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ETTORE MAJORANA FOUNDATION
AND CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC CULTURE ets

  • Homepage
  • The Foundation
    • The History
    • Professor Antonino Zichichi
    • The Erice Statement
    • Location And Structures
    • Alberto Gabriele Seismic Network
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    • 57th Session
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    • 55th Session
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Menu
  • Homepage
  • The Foundation
    • The History
    • Professor Antonino Zichichi
    • The Erice Statement
    • Location And Structures
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INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF ETHOLOGY «DANILO MAINARDI»

Founded in 1975

1st Director: Dánilo Mainardi | now Paola Palanza and Stefano Parmigiani

In Italy, research into animal behaviour is carried out along three lines: the study of social behaviour (University of Parma), the study of orientation (Universities of Florence and Pisa) and the study of the genetics of behaviour (Laboratory of Psychobiology of the CNR, Rome). Only biologists and naturalists from the four institutes mentioned turn to these research groups for teaching and scientific training. However, the results of ethological research, providing very useful background information, could find a place in the training of psychologists, sociologists, linguists, glottologists, and other communication scholars, cyberneticians, psychiatrists, urban planners and architects and philosophers. In the conviction that knowledge of behavioural biology is fundamental to this wide range of subjects, the aim of a school with a national character would be precisely to help introduce the subject of ethology above all to postgraduate students of the above-mentioned disciplines. In addition, the interdisciplinary character of the school should provide a starting point for a broadening of the subject and for the development of new ethologists oriented towards different areas of research. Ethology differs from other approaches to the study of behaviour in that it attempts to combine functional and causal explanations. Behaviour can be explained in terms of hypotheses that aim to demonstrate how natural selection has acted in the past as a design agent in shaping the evolution of behaviour. Such explanations account for behaviour in terms of function. The alternative form of explanation concerns how proximate causal mechanisms combine to control animal behaviour. Traditionally, ethologists have tried to combine observations on the form of behaviour and hypotheses about its causes with speculations and experiments on the function of behaviour. The International School of Ethology organises various types of meetings in the main fields of the study of animal behaviour and related areas, such as behavioural ecology, conservation biology, ethology and biomedical research, socio-biology, applied ethology, animal and comparative cognitive psychology.

Courses

58th Course:
Epigenetics: From molecules to behaviour
Directors: P. PALANZA – S. PARMIGIANI – D. PONZI – M. TOGNON
6 – 10 October 2025

59th Course:
Understanding and treating Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): Ethology, evolution and early development
Directors: M. BRUNE – C. COLOMBI – P. PALANZA – S. PARMIGIANI
13 – 17 November 2025

Past courses

2024

57th Course:
Recentering neuroscience on behavior: The key role of ethology for understanding the brain
Directors: I. BRANCHI – F. CIRULLI
9 – 14 November 2024

56th Course:
Beyond words: Ethology of nonverbal interactions in therapeutic setting and psychiatric disorder
Directors: M. BRUNE – P. PALANZA – S. PARMIGIANI – M. TONNA
19 – 23 October 2024

55th Course:
Towards a new science of mental disorders: Bridging evolution and genetics
Directors: M. DEL GIUDICE – A.D. HUNT
1 – 5 July 2024

54th Course:
Sexual selection in a changing world
Directors: A. PILASTRO – G. ROSENTHAL – T. SZEKELY
17 – 21 May 2024

2023

53rd Course:
Urban mammals
Directors: M. APOLLONIO – S. BERTOLINO  – F. FERRETTI – A. MARTINOLI – N. MUCCINO – M. SCANDURA
20 – 24 November 2023

52nd Course:
The atletic Ape: Merging human evolutionary biology with sport science
Directors: D. LONGMAN – D. PONZI  – S. PARMIGIANI
17 – 21 October 2023

51st Course:
Play and the evolution of creative societies
Directors: G. BURGHARDT – E. PALAGI  – S. PELLIS – J. SCHANK
14 – 18 May 2023

50th Course:
Ethology: Past, present and future

Directors: C. AGRILLO – P. PALANZA  – S. PARMIGIANI
3 – 6 May 2023

2022

49th Course:
Mens sana in corpore sano: Psychobiological effects of physical activity

Directors: D. CAPOROSSI – C.-C. COSTANTINO – G.H. KHUN – S. PARMIGIANI – D. PONZI – A. SALE
1 – 4 May 2022

48th Course:
Darwin in medicine: Why evolution is relevant for research and medical practice

