Fish study shows infection alters sleep

It’s a well-known fact that if you don’t get enough sleep, you’re more likely to get sick. And it has also been observed that people sleep differently when they’re infected. Biologists from the Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity at the University of Münster have now investigated how a parasite infection affects the immune system and sleep in three-spined sticklebacks infected with their natural parasite, the tapeworm. One conclusion was that infected fish sleep longer after infection than their uninfected counterparts. However, the team only observed this difference one month after infection. In the first few days, there were virtually no differences. The results should help to deepen our understanding of the interactions between macroparasite infections, sleep and the immune response.

Bauhus MB, Mews S, Kurtz J, Brinker A, Peuß R, Anaya-Rojas JM (2024): Tapeworm infection affects sleep-like behavior in three-spined sticklebacks. Scientific Reports 14, 23395. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-73992-7

Press release by the University of Münster
Original Publication

Plant chemicals shape animal social lives

A study published in the Journal of Animal Ecology by researchers from Bielefeld University reveals that certain plant compounds, from non-food plants that then affect the social behavior and lifespan of the turnip sawfly (Athalia rosae). Led by Dr. Pragya Singh, a postdoctoral researcher in the Collaborative Research Center Transregio 212 in the Chemical Ecology group, the team investigated how the consumption of specific non-nutritional plant-derived chemicals, known as clerodanoids, alters social networks within sawfly populations while simultaneously shortening the insects’ lifespan. These findings provide valuable insights into plant-animal interactions and social networks in ecology.

Singh P, Brueggemann L, Janz S, Saidi Y, Baruah G, Müller C (2024): Plant metabolites modulate social networks and lifespan in a sawfly. Journal of Animal Ecology 93, 1758–1770. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14189

Press release by Bielefeld University
Original Publication

Social interactions may accelerate evolution

How do animal species develop evolutionarily? Researchers usually predict this by studying a species' genes and the environment in which it lives. However, new research highlights a key factor that is often overlooked: social interactions, in which the genes of other individuals play an important role in shaping the environment an animal experiences. Researchers from the Collaborative Research Center Transregio 212 and the British Universities of Aberdeen and Exeter collaborated on the study, which was published in Evolution Letters.

Santostefano F, Moiron M, Sánchez-Tójar A, Fisher D (2024): Indirect genetic effects increase the heritable variation available to selection and are largest for behaviours: a meta-analysis. Evolution Letters, qrae051. https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrae051

Press release by Bielefeld University [de]
Original Publication

"The adaptability of organisms gives cause for hope"

Do animals manage to adapt to an ever faster changing environment? If so, how? In an interview with Christina Hoppenbrock, behavioural biologist and field researcher Prof. Dr Oliver Krüger from Bielefeld University provides insights into the adaptability of animals and the role of behavioural biology in the face of climate change. The occasion is a conference of the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 212, which addresses the ecological niches of individuals in changing environmental conditions, with a public lecture by Oliver Krüger on 4 September at the University of Münster.

Full interview [de]
NC³ conference by the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 212

New publication from the JICE: Individualisation across disciplinary perspectives

This week, the article “Individualisation and individualised science across disciplinary perspectives” has been published in the European Journal for Philosophy of Science. It is the result of a comprehensive interdisciplinary collaboration between numerous members of the JICE.

The publication brings together various scientific disciplines with the aim to promote interdisciplinary research on individualisation by creating a common conceptual and theoretical basis. It is based on a workshop as part of the interdisciplinary research association InChangE, during which the participating scientists addressed differences and similarities in the understanding of individualisation across various disciplines such as biology, philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, health sciences, sociology and economics.

Kaiser MI, Killin A, Abendroth AK, Back MD, Baune BT, Bilstein N, Breitmoser Y, Caspers BA, Gadau J, Gossmann TI, Kaiser S, Krüger O, Kurtz J, Lengersdorf D, Malsch AKF, Müller C, Rauthmann, JF, Reinhold K, Richter SH, Stummer C, Trappes R, Voelcker-Rehage C, Wittmann MJ (2024): Individualisation and individualised science across disciplinary perspectives. European Journal for Philosophy of Science 14, 41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194-024-00602-8

Article in European Journal for Philosophy of Science

Summer debate: "How natural is competition?"

The Institute of Sociology invites students and interested guests to the summer debate in the lecture hall on 3 July 3 2024 at 18:15, where Prof. Dr. Jürgen Gadau (Institute of Evolution and Biodiversity) and Prof. Dr. Joachim Renn (Institute of Sociology) will explore the question: "How natural is competition?"

On the one hand, the focus is on the question of the extent to which the principle of "Competitiveness" is suitable for bringing evolutionary biology and social theory into conversation with each other. On the other hand, to what extent such a discussion depends on how the "phenomenon" is questioned in both disciplines.

