Lars Chittka - Curriculum Vitae#

Lars Chittka, PhD, Dr habil, FLS, FRES, FRSB
Professor of Sensory and Behavioural Ecology
School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London

Profile

Lars Chittka is an internationally recognised authority on animal cognition and sensory ecology, best known for pioneering research on the minds of insects. His work bridges behavioural ecology, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind, exploring the evolution of perception, learning, and consciousness in miniature brains. Author of The Mind of a Bee (Princeton University Press, 2022, translated into 13 languages), Chittka has shaped global discourse on insect intelligence and welfare.

Academic Positions

• Professor, Queen Mary University of London (2005 - present)
  
• Scientific Director, Research Centre for Psychology, QMUL (2008 - 2012)
  
• Senior Lecturer & Reader, QMUL (2002 - 2005)
  
• Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, University of Würzburg (1997 - 2002)
  
• Postdoctoral Fellow, SUNY Stony Brook & FU Berlin (1994 - 1997)

Education

• Habilitation in Biology, University of Würzburg (2000)
  
• Ph.D. in Biology, Free University Berlin (1993)
  
• Diploma (MSc) in Biology, Free University Berlin (1991)

Honours & Awards (selection)

• Exemplar Award, Animal Behavior Society (2025)
  
• Founders’ Memorial Award, Entomological Society of America (2024)
  
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS – since 2022)
  
• Member, German National Academy of Science (Leopoldina - since 2021)
  
• Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2014)
  
• Over 30 named lectures worldwide

Research Contributions

Chittka has authored >300 peer-reviewed papers. His studies revealed complex learning, social transmission, and nociception in bees, challenging anthropocentric views of cognition. His work regularly appears in the finest multidisciplinary journals such as Science (9 publications), Nature (8 publications), Current Biology (25 papers), PLoS Biology (8 papers) and PNAS (4 papers).

Grants & Leadership

Principal Investigator/coordinator on major projects funded by ERC (Advanced Grant), EPSRC, Horizon Europe, NERC, Leverhulme Trust, and Open Philanthropy, totalling over €8.5 million. He has served on panels for ERC (including as a panel chair), MSCA, and multiple national science foundations, and held editorial roles for PLoS Biology (since 2004) and Proc Royal Soc Lond B (2010 - 2012).

Public Engagement & Media

Chittka’s work and life have been featured in Le Monde, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, Newsweek, and BBC Wildlife. Speaker at global science festivals and conferences, e.g. Oxford Literature Festival and BrainBar (Budapest, Hungary) and Copernicus Festival (Krakow, Poland). His research has inspired documentaries, podcasts, and art collaborations; for example, with his band Killer Bee Queens, he published an album with bee-themed lyrics (Strange Flowers; 2018). For his role as a bee scientist in O. Hanna’s film The Last Bee, Chittka received the Best Actor Award at the Amsterdam New Film Festival.