A Novel Synthesis of Individualisation across Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution: Niche Choice, Niche Conformance, Niche Construction (NC³)

Congratulations to Toni Gossmann on winning the ERC's prestigious Starting Grant. Toni will use this to continue unravelling the inheritance of DNA methylation. We are thrilled and are looking forward to the next years working with Toni.

75% of ecological journals require code-sharing, but only 27% of articles comply with this rule, as a recent paper by Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar and colleagues recently showed. This result is now being widely shared and discussed. Read about it here. (Original article here.)

The conceptual paper from the NC³ cloud on molecular and physiological mediators has been published. For everything you want to know on the importance on infochemicals for choosing, conforming to and constructing of individualised niches, and for highly useful definitions of terms all around NC³, download the article.

Corona has shut many doors - especially those of airports. We are very glad to have Rebecca Nagel back from her field trip to the Antarctic. Her journey home took 75 days, as she recently told the Bielefelder Zeitung.

Looking for an excellent in-depth science podcast (in German)? Head to WWUcast to hear Helene Richter explain recent developments on the 3 R (replace, reduce, refine) of animal use in research.

Group-living requires different social skills than living in pairs. Advantageous behavioural types developed under such different social conditions are regulated by hormones. Alexandra Mutwill and colleagues have now been able to show that guinea pig males can readjust their hormonal setup according to a new social situation even in adulthood. (Read the paper and Press release)

The open synthesis revolution continues! Alfredo Sánchez Tójar talked to Hertz 87,9 about the reproducibility crisis and the revolutionary solution he and others recently suggested. Looking for an in-depth science podcast (in German)? Head to https://www.uni-muenster.de/kommunikation/podcast/index.html to hear Helene Richter explain recent developments on the 3 R (replace, reduce, refine) of animal use in research. Listen on spotify

Münster University will see an exciting series of public events in the next winter term. A lecture series, discussion forum and poetry, art and science slams will all focus on animal behaviour, based on Norbert Sachser's recent book "Der Mensch im Tier" (The human animal). This is part of the "Eine Uni - ein Buch" (One university - one book) initiative of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft. Münster University was one of ten to win the competition this year. This will be a great opportunity to discuss all things animal behaviour and animal welfare with the public. We are very much looking forward to all the events!" German article/video

This week, Dr Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar and 21 co-authors published a far-reaching suggestion to revolutionise the way primary researchers and synthesists work. They suggest creating open synthesis communities where primary researchers and synthesists work hand in hand, and where synthesis is recognized as the end goal and updated continuously. "Bridging the divide between primary researchers and synthesists will lead to less research waste, more collaboration, faster research progress and better engagement." Free access to the article

Helene Richter recently met with local activists working on animal welfare to present her work on this topic. As 'Nestwerk' activists advise pet keepers on welfare, this was an important exchange, and we are looking forward to future events.