A Kuhl's pipistrelle in flight searching for insects during foraging
A Kuhl's pipistrelle in flight searching for insects during foraging © Jens Rydell

Bats use an acoustic cognitive map for navigation

Echolocating bats have been found to possess an acoustic cognitive map of their home range, enabling them to navigate over kilometer-scale distances using echolocation alone. This finding, recently published in Science, was demonstrated by researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, the Cluster of Excellence Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz, Tel Aviv University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

CASCB Seminar Series

A cornerstone of our centre’s programme is our weekly seminar series. We invite speakers locally and from around the globe to present a one-hour talk. See the programme of the CASCB Seminar Series Winter 2024-25.

Imaging Hangar

The Imaging Hangar is a core facility of the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour. This state-of-the-art motion capture area is designed for the study of swarms of insects, small birds and mammals, humans, and robotic collectives.

Our community

Our community is made up of researchers from several disciplines, such as biology, computer science, economics, psychology, maths, physics, and sociology, and from two institutions – the University of Konstanz and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior.

Image film

Collective behaviour is all around: At the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz we create a global hotspot for the integrated study of collective behaviour across a wide range of species and across scales of organization. With our CASCB movies we invite you to take a look at our research and dive into the swarm to learn more about us.

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Filamentous cyanobacteria form characteristic patterns

In unity towards complex structures

When active filaments are exposed to localized illumination, they accumulate into stable structures along the boundaries of the illuminated area. Based on this fact, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) and the University of Konstanz developed a model that can be used to simulate the self-organization of thread-like living matter. This model provides important insights for potential technical applications in the formation of structures.

A Kuhl's pipistrelle drinks water during its nightly foraging flights

Bats use an acoustic cognitive map for navigation

Echolocating bats have been found to possess an acoustic cognitive map of their home range, enabling them to navigate over kilometer-scale distances using echolocation alone. This finding, recently published in Science, was demonstrated by researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz Germany, Tel Aviv University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

“With a grain of salt”: How humans learn from others

When we make decisions, we are often guided by the opinions and experiences of those around us. Yet we actually have quite different preferences, tastes and goals. An international research team led by the Universities of Tübingen and Konstanz investigated how we learn from others despite individual differences. The scientists found that humans tend to treat social information as a recommendation – with some scepticism. They also use it to save themselves costly exploration. The results open up…

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