THE TEAM
Prof. Dr. Ádám Miklósi, DSc
Full professor and the head of the Ethology Department at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. In 2016 he was elected as a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He is the co-founder and leader of the Family Dog Project, which aims to study human-dog interaction from an ethological perspective. In 2014 he published the 2nd edition of an academic volume entitled Dog Behaviour, Evolution, and Cognition by Oxford University Press.
Dr. Claudia Fugazza, PhD
I am a researcher at the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. My major fields of study are social learning, imitation, memory, and language learning and processing in dogs. During my PhD I developed a training method called Do as I Do (named after Hayes & Hayes 1952 and Topál et al. 2006) which relies on dogs’ social cognitive skills. This method is now used both as a paradigm for studying dogs’ cognitive abilities and for applied dog training purposes. My book “DO AS I DO- Using Social Learning to Train Dogs” has been translated into five languages. I have also produced a DVD on the topic: “Do as I Do. A new training method based on social learning”. In addition to my work as a researcher, I lecture to dog owners and trainers about dog cognition in seminars all around the world.
Shany Dror
I am a Ph.D. student at the Ethology Department at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. The Genius Dog Challenge is part of my Ph.D. research that focuses on understanding basic language-related concepts in family dogs and miniature pigs. My earliest childhood memories are of me observing animals in admiration. I grew up in a kibbutz in Israel, spending most of my time in the stables and completed my military service as a dog trainer for the Israeli police. Between the years 2015-2017, I represented Israel in a number of IPO world championships (FCI WM and WUSV WM) with my dog, Mitos. For me this project is a personal passion, fulfilling my childhood dream of trying to understand dogs. I hope that while following it you will share my admiration to our best friends.
Andrea Temesi
I am an assistant research fellow at the Ethology Department at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. I have a degree in biology from the University of Pécs, my PhD is in progress at the Department of Ethology. In my PhD research I was focusing on the effects of the positive-human animal interaction. I am currently working, among others, in the Genius Word Learning Dog Project that is an amazing research adventure. I have a miniature poodle, Monk, who is my persistent colleague and he is happy to participate in any behaviour research in which he can receive treats.
Andrea Sommese
I am a Ph.D. candidate at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Czech Republic, and a research assistant at the Ethology Department at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. My field of expertise is dog-human communication and I have experience with wolves, wolf-dogs (mostly) but also pet dogs. I started working in Budapest as an intern but then I managed to stay and work with our amazing Genius dogs’ team as the statistical and experimental helper. This project is always full of surprises and I have already learned a lot. Luckily, the more we know the more questions arise so the challenge continues and I am very thrilled about it!
This research is conducted at ELTE University under the Department of Ethology and the Family Dog Project
