CV

CV

Prof. Enikő Kubinyi is head of the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. She joined the Family Dog Project in 1994 and later earned an MSc in biology, teaching, and video communication, a PhD in ethology, and a DSc in neurobiology. Supported by an ERC Starting Grant, she founded the Senior Family Dog Project and the Canine Brain and Tissue Bank. She currently leads the MTA-ELTE “Momentum” Companion Animal Research Group and co-leads the NAP Olfaction Research Group.

Her research focuses on dog social behaviour and cognition, wolf–dog comparisons, ethorobotics, collective motion, and human–animal interactions, using behavioural testing, EEG, fMRI, movement-tracking, microbiome, and genetic analyses. She has published over 130 peer-reviewed articles and teaches behavioural genetics, domestication, animal personality, and human ethology.

Prof. Kubinyi has received the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science, Junior Prima, and APA Frank A. Beach Awards. She is an alumna of the Young Academies of Europe and Hungary, and her work has been featured widely in international media (e.g., BBC Horizon/NOVA, Knowable, Animal Allies book, Forbes, Le Monde, The Times, Wired, ScienceAlert, The Telegraph, Impakter, Daily Mail, NBC, Newsweek, ScienceShot, Phys.org, The Guardian, Qubit and other popular science journals). She is married and has three children.

Keywords: animal behaviour, ethology, ethorobotics, comparative cognition, cognitive ageing, behaviour genetics, animal personality, tissue bank, welfare, dog, wolf

 

PERSONAL INFORMATION

  • Family name, First name: Kubinyi, Eniko
  • Affiliation: Department of Ethology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. sétány 1/c, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
  • Contact: eniko.kubinyi@ttk.elte.hu, +36 1 3812179
  • Date of birth: 01 Aug. 1976
  • Career breaks: 3 children (2004: twins and 2011; equaling to 4.5 years career break)
  • Nationality: Hungarian

RESEARCHER UNIQUE IDENTIFIERS

POSITIONS

  • Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Department of Ethology, Budapest
    • Head of Department (2024– )
    • Professor (2023– )
    • Senior Research Fellow / Lecturer / Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2004–2016)
  • Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA–ELTE Research Groups, Budapest)
    • Senior and Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2008–2016)
  • International and Other Positions
    • Research Assistant, University of Sussex, UK (2003)
    • Internship, Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Paris, FR (2001)
    • Manager, Ecofilm / Filmjungle Society (2003)

 QUALIFICATIONS

  • 2022 Habilitation, ELTE
  • 2021 Doctor of Sciences (DSc) in Biology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
  • 2004 PhD in Ethology: Interspecific social learning in dogs, ELTE (Supervisor: Vilmos Csányi)
  • 2003 Biology Teacher, ELTE
  • 2003 Video Communication and Scientific Editing, ELTE
  • 1999 Biologist, ELTE

FELLOWSHIPS & AWARDS

  • Major Awards
    • 2018 L’Oréal–UNESCO for Women in Science
    • 2009 Junior Prima Award for Science
    • 2004 Frank A. Beach Comparative Psychology Award (Journal of Comparative Psychology)
  • Other Recognitions
    • Juhász Nagy Pál Award (2022)
    • Pro Scientia Supervisor Certificate of Merit (2021)
    • ELTE Certificate of Merit (2021)
    • Bolyai János Certificates of Merit (2016, 2020)
    • Science Communication 1st Prize, ELTE ÚNKP (2019)
    • Recognition, Juhari Zsuzsanna Award for Popular Science Blogs (2016)
    • Top 50 Researchers of ELTE by Citations (2015; only 3 women on list)
    • IV. Youth Innovation and Science Competition (1995–2000)
  • Fellowships
    • Bolyai János Scholarship (2010–11, 2013–15, 2016–19)
    • Bolyai+ National Excellence Fellowship, Ministry of Human Resources (2018–19)
    • ERASMUS+ Teaching Mobility, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina (2018–19)
    • The Hungary Initiatives Foundation Travel Grant (2015)
    • Hungarian Research Fund & Ministry of Education Fellowships (2004–2008)
    • SALVE Foundation Scholarship (2006)
    • MÖB Eötvös Scholarship (2001)
    • Travel/Study Scholarships: Volkswagen Foundation, Pro Renovanda Cultura Hungariae, Hungarian Republic Scholarships

GRANTS (Selected as PI or Co-PI)

  • 2024–2026 MTA National Brain Program Collaboration Grant (14 M HUF, co-PI)
  • 2021–2026 MTA Lendület/Momentum (200 M HUF, PI)
  • 2021–2022 NKFIH Mecenatúra (14.5 M HUF, PI)
  • 2016–2021 ERC Starting Grant (1.2 M EUR, PI)
  • 2011–2016 Hungarian Research Fund (12 M HUF, PI)
  • 2005–2008 Hungarian Research Fund (16.8 M HUF, PI)
  • 2001 MÖB Eötvös Scholarship (1 M HUF, PI)
  • Additional smaller publication and travel grants available on request.

