Mission
Founded in 1993, the European Federation for Primatology (EFP) brings together national primatological societies as well as groups of primatologists in those countries of Europe where societies could not yet be founded.
Our mission is
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to coordinate actions related to primatology between the different European societies including the circulation of information between the different national societies and groups in Europe.
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Folia Primatologica, published by Karger S.A., Basel, is the official publication of the Federation.
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meetings of the national societies, specialist groups and workshops, scientific activities, research and educational projects related to primatology.
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to promote national management of captive primates and to make studies on primates available to a maximum of students and researchers.
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to act as an official "group of interest" to be consulted by the European Commission on matters related to the norms regulating the use of NHP in laboratory research
Aims
The aims of all affiliated societies or groups are to encourage all areas of non-human primatological scientific research, to facilitate cooperation among scientists of all nationalities engaged in primate research, and to promote the conservation of all primate species. Protection of captive primates is one of the most important aims of the EFP, practically this means the improvement of the well-being of primates.
Therefore the EFP intends to promote the dialogue with all people involved in primatology and to promote studies providing scientific evidence on primate welfare issues.
The EFP will strive to promote the implementation of the "International Primatological Society Guidelines for the acquisition, care, and breeding of non-human primates".
The EFP endorses the IPS policies and guidelines on work with captive and wild primates (http://www.internationalprimatologicalsociety.org/policy.cfm).
The EFP considers its independence from private interests as necessary for its scientific expertise. Consequently, the EFP will not sponsor any activities related to private commercial interests.
However, the EFP provides the scientific experience for all people and organizations interested whenever non-human primates are affected.
Currently, 9 European countries are affiliated with the EFP: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The EFP connects people involved in non-human primate conservation, education, research in-situ and ex-situ, and zoo management. This accounts for more than 1100 scientists, students, and zoo managers.
More than 30 academic institutions are represented in the EFP through membership
Publications: Newsletter in Folia Primatologica
EFP Board
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President: Prof Jorg Massen: jorgmassen@gmail.com
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Secretary: Prof Augusto Vitale: vitale@iss.it
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Treasurer: Prof Simone Pika: spika@uos.de
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Communications Officer: Victoria Gehrke victoria.gehrke89@gmail.com
Prof Jorg Massen
About taking over the role as EFP president:
Together with me, Julia also saw to our last conference (Arnhem 2022), which has been a great success. After 2 years of online conferences only, people were clearly relieved that this was an in-person conference again. With almost 300 participants it was very well attended, the science was of exceptionally high standard, and the location and ambience were just perfect. Without patting myself on the back too much, I have to say the conference was one big success.
For me this presidency comes as a true honor. Since the start of my PhD I have always enjoyed the atmosphere of the primatological community, at the IPS, but especially so at the EFP. Obviously I also have a love for the primates themselves and I also very much appreciate the work the EFP has been doing to ensure the welfare of primates in Europe, and with much success I would say. Being able to attribute to these endeavors feels just great, and I am honored that I was asked to do this, especially at this relatively early point in my career.
My goals for this presidency are threefold: 1) I want to continue with the core responsibilities of this presidency; i.e. facilitate periodic international updates of the associated national societies, keep a short line with the EU with regard to primate welfare and, together with its organizers Thibaud Grüber & Erica van de Waal, making sure that the 2024 conference in Geneva will be a big success, that there will be a location and organization crew lined up for the 2026 conference, and that there will be enough funds to allow cheap participation for students. 2) I want to further modernize the federation, with a bigger online presence, but also by being a platform for international collaborations with regard to the science being done within our community. I truly believe that such collaborations will further our scientific understanding of primates, which will benefit their welfare in captivity and their wellbeing in the wild.
Additionally I aim to increase the federation, by stimulating European primatologist from countries that are not yet represented to set-up working groups or societies in their respective countries that will then be associated to the EFP. Since the bigger we will be, the more power we will have in politics related to the welfare of primates. Finally, 3) I want to look for additional opportunities to put the power of a large federation at work in favour of the welfare and conservation of the primates we hold so dearly. With these 3 goals in mind I do hope I will successfully hand over the presidency to yet another promising European primatologist. ''
Prof August Vitale
Prof Simone Pika
''I would like to start this statement with thanking my predecessor, Julia Ostner. Julia has served as a president for 2 terms, i.e. 4 years in total, and has done a great job. Not only did she see to the organization of two conferences, she also made sure the federation survived the impact of the Covid-crisis, with restricted interactions between the European societies. To that effect she has drastically modernized the federation, especially with regard to the use of modern techniques and social media as well as a completely new website.
Augusto Vitale holds a PhD in Behavioural Ecology from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland). He is a researcher in animal behaviour and animal welfare at the Center for Behavioural Studies and Mental Health at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome. He has been President of the Italian Association of Primatology. He collaborates with the EU Commission on the use of NHP in laboratory research. He evaluates projects involving the use of animal models (in particular NHP) on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Health. He has authored several publications and book chapters on ethology and ethics of research.
Simone is the head of the Comparative BioCognition research group at the Institute of Cognitive Science, Osnabrück University in Germany. She received the prestigious Sofja-Kovalevskaja award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/) and an EU-Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Her work centers on the evolution and development of communication and cognition by combining observational, experimental and machine learning methods with a special focus on closely related species (human and non-human great apes), and species living in comparable complex social settings (great apes, corvids, dolphins).
