Past conferences

chimpanzee looking towards camera


The Ethological Society is a long established scientific society, founded in 1979 at its very first meeting in Basel, Switzerland. Since its foundation, the Society has played an active role in fostering exchange and collaboration within the ethological community. In its early years, the society organised biennial meetings, moving to an annual meeting format in 2006 to reflect the growth and increasing engagement of its membership. In addition to its own meetings, the Ethological Society was the co-founder of the European Conference for Behavioural Biology (ECBB), established together with the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB). The ECBB has since become a key international congress for behavioural biologists across Europe and beyond.

All meetings are organised by members of the society, reflecting the strong commitment and involvement of our community. Organising these meetings requires a substantial investment of time and effort, but they represent an extremely valuable contribution to the Society and its community. We are deeply grateful to all past organisers and extend our sincere thanks to those who will take on this role in the future. Below you will find a list of previous meetings and their locations.


Meetings of the Ethological Society (EthoGes)

Conference Place Organisers Programme
EthoGes 2026 Grünau, Austria Sonia Kleindorfer and team Grünau
EthoGes 2025 Tutzing, Germany Henrik Brumm & Wolfgang Goymann Tutzing
EthoGes 2024 Münster, Germany Melanie Dammhahn, Sylvia Kaiser, Helene Richter & Rebecca Rimbach Münster
EthoGes 2023 Berlin, Germany Lars Lewejohann and team Berlin
EthoGes 2022 online EthoGes council Online
EthoGes 2021 online EthoGes council Online
EthoGes 2020 Tübingen, Germany Nico Michiels and team Tübingen
EthoGes 2019 Hannover, Germany Ute Radespiel & Marina Scheumann Hannover
EthoGes 2018 Potsdam, Germany Jana Eccard and team Potsdam
EthoGes 2017 Bonn, Germany Gerhard von der Emde and team Bonn
EthoGes 2016 Göttingen, Germany Julia Fischer and team Göttingen
EthoGes 2015 Hamburg, Germany Jutta Schneider and team Hamburg
EthoGes 2014 Tutzing, Germany Henrik Brumm & Wolfgang Goymann Tutzing
EthoGes 2013 Bielefeld, Germany Fritz Trillmich and team
EthoGes 2012 Münster, Germany Sylvia Kaiser & Norbert Sachser
EthoGes 2011 Zürich, Switzerland Barbara König and team
EthoGes 2010 Berlin, Germany Silke Kipper & Constance Scharff
EthoGes 2009 Göttingen, Germany
EthoGes 2008 Regensburg, Germany Jürgen Heinze & Erhard Strohm
EthoGes 2007 Grünau, Austria Kurt Kotrschal and team
EthoGes 2006 Bielefeld, Germany
EthoGes 2000 Utrecht, Netherlands
EthoGes 1998 Halle, Germany
EthoGes 1996 Groningen, Netherlands
EthoGes 1994 Bielefeld, Germany
EthoGes 1992 Prague, Czech Republic
EthoGes 1990 Vienna, Austria
EthoGes 1988 Bayreuth, Germany
EthoGes 1986 Hamburg, Germany
EthoGes 1984 Göttingen, Germany
EthoGes 1982 Bonn, Germany
EthoGes 1980 Leeuwenhorst, Netherlands
EthoGes 1979 Basel, Switzerland

European Conference for Behavioural Biology (ECBB)

Conference Place Organisers Programme
ECBB 2026 Cambridge, United Kingdom Çağlar Akçay, Krishna Balasubramaniam, Roberta Blake, Francesca Cassola, Jake Dunn, Anna Nekaris, Andrew Smith, Claudia Wascher & Ariana Weldon TBA
ECBB 2024 Zürich, Switzerland Barbara König and team Zürich
ECBB 2022 Groningen, Netherlands Jean-Christophe Billeter, Cato Drion, Pleunie Kraak, Martine Maan & Simon Verhulst Groningen
ECBB 2020 cancelled
ECBB 2018 Liverpool, United Kingdom Emily Bethell, Antje Engelhardt, Barbara Fruth, Alun Hughes, Nicola Koyama, Francis McGlone, Claudia Mettke-Hofmann, Hazel Nichols, Alex Piel, Adam Reddon, Will Swaney, Susannah Walker & Torsten Wronski Liverpool
ECBB 2016 Vienna, Austria Thomas Bugnyar and team
ECBB 2014 Prague, Czech Republic
ECBB 2012 Essen, Germany
ECBB 2010 Ferrara, Italy Leonida Fusani and team
ECBB 2008 Dijon, France Frank Cézilly and team
ECBB 2006 Belfast, United Kingdom Bob Elwood and team
ECBB 2004 Groningen, Netherlands
ECBB 2002 Münster, Germany