In October, we will start a new COST Action, entitled "An Evolutionary View to Understanding Affective States across Species" (AFFECT-EVO) (https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA23106/). COST Actions are grants that fund networking, meetings and some exchanges of PhD students across Europe and beyond. If you are at all interested in this topic, have a look at the website. There are 4 Working Groups:
- Advancing our fundamental understanding of affective states across species
- Societal impacts of understanding animals’ affective states
- Affective state assessment in the service of improved animal welfare
- Improving treatments of affective problems across species
If you want to get involved, please apply for membership of one of the working groups (https://e-services.cost.eu/action/CA23106/working-groups/apply). At this point in time, there is no limit on how many people and who applies for membership. In October, we will start accepting the applications in the system, and as long as you make a good argument for why you want to be part of this, you should be accepted. That then puts you on the list for staying informed of all the meetings and other events organized by the Action, and potentially to attend such events, paid for by the Action.
The Action will be led from Newcastle University, and already includes over 170 people from over 30 countries, and from disciplines as diverse as evolutionary biology, animal welfare science, psychology, philosophy and sociology. There is something for everyone.