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NEW INVESTIGATORS | SERVICES TO THE EHBEA COMMUNITY | STUDENT RESEARCH GRANTS | ECR RESEARCH GRANT | STUDENT TRAVEL GRANTS | WORKSHOP EVENT GRANT
NEW INVESTIGATORS
**** In order to maximise participation from promising new researchers in the field, the award is now given through a process of self-nomination****
Every year a New Investigator award is given to a promising new researcher from the field of evolution and human behaviour. The prize is an expenses-paid plenary slot at the annual EHBEA conference.
To be eligible a candidate should (i) be an EHBEA member at the time of nomination, (ii) have a degree and PhD in a relevant topic, (iii) have less than five years’ postdoctoral experience, and (iv) have shown great potential to make a significant contribution to research in the field of evolution and human behaviour.
Nomination procedure: Candidates self-nominate. They must provide the following:
The candidate should send the four documents to the EHBEA Secretary by the deadline. The current deadline is 5pm CEST on December 10. The nomination form can be downloaded here, and should be emailed to the EHBEA Secretary Abigail Page at ehbea.secretary@gmail.com.
2023 AWARD WINNER: Sheina Lew-Levy from Durham University
Sheina is an Assistant Professor at Durham’s Department of Psychology. Using methods from anthropology and psychology, she conducts research in hunter-gatherer societies to understand the cultural diversity in, and evolution of, social learning in childhood. Specifically, she uses quantitative and qualitative methods to study how and from whom children learn through meaningful participation in every day activities. Since 2016, she has worked with egalitarian BaYaka foragers and their farmer neighbours in the Congo Basin. She co-founded and co-directs Forager Child Studies, an interdisciplinary research team conducting cross-cultural reviews and secondary data analysis of the pasts, presents, and futures of forager children’s learning.
2022 AWARD WINNER: Abigail E. Page from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Abigail E. Page is an MRC Research Fellow in the Department of Population Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. A BA in Anthropology from the University of Durham and an MSc in Medical Anthropology from University College London left Abigail interested in social and biological explanations of human behaviour, especially related to mothers and young children. This led to a PhD in Biological Anthropology at University College London, focused on evolutionary approaches to health, demography and informal childcare in a small-scale population in the Philippines, the Agta. Since her PhD, Abigail has remained interested in social support for mothers with young children, and has expanded her research to high-income contexts, focusing on support for breastfeeding.
2021 AWARD WINNER: Christopher Krupenye from Durham University
Christopher Krupenye is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Psychology at Durham University (UK), working with Dr. Zanna Clay. In 2022, he will be an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University (USA). Chris integrates a wide range of experimental methods and theory from evolutionary anthropology and cognitive science in order to understand the origins of cognition in humans and other animals. He is particularly interested in how humans and other great apes navigate their social worlds, which cognitive capacities support uniquely-human and broadly ape social intelligence, and how these capacities emerge along evolutionary and ontogenetic timescales.
2020 AWARD WINNER: Samuel Mehr from Harvard University
Samuel Mehr is a Research Associate in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, where he directs the Music Lab. The lab's research asks how and why the design of the human mind leads us to perceive, create, and engage with music across human societies and across the lifespan. Originally a musician, Sam earned a B.M. in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music, followed by a doctorate in Human Development at Harvard under the mentorship of Elizabeth Spelke, Steven Pinker, and Howard Gardner. You can learn more about Music Lab research and participate in experiments at http://themusiclab.org.