Directors: M. BRUNE – P. PALANZA – S. PARMIGIANI
19 – 23 April 2022

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF ETHOLOGY «DANILO MAINARDI»

Founded in 1975

1st Director: Dánilo Mainardi | now Paola Palanza and Stefano Parmigiani

In Italy, research into animal behaviour is carried out along three lines: the study of social behaviour (University of Parma), the study of orientation (Universities of Florence and Pisa) and the study of the genetics of behaviour (Laboratory of Psychobiology of the CNR, Rome). Only biologists and naturalists from the four institutes mentioned turn to these research groups for teaching and scientific training. However, the results of ethological research, providing very useful background information, could find a place in the training of psychologists, sociologists, linguists, glottologists, and other communication scholars, cyberneticians, psychiatrists, urban planners and architects and philosophers. In the conviction that knowledge of behavioural biology is fundamental to this wide range of subjects, the aim of a school with a national character would be precisely to help introduce the subject of ethology above all to postgraduate students of the above-mentioned disciplines. In addition, the interdisciplinary character of the school should provide a starting point for a broadening of the subject and for the development of new ethologists oriented towards different areas of research. Ethology differs from other approaches to the study of behaviour in that it attempts to combine functional and causal explanations. Behaviour can be explained in terms of hypotheses that aim to demonstrate how natural selection has acted in the past as a design agent in shaping the evolution of behaviour. Such explanations account for behaviour in terms of function. The alternative form of explanation concerns how proximate causal mechanisms combine to control animal behaviour. Traditionally, ethologists have tried to combine observations on the form of behaviour and hypotheses about its causes with speculations and experiments on the function of behaviour. The International School of Ethology organises various types of meetings in the main fields of the study of animal behaviour and related areas, such as behavioural ecology, conservation biology, ethology and biomedical research, socio-biology, applied ethology, animal and comparative cognitive psychology.

Courses

58th Course:
Epigenetics: From molecules to behaviour
Directors: P. PALANZA – S. PARMIGIANI – D. PONZI – M. TOGNON
6 – 10 October 2025

59th Course:
Understanding and treating Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): Ethology, evolution and early development
Directors: M. BRUNE – C. COLOMBI – P. PALANZA – S. PARMIGIANI
13 – 17 November 2025

Past Courses

2024

57th Course:
Recentering neuroscience on behavior: The key role of ethology for understanding the brain
Directors: I. BRANCHI – F. CIRULLI
9 – 14 November 2024

56th Course:
Beyond words: Ethology of nonverbal interactions in therapeutic setting and psychiatric disorder
Directors: M. BRUNE – P. PALANZA – S. PARMIGIANI – M. TONNA
19 – 23 October 2024

55th Course:
Towards a new science of mental disorders: Bridging evolution and genetics
Directors: M. DEL GIUDICE – A.D. HUNT
1 – 5 July 2024

54th Course:
Sexual selection in a changing world
Directors: A. PILASTRO – G. ROSENTHAL – T. SZEKELY
17 – 21 May 2024

2023

53rd Course:
Urban mammals
Directors: M. APOLLONIO – S. BERTOLINO  – F. FERRETTI – A. MARTINOLI – N. MUCCINO – M. SCANDURA
20 – 24 November 2023

52nd Course:
The atletic Ape: Merging human evolutionary biology with sport science
Directors: D. LONGMAN – D. PONZI  – S. PARMIGIANI
17 – 21 October 2023

51st Course:
Play and the evolution of creative societies
Directors: G. BURGHARDT – E. PALAGI  – S. PELLIS – J. SCHANK
14 – 18 May 2023

50th Course:
Ethology: Past, present and future

Directors: C. AGRILLO – P. PALANZA  – S. PARMIGIANI
3 – 6 May 2023

2022

49th Course:
Mens sana in corpore sano: Psychobiological effects of physical activity

Directors: D. CAPOROSSI – C.-C. COSTANTINO – G.H. KHUN – S. PARMIGIANI – D. PONZI – A. SALE
1 – 4 May 2022

48th Course:
Darwin in medicine: Why evolution is relevant for research and medical practice

Directors: M. BRUNE – P. PALANZA – S. PARMIGIANI
19 – 23 April 2022

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