We are delighted to announce the launch of the Max Planck–University of Cape Town Centre for Behaviour and Coevolution, a collaborative venture of the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology and the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence (MPIBI). This centre is the first in Africa and only the second in the Global South. The centre will be jointly led by Co-Directors Claire Spottiswoode (FitzPatrick Institute) and Bart Kempenaers (MPIBI).
The centre officially opened with a ceremony and scientific workshop at the MPIBI at Seewiesen, in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps in Germany, in mid-June. A cohort of researchers, many of whom study brood parasites and their hosts in Africa, travelled for the opening and had the opportunity to meet and further plan collaborations with our new partners. The centre’s research focus will be the ecology, evolution, and conservation of species interactions, mainly in Africa. It will strengthen our existing research partnerships in Zambia and Mozambique, as well as forge new ones. It will also support the development of young, emerging biologists in Africa and encourage scientific collaboration within Africa and between Africa and Europe.