2019 AWARD WINNER: Luke Glowacki from the Pennsylvania State University
Plenary Title: The biocultural bases of intergroup aggression and affiliation
Humans are unusual in the flexibility of our responses to out-group members, ranging from coalitionary violence and warfare, to reliance on out-groups for trade or marriage partners. But why either affiliative or aggressive intergroup relationships develop remains a source of dispute. Using cross-cultural data, I argue that the pattern of intergroup relationships can result from interacting cultural and social dynamics including (1) systems of reward and punishment, (2) informal leadership, and (3) expectation of asymmetric gain. Cultural incentive systems for warfare are associated with greater mortality risk from conflict (Glowacki and Wrangham, 2013), while the threat of peer sanctioning functions as an important catalyst for both warfare and peace (Glowacki and Eulenberger, submitted). Within-group social structure has a crucial role in the emergence of intergroup violence. Using social network data on 30+ raiding parties in an East African society, I show that raids are led by individuals who occupy important positions in the network (Glowacki et al. 2016). Their favourable network position allows them to recruit from the entire social network, while conflict participation can then fuel prosocial attitudes towards the group (Böhm et al. in prep). Cultural norms promoting inequitable distribution of resources may be an important incentive for these key individuals. Using contest games, I show that individuals initiate conflict in expectation of an asymmetric return of the benefits, even when doing is suboptimal for their own payoffs and their group’s payoffs (Dogan, Glowacki, Rusch 2018). Together these lines of evidence underscore a key role for the interaction of social structure and cultural norms for the occurrence of intergroup violence or intergroup tolerance.
2018 AWARD WINNER: Eleanor Power from the London School of Economics and Political Science
We are happy to announce the 2018 EHBEA New Investigator’s Award: Eleanor Power. Eleanor is an anthropologist and behavioural ecologist who studies how religious belief, practice, and identity interact with and shape interpersonal relationships.
Eleanor’s LSE staff profile page: http://www.lse.ac.uk/Methodology/People/Academic-Staff/Eleanor-Power/Eleanor-Power
Follow Eleanor on Twitter: https://twitter.com/eleanorapower
2017 AWARD WINNER: Urszula Marcinkowska from the Jagiellonian University Medical College
Urszula studied in Poland, Finland, UK and Italy, and is currently works as a post-doctoral researcher with a grant from the Polish National Science Centre. She works with evolutionary basis of human sexual selection. She has been researching sexual preferences towards different faces, and factors that shape these preferences. She worked on sexual imprinting in humans (both positive and negative) – do we like or dislike faces that resemble our parents or siblings. Currently she is focusing more on how hormones influence our preferences, sexual openness and overall well-being.
She is also interested in cross-cultural studies comparisons in the theme of sexual selection.
2016 AWARD WINNER: Olivier Morin
Plenary Title: Culture is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans
Abstract: On the face of it, the stunning continuity and abundance of traditions in our species suggests that humans possess an evolved drive to imitate others—an adaptation enabling each of us to acquire our culture. Yet, human traditions could also have arisen as a by-product of communicative capacities that are neither adapted to cultural transmission per se, nor geared towards the reproduction of behaviours (or thoughts). In this view, the very same cognitive mechanisms that preserve some traditions also distort others. These transformations need not impede cultural stability: reinvention can lead to repair, or to the birth of more appealing traditions: humans transmit their culture because they fail to imitate it.
This hypothesis has been most clearly defended by a research trend known as “cultural attraction theory.” The talk will explore two of its consequences, which will be explored with data drawn from quantitative cultural history and ranging from childhood folklore to art history, from the study of writing systems to big-data analyses of literary trends.
First, cultural survival is not necessarily dependent on the number of relays that a tradition has to go through. High-fidelity replication preserves all of a model’s features, including mistakes from previous replications. If it drove cultural transmission, multiple transmission episodes should bring information loss. By contrast, if transmission is a reinvention, not a replication, then traditions may thrive on being handed down many times. Children’s games and rhymes are a case in point. Second, cultural attraction theory predicts that, because people transform what they transmit in predictable ways, we should observe protracted directional changes in cultural history—changes so regular and lasting that they cannot be explained by the influence of the leaders or majorities that dominate a given society at a given time: the steady rise of direct gaze poses in two portrait traditions (Europe and Korea) will serve as an example.
Olivier Morin is a researcher in theoretical cognitive anthropology, in charge of the Independent Max Planck Research Group “Minds and Traditions” at the MPI for the Science of Human History in Jena (Germany). After a PhD at the Paris École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, supervised by Dan Sperber and devoted to the study of cultural transmission, he has held research positions in Central Europe, at the Central European University in Budapest and the KLI Institute (Klosterneuburg, Austria). His book, How Traditions Live and Die was published in December 2015 by Oxford University Press.
