Prof. dr. Charlotte K. Hemelrijk
Contact info
Room: Linnaeusborg, 5172.0554
Phone: +31 (0)50 363 8084 (work) or +31 (0)50 5343671 (home)
Schedule: Mon-Fri 9:00 - 17:00 (at the Linnaeusborg or at home)
Email: c.k.hemelrijk@rug.nl
In case you are interested to work in our group, please contact Charlotte Hemelrijk.
Charlotte is among other things:
• chair of the Dutch Society of Theoretical Biology (NVTB)
• board-member of the Groningen Center for Social Complexity Studies (GCSCS)
• external board-member of the Ethologische Gesellschaft
• chair of the NWO-VICI committee for ALW
Research Field: Self-organization in social systems
We are interested in all aspects of self-organisation in social systems. In our models we try to produce complex phenomena by self-organisation as a side-effect of interactions of individuals with their environment. At present our focus is on social systems of primates, fish and birds.
In primates we investigate the emergence of dominance style (Hemelrijk & Wantia 2005, Wantia 2007), and of female dominance relative over males (Hemelrijk et al. 2008, see the interview in Adamsappel, aired on 10 April by RTV Noord). With PhD student Ivan Puga-Gonzalez we study the formation of coalitions and patterns of grooming, of the exchange of services, and of reconciliation and consolation (Puga-Gonzalez, Hildenbrandt & Hemelrijk, 2009, see the model GroofiWorld [download by right-clicking]).
We study the evolution of social systems with dr. Daniel van der Post (in cooperation with prof. dr. Rineke Verbrugge). Focussing on local information processing in structured environments (e.g., patchy distributions of food) we study how through self-organizing processes larger scale behavioural patterns such as sociality and culture are generated.
In bird flocks, we try (with the scientific programmer Hanno Hildenbrandt) to get a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the aerial displays by huge flocks of starlings before sleeping (Hildenbrandt et al., 2010; Hemelrijk & Hildenbrandt, 2011). We investigate the dynamics of the variations in density, of the shape and internal structure of flocks. Our model StarDisplay resembles the flocks of starlings in many ways (see 5000 birds in the model [download]). This appears from the measurements we have taken, e.g. of the shape of flocks by means of a tight bounding box (bounding box [download]). We have adapted parameters of the model to data collected from the enormous flocks and aerial displays of starlings in Rome. In the context of our participation in the project StarFlag of the 6th European framework, these data have been made available to us by dr. Claudio Carere and dr. Andrea Cavagna from the University of Rome.
In the project FireSwarm (in cooperation with Delft University of Technology and several companies, among others Almende) we aim to make flying robots flock together. FireSwarm aims at detecting and tracing the spread of fire through groups of flying robots equipped with cameras (UAVs).
As regards fish schools we study in models the shape and density of schools both those which are free-roaming (Hemelrijk & Hildenbrandt 2007) and those which are moving in a tank (free-roaming school [download] and school in a tank [download]). This leads to predictions which we test in real schools of fish in aquaria (in cooperation with prof. dr. Eize Stamhuis of Ocean Ecosystems in Groningen; Hemelrijk et al., 2010). The species we study are mullets and silversides.
Furthermore, we study hydrodynamics of schooling in models (with Daan Reid and dr. Johan Padding from Computational physics, Eindhoven University of Technology). In the model, the hydrodynamics emerge from the collisions among roughly 30 million water particles (Reid et al., 2009). As in reality the hydrodynamics in the model lead to vortices behind the fish in the shape of a reverse von Karman street. Vortices from mullets differ from those of eel as is made visible in the following movies of our model related to a mullet [download] and an eel [download].
Further, we design computer models of the emergence of personality among genetically identical individuals. Their personality develops through their personal experiences of habituation to the predator, of social facilitation by others and of competition with group mates. We study how this development is influenced by the composition of personalities in the group (Oosten et al., 2010). These models are in particular focussing on fish and are carried out in cooperation with prof. Ton Groothuis of Animal Behaviour in Groningen.
With Elske van der Vaart we design models of the cognitive mechanisms of corvids during caching when alone and when observed by conspecifics (in cooperation with prof. dr. Rineke Verbrugge of Artificial Intelligence in Groningen; Van der Vaart et al., 2012).
Many issues of self-organisation are discussed in the class on self-organization of biological phenomena. If you are interested in doing a colloquium, literature study, bachelor or master thesis, you are welcome to contact Charlotte Hemelrijk.
