The Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology (german: Konrad-Lorenz-Institut für Vergleichende Verhaltensforschung or KLIVV) is a research institute in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria, dedicated to studying behavioral biology and the links between animal behaviour and conservation. Founded by the animal photographer Otto Koenig and his wife, the illustrator Lilli Koenig as “Biologische Station Wilhelminenberg” (Biological Station Wilhelminenberg) in 1945, it was later named after the Nobel laureate

Konrad Lorenz Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch. He is often regarded ...

and incorporated into the

University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna The University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (German: ''Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien'' - in short: VUW) was founded in 1767 as the world's third school for veterinary medicine (after Lyon and Alfort) by Milan's Ludovico Scotti, origin ...

in 2011.

History and organisation

The “Biologische Station Wilheminenberg” was founded by the biologist couple Otto and Lilli Koenig in response to the ground-breaking research in the field of comparative ethology, including the work by Konrad Lorenz. The research institute was established in abandoned army barracks in the outskirts of Vienna’s 16th district

Ottakring Ottakring () is the 16th District in the city of Vienna, Austria (german: 16. Bezirk, Ottakring). It is located west of the central districts, north of Penzing and south of Hernals. Ottakring has some heavily populated urban areas with many resid ...

at the onset of the

Vienna Woods The Vienna Woods (german: Wienerwald) are forested highlands that form the northeastern foothills of the Northern Limestone Alps in the states of Lower Austria and Vienna. The and range of hills is heavily wooded and a popular recreation area w ...

, and endowed with substantial space and facilities supported by private means. The facility developed and was re-structured into the Institute of Ethology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 1967. Otto Koenig, who became a public figure through his role as a presenter of nature documentaries, remained director also after this re-structuring until his retirement in 1984. He was succeeded by the ornithologist Hans Winkler. When Konrad Lorenz died in 1989, the institute was renamed after him. Under the leadership of Hans Winkler, the Konrad Lorenz Institute was gradually modernised and both laboratories and staff were extended. This resulted in substantial refurbishments between 1985 and 2002, when Dustin J. Penn succeeded Winkler as director. In 2011, the Konrad Lorenz Institute joined the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna and with the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology formed a new Department. Both research institutes combined now provide a facility for approximately 80 scientists. Director of the Konrad Lorenz Institute is now Leonida Fusani. Since spring 2015, the Konrad Lorenz Institute is also the headquarter of the Austrian Ornithological Centre (AOC).

Research

The scientific work at the Konrad Lorenz Institute traditionally focusses on ethology and evolutionary aspects of animal behaviour, in particular related to

sexual selection Sexual selection is a mode of natural selection in which members of one biological sex mate choice, choose mates of the other sex to mating, mate with (intersexual selection), and compete with members of the same sex for access to members of t ...

and

sexual conflict Sexual conflict or sexual antagonism occurs when the two sexes have conflicting optimal fitness strategies concerning reproduction, particularly over the mode and frequency of mating, potentially leading to an evolutionary arms race between male ...

s. The restructuring of 2011 broadened the research objectives to include physiological and ecological aspects of wild animals in interaction with their environment.

Other

Konrad Lorenz Forschungsstelle The Konrad Lorenz Forschungsstelle (KLF) is a research facility in Grünau im Almtal (Upper Austria), maintained jointly by private and public entities. The KFL is dedicated mainly to behavioral biology of birds and named after the Nobel laureate Ko ...

Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research The Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI) is an international center for advanced studies in the life and sustainability sciences. It is a "Home to Theory that Matters" that supports the articulation, analysis, and int ...

References

External links

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Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology (official website EN)
{{authority control Medical research institutes in Austria Konrad Lorenz