Webpage: https://sites.google.com/site/sitedoliviermorin/
2015 AWARD WINNER: Gert Stulp
PLENARY TITLE: Evolutionary adaptations and unexplored assumptions: Questioning the mismatched stone-age mind
Abstract: What sets Evolutionary Psychology apart from other (evolutionary) approaches to human behaviour is the idea that our brain consists of a large number of domain-specific adaptations or ‘functional specializations’. These adaptations are identified using a method of reverse engineering, which characterises recurring adaptive problems in our evolutionary past and then specifies the design features needed to solve such problems. One implication of this approach is that the adaptations so identified need not serve an adaptive function in the present day, and hence there is often a mismatch between our evolved psychology and modern human lifestyles. Here, I question these premises, suggesting that a mismatch must be established empirically, rather than assumed, and that the process of reverse engineering is anything but straightforward. In addition, I suggest that a strongly adaptationist perspective has some undesirable consequences, including devaluing studies of present-day behaviour and those demonstrating current adaptiveness, and not appreciating fully the influence of (social) learning and how culture fundamentally shapes the brain. I conclude that the functional perspective used by Evolutionary Psychology is preferable over psychological theories that lack such a perspective, but that ideas of domain-specific adaptations and mismatches should be given much less weight. In so doing, EP would complement, rather than oppose, other (evolutionary) theories of human behaviour.
2014 AWARD WINNER: Willem Frankenhuis
Plenary Title: How does natural selection shape development?
Abstract: Fused together, evolutionary and developmental science can generate predictions about: (1) what traits to expect at different life stages; (2) what phenotypic variation to expect depending on ecology; (3) what patterns of ontogenetic change to expect depending on ecology. In this talk, I will discuss theory and data bearing on these topics. I will focus on recent models showing that natural selection can result in mechanisms that produce sensitive periods in development. Such models may illuminate the roles of chronological age and previous life experiences in shaping the extent of plasticity (its retention and decline) across the human life span.
2013 AWARD WINNER: David Lawson
Plenary title: Natural selection on wealth and fertility in humans
Abstract: Life history theory argues that all organisms have two main goals – 1) competitively extract resources from the ecological and social environment and then 2) selectively allocate these resources to reproduction in a way that maximizes inclusive fitness. In this talk, building on the work of a number of evolutionary anthropologists and demographers, I argue that natural selection has shaped humans to rely on largely distinct proximate pathways to address these two goals. Resource accumulation is a cognitively taxing and complex social process, requiring considerable context-dependent plasticity and conscious goal-directed strategizing. A review of studies of fertility and offspring success however suggests that automatic physiological mechanisms, which suppress reproduction only when maternal or child survival is at immediate risk, have been sufficient to ensure optimal reproductive behaviour throughout most of human history. Recognizing this distinction exposes our inherent vulnerability to maladaptive decision-making in novel environments where wealth accumulation is now in conflict with reproductive opportunities for both men and women – improving our understanding of why fertility rates plummet when populations undergo socioeconomic development (i.e. the demographic transition). I review empirical evidence that supports the hypothesis that modern low fertility rates can be understood as a response to increased status competition and returns to high parental investment, and that fertility limitation is ultimately maladaptive in terms of both short and long-term fitness. Finally, I critique recent studies concluding that natural selection continues to act positively on wealth even in contemporary low fertility populations, and argue that natural selection is now acting negatively on strategies of wealth accumulation and is for the first time strongly favouring individuals that desire early childbearing and large families regardless of the socioeconomic consequences.
2012 AWARD WINNER: Pontus Striming
Plenary title: Sadly, general models can't predict the outcome of cultural evolution
Abstract: One goal of the study of cultural evolution is to predict how the outcome of cultural change is structured and what cultural traits are likely to be in it. Very much like population genetics is interested in the structure of the equlibria and what genes are likely to be in it. In fact researchers modeling cultural evolution have been hopeful that models from population genetics, with small alterations, would be sufficient to generate such predictions in cultural evolution. However, after extensive research this turned out not to be the case. In this talk, I bring more bad news to the table. Not only can we not adapt population genetics models; we will probably never create general models for cultural evolution that predict as well as general models do in population genetics. There, details that at first seemed essential, such as whether the species was haploid or diploid, turned out not to matter in many cases. This resulted in simple models with high predictive value. In cultural evolution, we are not so lucky. In this talk I go through several specific factors, such as the number of cultural parents or the size of the initial population, each of which radically changes the predictions of the models. Creating a general model that accounts for all these factors is probably impossible. So in the case of cultural evolution, general models will either be too complex to study or run the risk of giving faulty predictions. I conclude by outlining strategies for escaping this dilemma by using specific models that rely heavily on empirical data.
