Ethologische Gesellschaft e.V.

The society page – picture of a young greylag goose


The Society
The Ethologische Gesellschaft is a non-profit organization, founded with the aim of supporting behavioural research in science and teaching. It was founded on 10 October 1978 in Basel (Switzerland). At the meeting 116 members were present, and the society now has about 400 members, most of whom are from German-speaking countries (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) and the Netherlands.

Anyone who is or was a researcher in Behavioural Biology is welcome to join the society. The society also welcomes members who want to financially or intellectually support the aims of the society.

Twice a year the society publishes its newsletter EthoNews, which is sent to all members as PDF by email. It includes sections on internal matters, research/perspectives, projects/meetings as well as abstracts from BSc, MSc and PhD dissertations.

Every other year, the society awards the prestigious Niko Tinbergen Award to outstanding investigators in Animal Behaviour research. Furthermore, the society supports research projects for researchers at any career stage, attendance at conferences, and is involved in organizing the biannual European Conference on Behavioural Biology (ECBB). The society organizes an annual meeting, and together with the German Zoological Society, an annual meeting for MSc and PhD students.


The Ethologische Gesellschaft e.V. stands up for the realisation of equality, human rights and tolerance towards all people, independent of their background. We do not accept any kind of antisemitism, discrimination, homophobia, racism, or sexism. Furthermore, we support the Jena declaration ‘The concept of race is the result of racism, not its prerequisite’, which was approved by the German Zoological Society and the President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena.


In own matters: We regret to inform you that our name “Ethological Society e.V.” has been repeatedly misused for marketing purposes. This organisation’s website address is very similar to ours, and they appear to be writing blog posts on our behalf. We expressly distance ourselves from the content and organisation. Please note that we are not affiliated with this organisation, endorse its actions, nor have we ever given our approval. We are taking action against this abuse and misrepresentation of our society.