At the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, we aim to create a global hotspot for the integrated study of collective behaviour across a wide range of species and across scales of organisation. As a collaboration between the University of Konstanz and the co-located Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, we harness substantial expertise in the local region to create a synergistic, interdisciplinary environment for the study of collective behaviour that will be unmatched by any institution around the world.
We aim to spearhead an integrated study of collective behaviour across a wide range of species, including humans. Our research is interdisciplinary in scope – combining biology, social psychology, behavioural economics, sociology, physics, and computer science – but united in a quantitative approach that involves extensive collection and sophisticated analysis of empirical data. It is built on new tools – including an Imaging Hangar for the design of virtual and reactive environments, and a space-borne animal tracking system (ICARUS) – enabling the study of collectives in unparalleled depth.