2011 AWARD WINNER: Thom Scott-Phillips
Plenary title: Communication, cognition, and the evolution of language
Abstract: Speaking very broadly, we can identify two different approaches to communication: the code model, in which meaning is fully encoded in the signal, and inferential communication, in which speakers provide evidence for their intended meaning, and listeners use that evidence to infer the speaker’s meaning. Probably most animal communication is of the former type, but human linguistic communication is of the latter type. There are several evolutionary questions we can ask about inferential communication. What are the cognitive foundations of inferential communication, and how did they evolve? How does inference affect the cultural evolution of communication systems? Do only humans have inferential communication? In my talk, I will describe the research I have conducted that begins to shed light on these questions.
2010 AWARD WINNER: Dr Alex Alvergne
PLENARY TITLE: VARIATION IN HUMAN PATERNAL CARE – ULTIMATE AND PROXIMATE FACTORS
Abstract: During recent decades, an increase in paternal involvement in childcare in occidental societies has led many to question the role of fathers beyond traditionally prescribed functions of breadwinner, moral authority and masculine role model. Anthropological studies have also highlighted the considerable diversity in fatherhoods between and within human cultural groups. Taking an integrative evolutionary perspective, I address both ultimate and proximate factors underlying the expression of paternal care, and consider the impact of such variation on child development and later reproductive success. According to evolutionary theories of parental investment and kin selection, father investment is expected to vary depending on socio-ecological factors such as paternity uncertainty and mating opportunities. Drawing on data collected from France and Senegal, I argue that paternity uncertainty has constituted an important selective pressure on the use of paternity cues by men (i.e. odour and facial similarity), as well as a manipulation by women of men’s perception. Furthermore, I show that the expression of paternal investment is traded-off with mating investment, and mediated through hormonal mechanisms. Finally, I found that the link between paternal investment and fitness-related traits in children depends on the studied population. Overall, this research increases our understanding of the socio-ecological and hormonal factors associated with paternal investment, and highlights the relevance of an evolutionary approach to the study of human behaviour. It also provides a general model to address currently challenging questions such as why father investment has recently experienced a dramatic increase in western societies.
SERVICES TO THE EHBEA COMMUNITY
The EHBEA committee is introducing a new award for 2024 – ‘Services to the EHBEA Community’ to recognise the extensive amount of work our members do when they spend time working on mentorship, public outreach, teaching and training, ethical research practice, research integrity and science communication. The prize is free registration and travel to the annual EHBEA conference.
As a society, we not only want to reward research excellence in terms of the ‘traditional’ markers of publications, funding and network, but consider those working for excellence in other domains – often without reward – to improve the evolutionary human sciences. This may be (and is not limited to) working on the societal impact of evolutionary research, communicating evolutionary work to groups we do not normally reach, or training the future generation in ethical, rigorous and robust methodological approaches.
If a colleague comes to mind reading this – nominate them now! Any active member of EHBEA can nominate any other member of the society. There is no further restriction on who can be nominated.
Please send a completed nomination form (available here) to the EHBEA Secretary Abigail Page at ehbea.secretary@gmail.com by 5pm CEST on December 10. Please contact the EHBEA Secretary if you have any questions.
STUDENT RESEARCH GRANTS
EHBEA’s Student Research Grant competition is currently running annually each Spring. The aim is to provide student members of the Association with funds to conduct a specific research project or provide funding to conduct professional skills development that complements the academic aims of the Association. EHBEA will only support the highest quality applications from our current student members. The maximum award per grant is 1000 Euros. Funds could be requested for participant payments, travel to field sites, or other research costs. Funds may also be requested for professional or research skills development.
