EHBEA 2026
Annual Conference of the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association
[AI]Volution
The upcoming conference of the European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association will take place in Leiden, The Netherlands, 14th-17th of April 2026.
EHBEA is committed to organising genuinely interdisciplinary conferences that bring together all researchers applying evolutionary theory to the behavioural sciences, including behavioural ecology, psychology (e.g., comparative, social, developmental), ethology (e.g., sociobiology, primatology), anthropology, cultural evolution, archaeology, sociology, linguistics, narratology, medicine, and more.
On top of the regular conference, the 2026 edition features the [AI]volution theme track. With Iyad Rahwan as our dedicated keynote speaker, talks session, panel discussion, and poster area, we aim to explore the meaning of developments in artificial intelligence for research in EHBEA domains. The facets that will be explored include, but are not limited to:
-
machine behaviour and cognition;
-
hybrid/augmented human behaviour, intelligence, and cultural evolution;
-
AI-driven modelling and research support;
-
ethics and societal impact of AI.
Besides that, as part of the [AI]volution theme track we host a hands-on workshop on Tuesday the 14th in the evening (and, in case of sufficient interest, once again on the 15th) on how Large Language Models (LLMs) can be responsibly used to analyse qualitative data.
We welcome empirical and theoretical submissions adhering to high standards of scientific rigour and ethics. Our Code of Conduct can be found on the EHBEA website.
Please see our call for abstracts for more details!
Leiden University,
The Netherlands
Timeline
November 1, 2025
January 9, 2026
January 15, 2026
February 1, 2026
February 20, 2026
April 1, 2026
April 14, 2026
April 14-17, 2026
Abstract Submission Open
Abstract Submission Deadline
(Contributions part of an accepted symposium can be submitted until 31 January, see our Call for Abstracts)
Registration Open
(For more information, see Abstract Submission & Registration)
Notification of Acceptance
Early Bird Registration Deadline
Late Registration Deadline
Cognition, Behaviour & Evolution Network (CBEN) Pre-Conference
EHBEA Conference
Plenary
SPEAKERS
Prof. Iyad Rahwan – [AI]volution Keynote
Prof. Iyad Rahwan is director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, where he founded and directs the Center for Humans & Machines. He is also an honorary professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Technical University of Berlin. Prior to moving to Berlin, he was an Associate Professor of Media Arts & Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A native of Aleppo, Syria, Rahwan holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne, Australia. Rahwan's work lies at the intersection of computer science and human behavior, with a focus on the impact of Artificial Intelligence and digital media on the way we think, learn, work, play, cooperate and govern. His work appeared in the world’s leading academic journals, including Science and Nature, and features regularly in major media outlets, including the New York Times, The Economist, and the Wall Street Journal. His artistic and scientific work was also featured in some of the world’s leading cultural institutions, such as Ars Electronica, Science Museum London and Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.
Talk: Machine Behavior & Culture The ability of humans to create and disseminate culture is often credited as the single most important factor of our success as a species. In this talk, I explore the notion of ‘machine culture’, culture mediated or generated by machines. Recommender algorithms are altering social learning dynamics. Chatbots are serving as role models and reshaping norms of communication and delegation. Furthermore, intelligent machines are generating new cultural traits—from game strategies and visual art to scientific results. I provide a conceptual framework for studying the present and anticipated future impact of machines on cultural evolution, and present a research agenda for the study of machine culture.
Prof. Cat Hobaiter
Prof. Cat Hobaiter is a Professor at the University of St Andrews and principal investigator of the Wild Minds Lab based in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews. Next to her position as Reader, she spends around half the year in the field, extending her 20 years of working with primates in Uganda and across Africa. She recently established new field sites in Uganda: the Bugoma Primate Conservation Project and in Guinea: the Moyen Bafing Chimpanzee Project. Hobaiter earned her PhD from the University of St Andrews in 2011. Her research focuses on the evolution of communication and social behaviour, especially through long-term field studies of wild chimpanzees and other apes. During her PhD, she conducted the first systematic study of gestural communication in a wild ape, working in the Budongo Forest Reserve in Uganda with the Sonso chimpanzee community. This research is extended across sites and species, not only covering apes, but also other species such as elephants. Like humans, apes do not gesture or vocalize in isolation – their communication combines calls, gestures, facial expressions, and body postures. To better understand their communication and cognition, she has integrated the study of all these separate modalities into the study of communication. Through this work, she not only hopes to advance the understanding of great ape communication but also, by looking at areas of overlap or species-specific traits, she hopes to gain an understanding of the evolutionary origins of language.