The panelists will continue the discussion they began on Darwin Day in a different setting: "Evolution is blind, but not random"

More details

DFG funds new CRC/TRR 393 "Trajectories of affective disorders"

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved funding for the new Transregional Collaborative Research Centre "Trajectories of affective disorders: Cognitive-emotional mechanisms of symptom change", which will begin its work on 1 July 2024. Researchers from the Philipps University of Marburg, the TUD Dresden University of Technology and the University of Münster are involved in the project – including Prof Dr Udo Dannlowski, Director of the Institute of Translational Psychiatry at the University of Münster and member of the JICE, who will be the site coordinator for the Collaborative Research Centre.

Press release by the University of Münster [de]

Charlotte Kräft starts as a postdoc within InChangE

Dr Charlotte Kräft started working within InChangE in May 2024. She focuses on the introduction of an AI-supported scheduling system for employees in the healthcare sector. Kräft obtained her doctorate in economics from Paderborn University in 2022. As part of her doctoral project, she analysed gender-specific segregation and performance correlations in the context of a male-dominated industry. She published her research findings in journals such as Gender, Work & Organisation and Gender in Management. In the winter semester 2023/24, she was an interim professor for Organizational Behavior at Paderborn University.

When are children most receptive?

Children learn best during sensitive periods of their lives. But when exactly are these ‘sensitive periods’? Researcher Dr Nicole Walasek from the University of Amsterdam has used computer models to investigate the factors on which they depend. She presented her findings in Bielefeld at third Individualisaiton Symposium of the JICE. The recording of the presentation is now online.

Article by Bielefeld University
Recording on YouTube

Guido I. Prieto joins InChangE as Individualisation Fellow

Dr Guido I. Prieto joined the Department of Philosophy at Bielefeld University in this month. As Individualisation Fellow within InChangE, he works on a research project on the diachronic dimension of biological individuality and organismality, especially concerning development across complex life cycles. This is intended to answer questions such as: What is the nature of the entities that correspond to each stage in a life cycle? Are they different stages of the same biological individual or different biological individuals separated by events of multiplication and fusion? Does the kind of biological individuality change across complex life cycles? Do organisms gradually emerge during development or are they always present from the zygote stage? Do organismal capacities and processes such as agency, developmental plasticity, and niche construction vary across life cycles? And if so, how does this affect ecological and evolutionary outcomes?

Previously, Prieto studied Biology and obtained a PhD in Philosophy at Ruhr University Bochum for his research on the relationship between the concepts of ‘organism’ and ‘biological individual.’ Besides, he is a self-taught scientific illustrator.

‘Individualization is essential in both prevention and therapy’

What does a science of individualization need? Researchers from the natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences provided insights into this at the third symposium on individualisation hosted by the JICE Institute, which is supported by Bielefeld University and the University of Münster. It was held at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) on the Bielefeld campus. In this interview, Münster sports scientist Professor Dr Claudia Voelcker-Rehage and Bielefeld economist Dr Niels Boissonnet explain what makes the institute’s interdisciplinary approach so valuable for their research. They explain how the focus on individualization enables innovations in a wide range of areas—from optimizing performance in sport to ethical questions of resource distribution.

Article by Bielefeld University

"Evolution is blind, but not random"

Charles Darwin, founder of the evolutionary theory, was born on 12 February 1809. Since 1995, Darwin Day has been celebrated on his birthday to honour his outstanding contribution to science. On this occasion, biologist Prof Dr Jürgen Gadau from the Institute of Evolution and Biodiversity and Prof Dr Joachim Renn, who investigates socio-cultural evolution at the Institute of Sociology, talk to Anke Poppen about their work on evolutionary theory.

Interview [de]

Understanding individualisation through modelling

Individualisation matters. We observe it in social trends, customer choices, personalised medicine or the adaptation of animals to their environments. In the research association ‘Individualisation in Changing Environments’ (InChangE), Bielefeld University and the University of Münster are investigating the causes, mechanisms and consequences of individualisation in changing environments. This interdisciplinary collaboration involves natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, including the disciplines of biology, philosophy, sociology, economics, psychology, geoinformatics, psychiatry and health sciences. The list of participants is long and their disciplines could not be more different. But that’s where the opportunity lies, says Dr Olena Orlova, an applied mathematician in the Theoretical Biology research group at the Faculty of Biology in Bielefeld and a postdoctoral fellow at InChangE.

Article by Bielefeld University

Mitko Aleksandrov starts as InChangE postdoc

As part of his postdoc within the collaborative research association InChangE, Dr Mitko Aleksandrov investigates how individuals experience and understand 3D environments. His primary goal is to assess the impact of various factors, such as urbanisation level, weather, familiarity, distractions or level of detail, on people’s orientation, route choice and perception while navigating in indoor and outdoor spaces.