Funds cannot be requested for university fees, normal living expenses or costs associated with writing up theses or publications. Grant applications will be assessed on the basis of scientific quality, project feasibility and the applicants’ track record and potential. The Early Career Officer and at least one blind reviewer will first review applications following the criteria in the evaluation form. As part of efforts to increase diversity among EHBEA scholars, contextual factors may be taken into account in the committee’s decisions. When deciding among top-ranked candidates, the committee may take into consideration factors such as (but not limited to) discipline, research topic, nationality and gender of applicants. A lottery system will be used after these considerations to pick the successful applicants.
In addition to completing the application form, applicants must ask a suitable referee to provide a Letter of Support before the application deadline.
To apply for the grant, a completed Application Form and Letter of Support (available here) should be emailed to the EHBEA Early Career Officer by 5pm (CEST) on March 1st. Applicants must be pursuing a post-graduate research degree (e.g., MSc, MPhil, PhD) and be members of EHBEA in order to be eligible to apply. Please contact the EHBEA Early Career Officer Daniel Redhead if you have any questions.
Grant deadlines will fall in early March each year. Next Deadline: 5pm (GMT), 1st March
To apply for the grant, a completed application form and Letter of Support should be emailed to the EHBEA Early Career Officer by 5pm (GMT) on the relevant date. Applicants must be pursuing post-graduate research degrees and be members of EHBEA in order to be eligible to apply.
Please contact the EHBEA Early Career Officer if you have any questions.
EHBEA has previously funded the following projects:
2022
Perceptions and reactions of physical dominance in men with concealed weapons - Connor Leslie
2021
Investigating the perceived controllability of mortality risk and identifying sources of risk perceptions - Richard Brown
Active parental influence on mate choice: the role of parent-offspring behaviour - Anna Fišerová
Perceptions of Physical Dominance from Male Body Movement - Connor Leslie
2020
Sex on the mind? Testing whether intuitive biases underly male sexual overperception - Aysha Bellamy
Bone Retouchers: First evidence for “recycling” in human history - Eva Francesca Martellotta
2019
Testing the costly signalling theory of pilgrimage – Radim Chvaja
Testing proximate accounts of tag-based cooperation – Gabriel Hudson
The impact of intercultural contact on pictorial style – The case of Aboriginal rock art – Carmen Granito
Disgust sensitivity in relation to phases of menstrual cycle and progesterone levels – Karolina Miłkowska
2018
Determinants of partner choice and ostracism: an experimental analysis – Sarah Peacey
Ecological Predictors of the Sexual Double Standard – Naomi Muggleton
How similar is too similar? Self-similarity and disgust in young women – Amy Newman
2017
How much do fathers matter? Paternal investment and child health in rural Tanzania – Anushe Hassan
Effect of breast and areola morphology on lactation onset – Lenka Kysilkova
Influence of paternal morphological and body odour characteristics on female mate choice – Lucie Kuncova
Does sex ratio influence same sex competitor derogation in women? An experimental approach – Thomas Richardson
Evolved to reckon with risk? The role of oxytocin in regulating – Konrad Rudnicki
2016
Heritability estimates of digit ratio (2D:4D), and associations with religiosity –Gareth Richards
Why do people attack other groups? Is intergroup conflict motivated by altruistic sacrifice for the greater good or selfish desire for the spoils of war? – Jaakko Junikka
Cognitive map use in the Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus) and the evolutionary pathways of spatial cognition in primates – Stephanie Poindexter
Ecological Predictors of Female Sexual Suppression –Naomi Muggleton
Prestige and Dominance in Action: The effects of personality and social relationships on electoral success – Dan Redhead
Cultural Evolution of Money – Adam Flitton
Testing Indirect Reciprocity in Nested (Local-Global) Public Goods Games – Tommaso Batistoni
2015
Investigating error management strategies in cooperation – Jolene Tan
Dismantling the Spandrels of Santa Barbara – Fabian Probst
Domain-dependent decision processes – Jana Jarecki
Investigating the vigilance hypothesis in bonobos (Pan paniscus): yawning after post-conflict reconciliation and consolation – Evy van Berlo
Difficult Decisions: Rural livelihoods, child work and parental investment in education in northern Tanzania – Sophie Hedges
Controlled experiment of untipped wooden thrusting spears on animal carcasses: wounding potential, hunting lesions and use – wear to weapons – Annemieke Milks Sex Differences in Confidence and Conformity on a Novel Mental Rotation Task – Charlotte Brand
2014
Effects of city-living and upbringing on pro-social behaviour – Elena Zwirner
The effects of dietary supplementation on facial appearance and health – Yong Zhi Foo
2013
Can mortality/morbidity awareness determine abortion attitudes? Two controlled psychological experiments – Sandra Virgo
Prejudice under pressure – Alex Salam
ECR RESEARCH GRANT
EHBEA’s Early Career Researcher (ECR) Research Grant competition is now currently running annually each Spring. The aim is to provide ECR members of the Association with funds to conduct a specific research project or provide funding to conduct professional skills development that complements the academic aims of the Association. EHBEA will only support the highest quality applications from our current ECR members. The maximum award per grant is 1000 Euros. Funds could be requested for participant payments, travel to field sites, or other research costs. Funds may also be requested for professional or research skills development.