TEACHING ACTIVITIES

  • Current Courses (ELTE unless stated otherwise):
    • Human Ethology (MSc/PhD, since 2021)
    • Animal Personality (PhD, since 2016)
    • Behavioural Genetics (PhD, since 2016)
    • Evolution and Behaviour of Canines (BSc, since 2005, ~30% contribution)
    • Interdisciplinary Course on Human–Animal Interactions (guest lecturer, VetMedUni, since 2022)
  • Past Courses:
    • Ethology Practicum, Dog Behavioural Therapy (2011–2013)
    • Behavioural Plasticity, Cognitive Ethology, Integrative Methods in Ethology (2008–2015)
    • Human Ethology for Psychology Assistants (2007–2008)
  • Outreach Teaching:
    • Behaviour Genetics, Canine Ageing, Dogs’ Roles in Modern Societies (adult education, dog training schools)

SUPERVISION

  • Postdocs: 10 (HU, IT, UK)
  • PhD students: 10 (4 completed)
  • MSc students: 16 (14 completed, 8 prize-winning)
  • BSc students: 12 (8 completed)
  • International internship students: 27 (NL, NO, SE, FR, IT, MT, US, DE, PT, AR, CZ, TR)

ORGANISATION OF SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS

  • Chair, Advisory Board – Canine Science Forum (2018, ELTE, 200 participants)
  • Main Organizer – Family Dog Project Worldwide Free Seminar (2015–2016, 35,000 online followers)
  • Main Organizer – Annual Canine Behaviour Conference (2014–ongoing, 300 participants; 1,000+ online)
  • Local Organising Committee – Canine Science Forum (2008, ELTE)

INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Secretary, Neurobiology Committee, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (since 2023)
  • Principal Investigator & Group Leader, Senior Family Dog Project (since 2016)
  • Member, Ethology Doctoral Program Committee, ELTE (since 2016)

REVIEWING ACTIVITIES

  • Grant Reviewer: ERC, FWF, Hungarian Ethology Society, National Research Development and Innovation Office, FWO, HAS.
  • PhD Examiner: External Reviewer (5 theses), Internal Reviewer (2 theses), Committee Member (10 defences since 2008).
  • Guest Editor: Frontiers in Neuroscience, Biologia Futura.
  • Journal Reviewer: Animal Behavior, Animal Cognition, Animal Science Journal, Animals, Applied Animal Behavior Science, Behavioural Processes, Biology Letters, BMC Genetics, BMC Veterinary Research, Comparative Cognition and Behavior Reviews, Current Biology, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, GeroScience, Interaction Studies, Journal of Animal Science, Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Learning & Behavior, PLoS One, PNAS, Scientific Reports.

MEMBERSHIPS IN SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES

  • FENS CARE Committee on Animals in Research (2022–2024)
  • Founding Member, Young Academy of Hungary (2019–2023)
  • Member, Young Academy of Europe (2017–2023)
  • UFAW LINK Person (since 2017)
  • Member, Animal Behavior Society (2015–2017)
  • Member & Social Media Admin, Hungarian Ethology Society (since 1996)

MAJOR COLLABORATIONS

  • Current: Department of Biological Physics, Genetics and Microbiology, ELTE (HU); University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (AT); Charles University (CZ); North Carolina State University (US); Polish Academy of Sciences (PL); KTH Royal Institute of Technology (SE); National Institutes of Health, Bethesda (US).
  • Past (joint publications): Semmelweis University (HU); Faculty of Education and Psychology, ELTE (HU); Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, HAS (HU); Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Paris (FR); University of Iceland (IS); Kalamazoo College (US); KU Leuven (BE); Anthrozoology Education and Canines (AT); University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest (HU); Budapest University of Technology and Economics (HU); École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (FR); Catholic University College Ghent (BE); University of Pécs (HU); University of Texas (US); Columbia University (US); Princeton University (US); University of Washington (US); University of Kaposvár (HU); Stockholm University (SE).

INVITED PRESENTATIONS (Selected)

  • CASFIS, Kunming (CN, 2025); Canine Science Forum, Hamburg (DE, 2025); Young Academy of Europe (online, 2022); University of Liverpool (online, 2022); LUMOUS Seminar (online, 2022); Bilkent University (online, 2022); University of Life Sciences, Lublin (online, 2021); University of Bern (CH, 2018); Charles University, Prague (CZ, 2017); ERC “A Success Story for Europe” pre-conference workshop, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest (HU, 2017); Comparative Canine Behavior Symposium, Animal Behavior Society, University of Missouri (US, 2016); Canine Behaviour Genetics, London (UK, 2015); XXXI International Ethological Conference, Rennes (FR, 2009); 3rd European Conference on Behavioural Biology, Dijon (FR, 2008).

MEDIA & OUTREACH

  • Research featured in The Times, The New York Times, NBC News, Reuters, New Scientist, Daily Mail, Discovery News, The Australian, among others.
  • Published 500+ popular science articles since 1997.
  • Maintains science blogs, websites, and social media channels with ~36,000 followers.
  • Organizer of annual Canine Science Conference (200–300 participants, 40,000–250,000 online reach).

PUBLICATIONS

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