The institute is dedicated to basic research on topics in behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology and neuroscience.
The institute has two locations: At the nature-oriented Seewiesen campus, in the municipality of Pöcking near Starnberg, field research is combined with modern methods of behavioral biology.
Here, laboratory experiments are combined with state-of-the-art methods such as optogenetics, connectomics or machine learning.
The brains and the associated behavior that we can observe today are the result of evolution due to the successful adaptation to previously mastered challenges.
A particular focus lays on animal behavior in its natural environment, as the adaptation of biological systems occurs in harmony with their surroundings.