Funds cannot be requested for normal living expenses or costs associated with writing up theses or publications. Grant applications will be assessed on the basis of scientific quality, project feasibility and the applicants’ track record and potential. The Early Career Officer and at least one blind reviewer will first review applications following the criteria in the evaluation form. As part of efforts to increase diversity among EHBEA scholars, contextual factors may be taken into account in the committee’s decisions. When deciding among top-ranked candidates, the committee may take into consideration factors such as (but not limited to) discipline, research topic, nationality and gender of applicants. A lottery system will be used after these considerations to pick the successful applicants.
In addition to completing the application form, applicants must ask a suitable referee to provide a Letter of Support before the application deadline.
To apply for the grant, a completed Application Form and Letter of Support (available here) should be emailed to the EHBEA Early Career Officer by 5pm (CEST) on March 1st. Applicants must have completed a post-graduate research degree (e.g., MSc, MPhil, PhD), but not yet taken up a permanent, faculty position and be members of EHBEA in order to be eligible to apply. Please contact the EHBEA Early Career Officer Daniel Redhead if you have any questions or unsure if you are able to apply.
STUDENT TRAVEL GRANTS
The European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association together with the Human Behavior and Evolution Society offers a number of travel grants to students on a competitive basis. The amount available to each student depends on their location and need. Students may apply for a maximum of €500 for conferences in their home country, €800 if traveling within Europe and €1000 if traveling from a LMIC (low- and middle-income country). Please get in touch with the EHBEA secretary if you are unsure of the amount to apply for. This amount should cover reasonable travel expenses incurred in order to attend the conference, including conference registration. Funds will be allocated based on both applicants’ financial need and the anticipated benefits of attending the conference. To apply for the grant, a completed application form should be emailed to the EHBEA Secretary within 10 days of talk or poster acceptance notification (ehbea.secretary@gmail.com).
WORKSHOP/EVENT GRANT
EHBEA is keen to support workshops/events organised by its membership that promote discussion of topics within its remit, networking between members or public engagement activities, and therefore offers grants of up to €1000 to fund or part-fund such events or activities. EHBEA is committed to rigorous, pluralistic and integrative science, and requests for EHBEA funding should demonstrate how the event promotes these aims.
The aim of this funding is to provide members, particularly student and early career members, with the opportunity to organise events that encourage dissemination of research findings within the EHBEA remit and networking opportunities between members. For instance, the funding could be used by postgraduate students to organise a workshop in their local area, so that students can meet each other and discuss their research, and invite a small number of distinguished academics to contribute to the event. Funding can also be sought for public engagement events and activities within the EHBEA remit, particularly those involving student members. EHBEA particularly supports workshops which reflect on the implications of the evolutionary human sciences for wider society, particularly considering EHBEA’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
The goal of the funding is to support workshops and events that would not be able to take place without EHBEA’s support. Accordingly, funding will not normally be given to support sessions or symposiums within existing conferences. The funding will also not normally be used to support workshops that are directly attached to the annual EHBEA conference (please contact the EHBEA Vice-President if you are interested in organising a workshop in conjunction with the EHBEA conference).
The proposed event must be held a minimum of three months after the application deadline.
For an example application see here. Please return the completed proposal form (available here) by email to the EHBEA Secretary (ehbea.secretary@gmail.com) by 5 pm GMT on August 1st.