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Alice Auersperg

@auersperga.bsky.social

740 followers 440 following 30 posts

Cognitive Biology Professsor, Comparative Cognition Researcher, Head of the Goffin Lab, Messerli Research institute, @VetmeduniVienna

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · Feb 25

For German readers interested in animal innovation and tool use. My new book is now available !
( e.g. Amazon, Hugendubel, Thalia or via the publisher)

www.brandstaetterverlag.com/buch/der-erf...

Der Erfindergeist der Tiere – Brandstätter Verlag

Das erste Buch der international führenden Verhaltensforscherin Alice Auersperg

www.brandstaetterverlag.com

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · 14d

Long John, the one-eyed Goffin is a large and rather dominant male in one of the Singapore groups. He has no trouble navigating through the canopy or strategically displacing pigeons from his feeding places. We think he is beautiful! - pics from Singapore with @theroesa.bsky.social

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Reposted by Alice Auersperg

Felix W. Moll @mollfw.bsky.social · 27d

New paper on precise tool use learning in carrion crows @currentbiology.bsky.social. We show that—like New Caledonian crows—expert carrion crows pay close attention to the working end of their tool, suggesting tool integration into their peripersonal space. 🧵 & vids! 👇

www.cell.com/current-biol...

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · 27d

early morning bird

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · 27d

Fighting Goffins turned into dancing stars ....Fielwork with @theroesa.bsky.social

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · 27d

Some strange visitors came to our field side today... had some trouble fending off house crows. Fieldwork in Singapore with @theroesa.bsky.social

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · 28d

Early morning bird... on field trip to Singapore with @theroesa.bsky.social

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · 28d

Goffins like challenges...feeding upside down. Enjoying fieldwork in Singapore with @theroesa.bsky.social

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · 28d

House crow destroying Goffin Feather for no reason after aggressive encounter ... enjoying fieldwork in Singapore with @theroesa.bsky.social

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · 28d

Goffins versus housecrows - fieldwork in Singapore with @theroesa.bsky.social

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · 28d

Goffins being social in Singapur - enjoying fieldwork with @theroesa.bsky.social

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · Jul 20

" Der Erfindergeist der Tiere" ist für "Wissensbuch des Jahres 2025" nominiert!
Wenn euch das Buch gefällt bitte mitwählen und teilen!
www.konradin-service.de/umfrage/inde...

Wahl zum Wissensbuch des Jahres 2025

www.konradin-service.de

Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · Jul 15

Podcast zum 'Erfindergeist der Tiere' (in German)
open.spotify.com/episode/27Co...

Der Erfindergeist der Tiere mit Alice Auersperg

Feuer und Blitz - Wissen, für das wir brennen · Episode

open.spotify.com

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Reposted by Alice Auersperg

Konrad Lorenz Research Center @klf-univienna.bsky.social · Jun 17

#Stellenausschreibung: Zwei wissenschaftliche Stellen sind im #EU-Projekt #UrbanBEE ausgeschrieben
🐝 #PhD-Stelle an der #univienna, Universitätsassistent*in Praedoc (30h/Woche), befristet auf 3 Jahre
🐝 Studentische Assistenz bei der #AGES, Teilzeit: 20h/Woche, Dauer: 6 Monate
klf.univie.ac.at/de/

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Reposted by Alice Auersperg

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Jun 6

We interrupt our regularly scheduled shitshow for a bit of delightful bird behavior.

Clever Cockatoos Have Figured Out How to Drink From Water Fountains

www.nytimes.com

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · Jun 3

Gedanken mit Ö1 Radio
oe1.orf.at/programm/202...

Alice Auersperg: Wie Tiere ticken | SO | 01 06 2025 | 9:05

Die Verhaltensforscherin und Kognitionsbiologin Alice Auersperg über die Intelligenz und Kreativität von Tieren.

oe1.orf.at

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Reposted by Alice Auersperg

Judith E. Innerhofer @jinnerhofer.bsky.social · May 26

@auersperga.bsky.social Alice Auersperg hat auch ein großartiges Buch dazu geschrieben, "Der Erfindergeist der Tiere" - für alle, die mehr wissen wollen! www.brandstaetterverlag.com/buch/der-erf...

science.ORF.at [ORFodon] @orf-science.orfodon.org.ap.brid.gy · May 26

Tiere können sehr erfinderisch sein: Schimpansen, Kakadus oder Krähen etwa verwenden gezielt Werkzeuge, um an Nahrung zu kommen. Manche von ihnen basteln die Werkzeuge sogar selbst – und kombinieren sie gezielt. https://science.orf.at/stories/3230369/

#_wissenschaft

Wenn Tiere zu Erfindern werden

science.orf.at

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · May 1

Nächster Mittwoch 18:30 Buchvortrag zum "Erfindergeist der Tiere" im Naturhistorischen Museum Wien.
www.brandstaetterverlag.com/stories/vera...

Alice Auersperg | Naturhistorisches Museum Wien – Brandstätter Verlag

Der Erfindergeist der Tiere Mittwoch, 07. Mai 2025, 18:30 Uhr – 20:00 Uhr | NHM Vortrag Alice Auersperg (Vergleichende Kognitionsforschung, Messerli Forschungsinstitut | Veterinärmedizinische Universi...

www.brandstaetterverlag.com

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · Apr 11

Nächste Buchpräsentation zum "Erfindergeist der Tiere" ist Montag den 14. im Haus des Meeres um 18:30. Anmeldung: [email protected]
www.verein-hdm.at/cms/14-april...

