The Interdisciplinary seminar series are online webinars held on the Applying Ethology webinar platform through a joint collaboration between LIFT sub-working group 1.7 Bridging Disciplines and Animal Welfare Slack Workspace (AWSW). The AWSW is a voluntary scientific community that initiates (and hosts) the Applying Ethology webinars to provide a free platform for early career scientists to present their research on animal welfare and behaviour, cultivate sharing of ideas, and engage in scientific discussions. The aim of this collaboration is to bring interdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies that could help to improve our understanding of positive animal welfare to this platform. In doing so, we hope to expand the existing network of animal behaviour and welfare scientists to a wider, interdisciplinary community and to foster new ideas and connections.
In 2025, we held 3 webinars as part of this series:
1. Epistemological work to rethink welfare – Dr. Anne-Lise Dauphiné-Morer (Learning Planet Institute) presented her work on an interdisciplinary epistemological framework she developed to study non-human intentions. This tool combines ethology, psychology, and epistemology to rethink how we study the subjective experiences of animals. Access the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RhVS3wOExk
2. Learning from others: Strategies to optimize cross-institute collaborations in farm animal welfare research – Dr. Drew Altschul (Newcastle University) and Dr. Bernhard Voelkl (Universität Bern) shared practical insights into the methodological and statistical strategies that can help optimise cross-institute collaborative research. Some common challenges and opportunities of cross-institute work were also discussed during the Q&A. Access the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKrAYwqKTBs
3. Gamification for Positive Animal Welfare: Engaging Farmers through Play – Dr. Bahadır Ödevci (Imona Technologies) presented how a digital application integrating challenges, rewards, storytelling, and feedback mechanisms can lead to a positive shift in attitudes toward animal welfare. The pilot study presented (conducted at United Arab Emirates University) is for an innovative method to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and everyday farming practices. Access the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhMX2KLK-Bw
We are looking for speakers!
We are now looking for speakers to present in 2026. This could be on the topics of animal welfare, animal behaviour, or interdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies that could inform (positive) animal welfare. We especially encourage Early Career Researchers and members of Inclusiveness Target Countries to participate as this is a great opportunity to share and discuss your work in a supportive environment.
