News and Events
Condolence Note – Passing of Professor Luís Soczka
March 3, 2025
Professor Luís Soczka passed away last Friday, February 28. A prominent figure in Psychology and Ethology in Portugal, he was dedicated to research and teaching, leaving behind a significant legacy.
He studied Evolutionary Biology and Ethology at the Universities of Louvain and Strasbourg and earned his PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 1984 from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar at the University of Porto. His academic career spanned several higher education and research institutions, including the Gulbenkian Institute of Science (Oeiras), the Higher School of Advanced Studies at ISMT (Coimbra), and Ispa (Lisbon). He was a pioneer in teaching Ethology in Portugal, introducing the discipline at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon.
He played a key role in the Portuguese Association of Psychology and was instrumental in founding the journals Psicologia and Análise Psicológica. His work, recognized with three research awards, had a lasting impact on fields such as Social Ethology and Environmental Psychology. Among his most notable publications are the books Ensaios de Etologia Social and A Companhia dos Lobos, along with numerous scientific articles.
The Portuguese Society of Ethology pays tribute to Professor Luís Soczka, whose influence will endure for future generations.
XXI SPE Congress - Thank you!
Thank you for a memorable Congress!
As we reflect on the highlights of this year’s Congress of the Portuguese Ethological Society, we once again congratulate the recipients of the Vítor Almada Award for Best Oral Presentation!
Winner of the Vítor Almada Award: Maeva Pinget (GIMM)
Honorable Mention: Noelia Rodríguez López (imedea)
This award celebrate the legacy of Vítor Almada, a pioneer in Portuguese ethology, and honor the next generation of researchers who are advancing the field with their innovative work.
Thank you to all participants for your inspiring contributions, and let’s continue to build on this incredible legacy together!
21th Congress of the Portuguese Ethological Society
The 21th Congress of the Portuguese Ethological Society took place on 5 and 6 December 2024 in Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) in Lisbon, and on the 7 December workshops in Guia!
This edition included national and international invited plenary talks, workshops, oral communications and poster sessions, awards and social events. More information here!
20th Congress of the Portuguese Ethological Society
The 20th Congress of the Portuguese Ethological Society took place on 7, 8 and 9 December, 2023 in Vila do Conde, Portugal, in partnership with Associação BIOPOLIS - CIBIO.
This edition included national and international invited plenary talks, workshops, oral communications and poster sessions, awards and social events. More information in the congress website here.
Awards
This year, Pol Sorigue earned the prestigious Vitor Almada Award for his captivating presentation, "Molecular evolution of the genes involved in social behavior across Lake Tanganyika's cichlids adaptive radiation!"
Additionally, SPRINGER acknowledged excellence this year awarding Amalia de la Torre Herrera with the top prize for the best poster, featuring "Automated Monitoring of Pair Bonds in a Gregarious Bird," and recognizing Beatriz Palinhos Pereira's compelling talk on "Disruption of cleaner wrasse cognition and brain morphology under marine heatwaves" as the second-best student oral presentation.
Spicing up the conference, we partnered with AIMM to introduce an interactive bingo game during oral presentations this year. The participants Francisco Louro and Nádia Jesus, each snagged an AIMM sweatshirt, and Iolanda Silva walked away with a SPE t-shirt.
9th European Student Conference on Behaviour and Cognition
The 9th European Student Conference on Behavior and Cognition 2023 took place in Lisbon! This year, the Portuguese Society of Ethology sponsored travel grants. More information at escbc.org.
