Matt Bruce, Teaching

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Internships & Masters

Internships are now available on human (with Ulf Tölch) and guppy social leaning and innovation starting in 2009.
See below for project details or contact me . For international students check out the International Masters page

Current Student:
Greg Kohn

PhD

I am also interested in talking to students about conducting PhD research in spider behaviour in Australia. Projects will be conducted in the laboratory of Mariella Heberstein at Macquarie University in Sydney.
Please contact me or go to Mariella's lab page for more information.

Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

IInternships and Masters in the Reader Lab 2009

Learning strategies in guppies and humans

Many animals, such as guppies, have been shown to use social information from other group members in deciding where to feed, who to mate with, or what to eat. However, animals are often faced with conflicting information, and we are interested in how these conflicts are resolved. For example, an individual's personal experience may differ from the experience of other group members, meaning that individuals do not know which information is the most trustworthy. Alternatively, different group members may provide conflicting information from one another. How do individuals assess the reliability of a particular information source and choose between these information sources? Within the Behavioural Biology group, we are addressing these questions with guppies. We are also addressing parallel questions in humans, in collaboration with the Human Innovation group in Utrecht's Geosciences faculty. Projects are available to conduct work on guppies (co-supervised by Matt Bruce), on humans (co-supervised by Ulf Tölch), or the two systems together. Additional details.

Researcher: dr. Simon Reader.

Minimum length of student research: 5 months.

Application: at least one month before start of project.

Requirements (for Biology students): courses in animal behaviour, or similar, and statistics. Note that requirements will differ for students based in geosciences; please get in touch if you are interested.

Innovation, exploration and social learning in guppy fish

When a novel behaviour pattern spreads through an animal group, what are the processes underlying its invention and spread? Who invents the new behaviour? What information is gained by observing or interacting with more informed conspecifics? Is innovator identity important to the subsequent spread of the new behaviour? Do particular individuals specialise in parasitising the information gathering of others? What affects the longevity of socially learned traditions? 5.5-10 month Masters projects are available to examine such questions in guppies, focusing initially on foraging behaviour, but with the possibility of extension to anti-predator, sexual and mate choice behaviour. Additional details.

Researcher: dr. Simon Reader.

Minimum length of student research: 5.5 months.

Application: at least one month before start of project.

Requirements: courses in animal behaviour, or similar, and statistics.

Last updated: 28th January 2009.