Previously, Aleksandrov completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne, where he investigated individual decision-making during evacuations of tall buildings, emphasising the impact of floor level, route options, crowdedness and instructions on these decisions. Following his PhD, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of New South Wales, focusing on strategies to effectively orient and navigate individuals in 3D environments.

Carolin Mezes joins InChangE as Individualisation Fellow

As Individualisation Fellow within the collaborative research association InChangE, Dr Carolin Mezes works on a sociological research project on psychosomatics. Psychosomatic medicine, a medical specialty firmly integrated in the German health system, is an older and a different form of todays individualised medicine and regards individualisation processes of disease and healing in a bio-psycho-social framework. Investigating the contemporary psychosomatic discourse from the perspective of sociology of science, Mezes’ research investigates how different actors understand the relation of the suffering individual to its environment, how they conceive disease symptoms as a product of this relationship and as a response to it, and which therapeutic interventions are supposed to help individuals accordingly.

Before joining InChangE, Mezes completed her doctorate at Marburg University’s Working Group on Political Sociology as part of the interdisciplinary Collaborative Research Centre „Dynamics of Security“ (CRC/TRR 138). In her research, she investigated the knowledge practice of pandemic preparedness monitoring with ethnographical research, documenting the contradictions of preparedness governance that became apparent in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Narcissism and its impact on psychotherapy

Narcissistic personality traits are related to poorer response to psychotherapeutic treatment. This is the result of a German multi-site study with more than 2,000 participants receiving inpatient and outpatient psychotherapy. The findings of the research team at Jena University Hospital and University of Münster involving members of the JICE, now published in the scientific journal The Lancet Psychiatry, can contribute to further individualization of psychotherapy.

Joint press release by the Universities of Jena and Münster
Interview about the study in the podcast The Lancet Psychiatry in conversation with...
Original Publication

World Congress on Behavioural Science at Bielefeld University

The focus of the world’s largest conference on behavioural research, due to take place in a few days from 14 to 20 August at Bielefeld University, is on animal behaviour – its changes and backgrounds. Over 800 registered participants, including top academics from a broad spectrum of fields – from ethology to behavioural genetics to anthropology – will share their research and areas of expertise at Behaviour 2023. The multidisciplinary and international congress is the biennial main conference of the International Council of Ethologists (IEC).

Article by Bielefeld University
Conference website

Expeditions to the ends of the Earth

Whether it is polar bears in the Arctic, gorillas in Uganda, or sea lions in the Galápagos, Professor Oliver Krüger undertakes expeditions to faraway locales to observe animals deep in the wild. As a behaviour researcher at Bielefeld University, Professor Krüger seeks to understand how different animal species adapt to shifts in the environment and climate change. One thing he never leaves home without: his camera, to capture those extraordinary encounters.

Article by Bielefeld University

Individualisation Fellowship: Liliya Doronina joins InChangE

During her Individualisation Fellowship within the collaborative research association InChangE, Dr Liliya Doronina investigates the ecological and genetic basis of changes in social structure, mating system and personality traits in island Arctic foxes. She analyses demographic and genetic data collected during long-term individual-based research of a small wild population of Arctic foxes isolated on an island in the North Pacific for a hundred thousand years.

Previously, Doronina completed her doctorate degree and worked as a postdoc at the Institute of Experimental Pathology of the Center for Molecular Biology of Inflammation at the University of Münster. She used transposable elements to disentangle evolutionary relationships in several mammalian groups. At the same time, she took part in the project "Research on ecology and behavior of the island arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus semenovi) on Mednyi Island (Commander Islands) in the North Pacific".

Nadine Mooren joins InChangE as Individualisation Fellow

As part of her Individualisation Fellowship, Dr Nadine Mooren addresses the topic of individualisation of human life in old age. She investigates the ways in which processes of individualisation are important for understanding human ageing. Additionally, she explores whether and how it is necessary to take into account the diversity of career paths, lifestyles, personal abilities, attitudes and values, also with regard to institutional arrangements.

Before joining InChangE, Mooren researched and taught at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Münster. In the field of Practical Philosophy and Ethics, she dealt with the relationship of anthropology and ethics, the characteristics of human life phases and the question of what differences between childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age imply for theories of the good life.

Niclas Kuper starts as Individualisation Fellow

As a new Individualisation Fellow, Dr Niclas Kuper focuses on understanding the interplay between persons and their contexts and environments – with respect to momentary person-situation dynamics, long-term outcomes and development as well as the broader socio-cultural context in which people are embedded. In his research, he uses various research designs (e.g., ambulatory assessment, online studies, longitudinal studies and laboratory studies) and statistical approaches (e.g., multilevel modeling, meta-analysis, psychometrics and simulation studies). He actively pursues the integration of multiple relevant perspectives from different disciplines and subdisciplines.