MatrixTester
Social interaction matrices are often analysed with the help of matrix-statistics, such as the TauKr test (Hemelrijk, 1990a; Hemelrijk, 1990b). The program for such analyses, MatrixTester, can be downloaded here [manual]. For questions regarding matrix statistics for social interaction matrices or the program MatrixTester, contact Charlotte Hemelrijk.
Recent interviews on bird flocks
De Wereld Leert Door, Labyrint-TV, NOS, OOG-TV, YouTube, TROS, ScienceDaily
In case you are interested to work in our group, please contact Charlotte Hemelrijk.
Selected references
Hemelrijk C.K. & Hildenbrandt H. (2012): Schools of fish and flocks of birds: their shape and internal structure by self-organization. Interface Focus 2, 726–737. pdf
Hemelrijk C.K. & Puga-Gonzalez I. (2012): An individual-oriented model on the emergence of support in fights, its reciprocation and exchange. PLoS ONE 7, e37271. pdf, supplementary info pdf
Kunz H. & Hemelrijk C.K. (2012): Simulations of the social organization of large schools of fish whose perception is obstructed. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 138, 142-151. pdf
Reid D.A.P., Hildenbrandt H., Padding J.T. & Hemelrijk C.K. (2012): Fluid dynamics of moving fish in a two-dimensional multiparticle collision dynamics model. Physical Review E 85, 021901. pdf
Van der Vaart E., Verbrugge R. & Hemelrijk C.K. (2012): Corvid re-caching without ‘Theory of Mind’: A model. Plos ONE 7, e32904, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032904. pdf Discussed in NewsFocus, Science 335, 1036-1037, doi:10.1126/science.335.6072.1036
Hemelrijk C.K. & Bolhuis J.J. (2011): A minimalist approach to comparative psychology. Trends Cogn. Sci. 15, 185-186. pdf
Hemelrijk C.K. & Hildenbrandt H. (2011): Some causes of the variable shape of flocks of birds. PLoS ONE 6, e22479, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022479. pdf
Hemelrijk C.K., Hildenbrandt H., Reinders J. & Stamhuis E.J. (2010): Emergence of oblong school shape: Models and empirical data of fish. Ethology 116, 1099–1112. pdf
Hildenbrandt H., Carere C. & Hemelrijk C.K. (2010): Self-organized aerial displays of thousands of starlings: a model. Behav. Ecol. 21, 1349-1359. pdf
Puga-Gonzalez I., Hildenbrandt H. & Hemelrijk C.K. (2009): Emergent patterns of social affiliation in primates, a model. PLoS Comput. Biol. 5, e1000630, doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000630 pdf
Hemelrijk C.K. & Hildenbrandt H. (2008): Self-organised shape and frontal density of fish schools. Ethology 114, 245-254. pdf
Hemelrijk C.K., Wantia J. & Isler K. (2008): Female dominance over males in primates: Self-organisation and sexual dimorphism. PLoS One 3, e2678. pdf
C.K. Hemelrijk (1990a): A matrix partial correlation test used in investigations of reciprocity and other social interaction patterns at a group level. J. Theor. Biol. 143, 405-420.
C.K. Hemelrijk (1990b): Models of, and tests for, reciprocity, unidirectionality and other social interaction patterns at a group level. Anim. Behav. 39, 1013-1029.
Publications
Inaugural Lecture - Oratio (June 2010): Slim of niet? - Cognitie of zelforganisatie (pdf)
Present and past PhD students
From July 2008, promotor of Ivan Puga-Gonzalez: Self-organisation of social behaviour in primates.
Supervisor and 1st promotor of Van der Vaart E.E (2013): A cognitive model of caching by corvids. PhD thesis, University of Groningen (with prof dr R. Verbrugge 2nd promotor; NWO Top Talent grant).
Supervisor and promotor of Kunz H. (2011): Implications of embodiment and situatedness on the structure and dynamics of simulated schools of fish. PhD thesis, University of Zurich, Switserland. pdf
Supervisor and promotor of Reid D.A.P. (2011): Modelling the hydrodynamics of swimming fish, from individuals to infinite schools. PhD thesis, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. pdf
Co-supervisor and promotor of Becher M. (2010): The influence of developmental temperatures on division of labour in honeybee colonies. PhD thesis, University of Halle, Germany. pdf
Supervisor and promotor of Wantia J. (2007): Self-organised dominance relationships: a model and data of primates. PhD thesis, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. pdf
Symposia & Workshops
Symposium "Cognition, Caching & Computational Models" (2013)
| Last modified: | April 02, 2013 16:11 |