About us
Péter Pongrácz, PhD
Dr. Péter Pongrácz is the principal investigator behind this project.
Dr. Pongrácz is an associate professor at the Department of Ethology. Among his main research interests currently we can mention:
- Social cognition in dogs and cats
- The factors behind and associated to problematic behaviours (separation anxiety, aggression) in dogs
- Vocal communication of dogs
- Self-representation in dogs
Although Dr. Pongrácz joined to the Family Dog Project at the Department of Ethology in 1999, he also has a wider interest in animal behaviour. As a graduate student, he conducted research on fish larvae, to investigate their innate and learnt antipredator behaviour. Later, as a PhD candidate, he investigated the epigeny of discrimination between conspecifics and predators in rabbits. Since 2021, he serves as Editor in Chief at the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science.
Kata Vékony
I have a masters in biology and I am a PhD student at the Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University. I find the research of dogs’ social organization exciting from an ecological perspective, as these famously social animals had to adapt to a completely unique, anthropogenic environment. The development of dog-dog and dog-owner relationships is also exciting from a practical point of view as more and more of us are sharing our lives with multiple dogs – I share mine with two.
Fruzsina Prónik
My name is Fruzsina Prónik, I study biology at Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary. I’ve always been interested in dogs, their behaviour and everything about them. I find these animals wonderful and complex, that’s why I chose to study their behaviour for my thesis.
Viktória Szabó
I am Viktória Szabó, I study biology at Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary. We always had dogs in my family since I was a young child. Lately I’ve had the opportunity to study ecology and ethology, so now as a dog owner I look at things from a different perspective. I think it is important to understand both our dogs behaviour towards us and the interactions between them.