Before joining the InChangE, Kuper completed his doctorate degree at the Department of Psychology at Bielefeld University. He worked on dynamic approaches to personality, with a focus on person-situation interactions. Throughout this work, he observed considerable individual differences in the reaction to various situations. With these findings, his research highlights the relevance of person-situation interactions for comprehensive accounts of personality.

InChangE Postdoc Meeting

On Tuesday, 20 June 2023, postdocs and Individualisation Fellows met together with further members of the collaborative project InChangE at "Haus Heuer" in Beelen to present their current research. The participants took the opportunity to extensively exchange about their projects and further future collaborations across the involved disciplines.

InChangE Postdoc Meetings

Mutations for the preservation of the species

The Bielefeld behavioral scientist Prof Dr Joseph Hoffman was involved in a large-scale study with data on Antarctic fur seals. In a comparative analysis of pedigree-based mutation rates, far-reaching insights into the evolution of mutations in vertebrates could be gained. Individualization enables animal species to better adapt to their environment, which is changing due to climate change, for example. Mutations can also play a role in this. In the interview, Prof Hoffman explains which animals were studied, why knowledge of germline mutation rates is so relevant, and why the time between generations is a factor that should not be underestimated regarding hereditary diseases.

Article by Bielefeld University

InChangE offers two Individualisation Fellowships for postdocs

In the colloborative project "Individualisation in Changing Environments" (InChangE) funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of NRW, the Universities of Münster and Bielefeld are exploring the causes, mechanisms and effects of individualisation in changing environments in an interdisciplinary discourse between natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities. The disciplines represented in the joint project are biology, philosophy, sociology, economics, psychology, geoinformatics, psychiatry and health sciences.

To promote excellent academics who are at the beginning of their independent research career, Bielefeld University offers two Individualisation Fellowships for early career researchers. These positions will offer the successful candidates the opportunity to further develop their independent research in the field of interdisciplinary individualisation science and to prepare their application for an individual research grant.

More details

New InChangE member: Jana Seep starts as postdoc

Dr Jana Seep is the newest member of the InChangE research network as a postdoc. She is working on the analysis of semantically annotated trajectories - which combine geometric data with the surrounding context and describe the movements of persons or animals. In her project, she will investigate to what extent the semantic contexts can be used to determine direct causal relationships with the movement decisions made. By doing so, she hopes to better model and understand the movement and orientation of individuals in their environment.

Before joining InChangE, Seep did her doctorate at the Computer Science Department at the University of Münster. She focused on the analysis of semantically annotated motion data and adapted an approach from reverse engineering to model it. In this way, she was able to gain initial insights into possible correlations in the data and use them to calculate both representative behaviour of groups and the groups themselves, taking into account all known environmental influences.

Julia Rötzmeier-Keuper joins InChangE as postdoc

Dr Julia Rötzmeier-Keuper joined the collaborative research association InChangE as a postdoc in April 2023. In her project, she will empirically investigate cooperative and selfish behaviour and explore how this affects the sustainability of individual consumption as well as the potential use of technological developments to shape more sustainable consumption activities.

Rötzmeier-Keuper completed her doctorate in economics at the University of Paderborn in the field of service management. She investigated vulnerable market participants and marginalised consumer groups as well as the role of digital technologies in reducing or avoiding potential vulnerabilities in the market. Before joining InChangE, Rötzmeier-Keuper worked as a postdoc at TU Berlin in the DFG project "DigiSales", in which she investigated the influencing factors and consequences of technostress in digitalised sales work.

Interdisciplinary exchange on individualisation

Individualisation is the topic addressed by researchers from the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences at the Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment (JICE). Every year in April, the JICE, which is supported by the Universities of Münster and Bielefeld, the collaborative research association InChangE and the SFB-TRR 212 jointly organise the interdisciplinary Individualisation Symposium at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) at Bielefeld University. The event focuses on interdisciplinary discourse on individualisation in changing environments as well as and on promoting the collaboration between the research associations. In an interview, the two JICE researchers, Angela Schwering, Professor for Geoinformatics at the University of Münster, and Meike Wittmann, Junior Professor for Theoretical Biology at Bielefeld University, talk about their recent experiences in the research association.

 Article by Bielefeld University [de]

How finch parents influence their chick’s gut microbiome

Genes or the environment: which has a stronger effect on the development of an individual? A study by behavioural ecologists suggests that the question needs to be asked differently: at what points in life do genes have a stronger influence on the individual, and when the environment? In the new episode of research_tv, they report their conclusions.

The study is part of the Bielefeld research on individualisation in changing environments. Bielefeld University is cooperating on this topic with the University of Münster – in the JICE, the collaborative research association InChangE funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Collaborative Research Centre NC³ (CRC/TRR 212) funded by the German Research Foundation DFG.

Episode of research_tv by Bielefeld University