners.

[3] Helm B, Hau M, Goymann W, 2022. Eberhard Gwinner. In: Nelson RJ, Weil ZM, editors. Biographical History of Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Cham: Springer International Publishing. p. 213-228.