Crucial Guide
This page contains lists of useful resources, scientific societies and conferences on social learning and cultural evolution and on good scientific practice in general.
If you want to improve the reach and usefulness of this page with more international content, please get in touch and tell us about the resources you use! We want the same thing.
Upcoming conferences
Meetings of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Frequent, 2-3 times a year.
Winter meeting 2021: 2nd-3rd December, virtual and at local hublets (check website for info)
Annual conference of the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association
Annual European Meeting of PhD Students in Evolutionary Biology
Meeting of the International Society of Neuroethology
24-29th July 2022, Lisbon
Biennial congress of the International Society for Behavioural Ecology
11-16th September 2022, Melbourne
Meeting of the Society for Open, Reliable, and Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
2022, TBD
Other
New conference dedicated to animal behaviour, built specifically for an online format
Annual interdisciplinary conference on cultural evolution studies (Stirling, UK)
2020 conference CANCELLED
The German Ethological Society website hosts the links to several relevant meetings.
The Institute hosts many conferences and meetings on zoo and wildlife research.
Meetings of the Primate Society of Great Britain. Participants talks (spring meeting) or symposium (winter meeting) with poster presentations.
Small research grant (up to £10,000) to cover the cost of a research project. Up to 2 years. The Principal Applicant must be UK-resident.
United Kingdom
Fellowship scheme for non-British citizens with no previous academic link to the UK, to work at a UK institution. For applicants with up to 7 years of postdoctoral experience (PhD must have been awarded by the time the fellowship starts).
United Kingdom
Other UK-related funding not limited to ECR applicants.
United Kingdom
Fellowship scheme for British and EEA citizens, to work at a UK institution. Directed at researchers up to 3 years from PhD completion (PhD must have been awarded by the time the application is evaluated).
United Kingdom
Large grant aimed at relieving researchers of administrative and teaching duties for up to 3 years, and at covering travelling and public engagement costs during the same period. For ECR researchers who hold a permanent post at a UK institution.
United Kingdom
For people who want to go to Germany or Germans who want to travel abroad (English website). Very good for travel grants.
Germany
Funding for projects based in or linked to Germany (English website).
Germany
Large ECR grants (2-7 years from completion of the PhD, with possible exceptions).
EU Member States and Associated Countries
Worldwide national and regional programmes for women in the sciences.
Worldwide
Sponsorship for cognitive science projects from multiple research angles including evolutionary anthropology and psychology). 1-year fellowships for ECRs to establish a research team in France (English website).
France
Several sponsorship programmes for ECRs interested in working in Germany (English website).
Germany
Fellowship for researchers who have not yet held a permanent position. Aimed at UK degree-holders or holders of an academic position in the UK at the time of application, to work in the UK. 3-year length, but can be flexible to accommodate health, disability and parental needs.
United Kingdom
Fellowship scheme for Europe-based researchers wanting to establish projects outside the EU, and for any researcher wanting to work in the EU. Good for researchers who have taken a career break or who wish to return to Europe.
EU and Associated Countries
Funding for researchers based in or with connections to the UK. Covering research and industry projects across a wide range of sectors.
United Kingdom
4-week programme on Complexity Science. For PhDs and Postdoctoral Fellows.
USA
Biennial 5-day course offering practical experience in techniques of non-invasive endocrine monitoring, at the IZW institute (Berlin).
Germany
Biennial 5-day course designed for ECRs, at the IZW institute (Berlin). 2020 edition to take place virtually.
Germany
Social learning and cultural evolution
Eytan Avital, Eva Jablonka
Animal Traditions: Behavioural Inheritance in Evolution
Alberto Acerbi
Cultural Evolution in the Digital Age
Robert Boyd
The Origin and Evolution of Cultures
Robert Boyd, Peter Richerson
Culture and the Evolutionary Process
Kevin Clark
Social Learning Theory
Robert Dunbar, Chris Knight, Camilla Power
The Evolution of Culture: An Interdisciplinary View
Dorothy Fragaszy, Susan Perry
The Biology of Traditions: Models and Evidence
Steven Frank
Foundations of Social Evolution
Joseph Henrich
The Secret of Our Success
Cecilia Heyes, Bennet Galef
Social Learning in Animals – The Roots of Culture
William Hoppit, Kevin Laland
Social Learning
Eva Jablonka, Marion Lamb
Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioural and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life
Kevin Laland
Darwin’s Unfinished Symphony
Kevin Laland
The Question of Animal Culture
Tim Lewens
Cultural Evolution: Conceptual Challenges
Alex Mesoudi
Cultural Evolution
Everett Rogers
The Diffusion of Innovations
Andrew Whiten, Robert Hinde, Christoper Stringer, Kevin Laland
Culture Evolves
Statistics and R software
Michael Crawley
The R Book
Michael Crawley
Statistics: An Introduction Using R
Richard McElreath
Statistical Rethinking: A Bayesian Course in R and STAN
Hadley Wickham
ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis (Use R!)
Theoretical and simulation modelling
Hanna Kokko
Modelling for Field Biologists and Other Interesting People
Richard McElreath, Robert Boyd
Mathematical Models of Social Evolution: A Guide for the Perplexed
Sarah Otto, Troy Day
A Biologist’s Guide to Mathematical Modelling in Ecology and Evolution
Collection of lectures and reading material on animal cultures from the world leading experts in the field.
Teaching modules on cultural evolution by CES and the Centre for the Dynamics Of Social Complexity (DySOC).
CES resource page hosting cultural evolution related links and material.
Made for artists, offering many useful guides & tutorials
International database STEM-related job positions (mostly PostDoc and PhD).
Opportunities
Media communications: short fellowship (2-6 weeks) for professional scientists to work at top UK media like the BBC.
United Kingdom
Policy making:opportunity to shadow parlamentarians or civil servants.
United Kingdom
Courses
Range of courses for ECR scientists (including PhDs). Teaching a range of skills, from writing to working with radio and television outlets.
United Kingdom
Resource page by the Society for the Study of Evolution, dedicated to transitioning to the job market outside academia. Includes a database of ‘mentors’ to be contacted.
Duke University’s Youtube channel dedicated to career resources for Postdocs and PhD students
Website community for ECRs of any discipline with useful funding and resource search tools.