Talk: Storytelling apes: ape gesture and the evolution of human language Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. Three years ago, I was on a remote expedition with a small group of people with whom I had essentially no language in common. Over the weeks we built shelter, mapped the area, cooked, ate, and laughed together. We started to swap a few phrases, but most of our daily life was managed without language. A long list of human behaviours has been proposed as the reason we have language. But decades of research with other apes have shown us that they have rich systems of flexible, intentional, meaningful, communication, and also that apes and other species do not need language to learn from each other, to organise where and when to forage, to learn cultural knowledge about tools and songs, to co-ordinate hunting, or navigate social politics. It starts to look like human language didn't evolve for anything useful. But could we simply have been looking in the wrong place? One provocative suggestion is that fireside storytelling reshaped our social worlds. But what if language itself emerged in this context? I will review what we have learned about other apes’ rich systems of communication, and ask—at the end of the day—are we the storytelling ape?
Prof. Rogier Mars
Rogier is a Professor of Neurosciences at the University of Oxford and Principal Investigator at the Radboud University Nijmegen. His work focuses on the development and application of methods to compare brain organization across species. This work has enabled him and his group to study the evolution of the primate brain, showing how perceived human specialisations in social behavioral and language came about through modifications in the temporal and frontal cortex in apes and humans. More recently, they have extended their work to other mammals, including big-brained carnivores.
Talk: The human brain: A branch on the primate evolutionary tree Brains don’t fossilize, which makes it difficult to reconstruct their evolution. Recent advances in neuroimaging, however, now enable a systematic characterisation of brain organization across a broad diversity of extant species. By integrating these data with established phylogenetic relationships, we can begin to reconstruct the evolutionary changes in internal brain architecture that occurred along different lineages. In this talk, I will present some of our recent results delineating major patterns of variation in brain organization across the primate order and highlight the evolutionary processes that may have shaped them.
Prof. Anna Rotkirch
Prof. Anna Rotkirch is a Research Professor and Director of the Population Research Institute in Finland. Her research on family ties, fertility and population dynamics in Europe seeks to integrate evolutionary and demographic approaches. Rotkirch currently studies childbearing cues and the role of digitalisation for fertility decline. She is co-PI of “Social networks, fertility and wellbeing in ageing populations” with funding from the Strategic Research Council of Finland, and has also served as the governmental Rapporteur on demography in Finland.
Talk: Did smartphones accelerate fertility decline? Fertility has declined globally over the last decade, driven by later family formation and rising childlessness. This trend coincides with the proliferation of smartphones and social media. In this talk, I argue that digital media has altered reproductive cues, or environmental signals influencing mating and childbearing. The medium itself promotes time-consuming and parasocial interactions online, with exposure and network effects on reproductive competition. Content-wise, online cues can delay family formation (e.g., through perceived costs of motherhood) but also bolster fertility desires (e.g., through baby pictures and family portrayals). Antinatal effects are arguably strongest among childless and single individuals, contributing to — if not driving — the current changes in family formation.
Nicole Walasek, PhD. – Winner of the EHBEA NI Award!
Nicole Walasek is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She has a broad background in cognitive science, computer science, and psychology. In her research, she is interested in the evolution and development of sensitive periods – time periods during which experiences have a particularly large impact on development. She uses mathematical models to explore how different environmental conditions, such as environmental change, shape patterns of sensitive periods across development.
Talk: Modelling and testing the evolution and development of sensitive periods in changing environments An evolutionary enigma is why individuals are so sensitive to experiences at certain life stages. Most research focuses on these sensitive periods early in development. But, there is growing awareness that later stages, such as adolescence, have heightened sensitivity too. However, formal mathematical models or empirical tests on the evolution of these later-life sensitive periods are lacking—yet important for understanding human development and for predicting how animal populations will respond to rapid climate change or major adverse events (e.g., a global pandemic). My recent modeling shows that uncertainty arising from changing environmental conditions can select for sensitive periods later in life. In this talk, I will link these findings to existing empirical phenomena, and suggest ways forward for bridging theoretical and empirical research to advance our understanding of later sensitive periods.
VENUE DETAILS
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION & REGISTRATION
Abstract submission will begin 1st of November.
Registration is open until April 1st (early bird registration closing on February 20, 2026). One can register at the general EHBEA website.
Ticket prices are as follows:
-
130 GBP student*-early
-
225 GBP regular-early
-
165 GBP student*-late
-
290 GBP regular-late
*Students include PhD-students
Pre-conference:
CBEN Annual Meeting
On the 14th of April the Cognition, Behaviour, & Evolution Network of the Benelux (CBEN) will have their annual meeting. The programme (to be announced soon) features talks, posters, and discussions that are very interesting for members of the EHBEA community. It will take place in Leiden University's Pieter de la Court Building, right next to the Leiden Centraal train station and at 5 minutes by foot from the EHBEA venue, Het Pesthuis.
