Research
I began working at the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University in 1994, as a first-year biology student. My thesis and doctoral dissertation focused on social learning in dogs, and during my PhD I also investigated cognition in hand-reared dogs and wolves, as well as topics in ethorobotics.
From 2004, as a postdoctoral researcher supported by OTKA and the EU FP7 programme, my main interests shifted to canine personality and behavioural genetics. In 2016, with the support of an ERC Starting Grant, I launched the Senior Family Dog Project on cognitive ageing in dogs, followed in 2017 by the Canine Brain and Tissue Bank, which provides essential samples for molecular research.
In 2021, with an MTA Lendület (HAS Momentum) grant, I established the Companion Animal Research Group, focusing on the effects of dog ownership on both humans and animals. A year later, as co-leader of the ELTE–NAP Canine Brain Research Group, I began exploring the olfactory performance and neurobehavioural mechanisms of dogs and humans.
For more details about my current research groups, please visit the ELTE Department of Ethology website.