14. April: Der Erfindergeist der Tiere – Verein der Freunde des Haus des Meeres

www.verein-hdm.at

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · Apr 2

An der Vetmeduni Wien erforsche ich den Erfindergeist von Tieren. Wenn wir besser verstehen wie diese denken, können wir nicht nur etwas über die Evolution unserer eigenen Intelligenz lernen, es hilft uns auch Tiere zu respektieren und zu schützen.
#ichforschegerninwien
#TopForschungWien

Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · Feb 26

ORF Topos Story (for German readers) about cockatoos and ravens
topos.orf.at/voegel-intel...
featuring my new book "der Erfindergeist der Tiere"
www.brandstaetterverlag.com/buch/der-erf...
and Thomas Bugnyar's 2023 Book "Raben"
www.brandstaetterverlag.com/buch/raben/

Wodurch Vögel ihre Intelligenz beweisen - ORF Topos

Österreich macht Konrad Lorenz alle Ehre. Momentan forschen hierzulande zwei der international renommiertesten Verhaltensbiologen an der Intelligenz von Vögeln. Was sie herausgefunden haben, ist spekt...

topos.orf.at

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · Feb 25

For German readers interested in animal innovation and tool use. My new book is now available !
( e.g. Amazon, Hugendubel, Thalia or via the publisher)

www.brandstaetterverlag.com/buch/der-erf...

Der Erfindergeist der Tiere – Brandstätter Verlag

Das erste Buch der international führenden Verhaltensforscherin Alice Auersperg

www.brandstaetterverlag.com

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Reposted by Alice Auersperg

Shoko Sugasawa @shokosugasawa.bsky.social · Feb 24

🚨Fully-funded PhD studentship on insect behaviour, cognition & muscles with me & @viveknityananda.bsky.social at @newcastleuni.bsky.social 🐝🍀🎓🙌Application deadline April 30, start date in September. Drop me an email if you have questions! www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Image of a PhD position advert entitled "PhD studentship in Brain, Brawn, and Bugs: cognitive and physical factors of insect dexterity" with images of a praying mantis and a bumblebee foraging.

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Reposted by Alice Auersperg

Shoko Sugasawa @shokosugasawa.bsky.social · Feb 21

Job alert🐦 2yr post-doc position with Prof. Sue Healy on project "Mistakes in Action: From the Normativity of Goal-Directedness to Novel Investigations of Avian Nest Construction"🪺 Start asap. Contact: sdh11[at]st-andrews.ac.uk @uniofstandrews.bsky.social

A pair of zebra finches sitting in a nestbox. The male is holding a cotton string in its bill.

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · Feb 19

It‘s not on a website, alt text is added, thanks for letting me know!

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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · Feb 19

We have an exciting new position in our lab for a PhD on parrot tool use! See below

PhD position in parrot tool use
Job offer: applications opening 19th of February 2025.
We are looking for a PhD student (funded by the Austrian Science Fund, FWF) for a doctoral project in the field of animal behaviour and cognition
Project Title:
Dexterity in the tool use of the Goffin’s cockatoo
https://www.fwf.ac.at/forschungsradar/10.55776/PAT2728324
Project Location:
The Messerli Research Institute is located at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. Its division on Comparative Cognition investigates cognitive abilities in both the social and physical domain of various, free-living as well as domesticated, animal species including Goffin’s cockatoos, keas, dogs, goats and pigs.
https://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/en/messerli
This PhD project will be conducted at the Goffin Lab in Lower Austria.
https://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/cognition/goffin-lab
Academic Supervision:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alice Auersperg (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna)
Project Description:
The Goffin’s cockatoo uses and builds tool -based technologies rivalling higher primates, both in captivity as well as in the wild. While we already understand a lot about what kinds of tools animals use in which context, we still know very little about the innovative process and fine-scaled mechanisms underlying such behaviour: how are the cockatoos able to innovate tool use in the first place?
Thereby, it is important to consider behavioural as well as physical barriers that animals face when using tools. We currently predict that tool use techniques are strongly affected by the different properties of the tasks the birds are operating their tools upon. This PhD project aims to test to what extent the tool use techniques invented by aviary cockatoos in Austria manifest in a predictable manner based on specific tool and task properties. To achieve this, we plan to blend behavioural analysis and material physics. The findings of this project will help to understand the onset and mechanisms underlyi…

Deadline and project start:
Please send your application before 1th of June 2025. The successful candidate can start in July at
the earliest (we would like to have started the project by September of this year).

Requirements
• A master’s degree
• A master’s thesis with a topic related to animal cognition/animal behaviour/comparative psychology or material science.
• Genuine Interest in animal behaviour and cognition
• At least some experience in direct interaction with animals (experience with animal testing is highly appreciated).
• Comfortable with direct contact with parrots
• Statistical knowledge (preferably experience in General Liner Mixed Models, PCA, Survival Analysis etcetera.)
• Experience with R.
• Excellent English skills written and spoken (additional German skills are highly appreciated)
• Excellent teamworking and communication skills

What we offer
• Employment at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna via a FWF funding for a minimum of three years.
• Access to institutional support (administrative support, statistician, IT manager, technician for experimental apparatuses).
• Various scientific events including weekly seminars of comparative cognition researchers
• Opportunity to visit international conferences.
• Opportunity to visit social events for PhD students studying avian cognition in Vienna.
• An international and interdisciplinary work environment at the Messerli Research Institute for Human-Animal Interaction.

How to apply:
Applications (email: alice.auersperg@vetmeduni.ac.at) will be considered until the 1st of June 2025
Only complete submissions will be taken into consideration.

Your application should contain the following information:
1. A Cover Letter detailing your motivation for the research topic, relevant experience, and expectations for the position (max. 2 pages)
2. A Curriculum Vitae including copies of relevant university degree certificates
3. Contact details for two references (incl. email)

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