Dr Małgorzata Pilot, Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences became the first laureate of the international CEUS-UNISONO competition for two- or three-way research projects for researchers of Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Poland. It was carried out on the basis of the Lead Agency Procedure as part of the CEUS multilateral program.

Dr Pilot will receive almost PLN 1.2 million for the implementation of the project “Testing the domestication Syndrome hypothesis in free-living dogs”. The research will be conducted in collaboration with Sarah Marshall of the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology in Vienna.

The cooperation of Polish and Austrian researchers will allow to check the relationship between genetic variability and behavioral and morphological features of free-living dogs. Project outcomes will improve understanding of the genetic mechanisms of mammalian evolution.