Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture

Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig

phone: +49 (341) 3550 - 315
fax: +49 (341) 3550 - 333

Curriculum Vitae

Current Position

2018-present

Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology
Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology, and Culture
PhD Candidate: The co-evolution of human settlement and human culture,
Supervised by Richard McElreath, Anne Kandler, and Bret Beheim

Education

2016-2017	University of Amsterdam M.Sc., Urban and Regional Planning (Cum Laude) Courses: Planning methodologies, Climate proof development of cities and strategic planning, Contemporary approaches in property-led urban planning, Metropolitan transportation planning, Innovative international planning practices, Planning research: empirical research methods and techniques I-City Master studio: Team project presenter and winner of best team project Master Thesis: Clusters and Co-location: The Spatial Geography of Innovation in Amsterdam, study addressing the location of innovative enterprises in relation to population factors at the city level. Supervised by Dr. Bas Hissink Muller. Graded as a 9.5/10, the highest in the year and seldom awarded
2012-2016	University of St Andrews M.A., Psychology, I (First class honors) Main focus: Evolution and cultural evolution Dissertation: Chimpanzee Greeting Behaviour, study addressing the vocalisations and gesturers used by chimpanzees during greeting instances. Supervised by Dr. Catherine Hobaiter. Graded as a first class thesis. Awards: Dean’s list 2015/2016 (credit-weighted mean at first class for the academic year)
2010-2012	Spojena Skola Novohradska High School, IB Diploma Subjects: Biology HL, English Literature HL, History HL, Psychology, Mathematics, Slovak (37 out of 45 points achieved)

Research Experience

09/2017-03/2018	Research guest Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology, and Culture Exploring research pertaining to the relationship between human cultural evolution and urbanization
2016-2017	Independent research internship IN Architekti Working with urban architects to research the role of psychology in urban planning
2016	Poster ECBB 2016 Fedorova N., Hobaiter C., Matsuzawa T.: What a way to say hello: The form and function of greetings in Bossou Chimpanzees. Poster presented at ECBB 2016
2015-2017	Research project: Woodpecker cranial capacity and sociality Supervisor: Prof. Richard Byrne Awarded grant from School of Psychology and Neuroscience Internship Fund Fedorova N., Evans C.L., Byrne R.W., Are social woodpeckers bird-brains? Testing the Social Brain Hypothesis. Poster presented at ASAB winter conference 2016 Fedorova, N., Evans, C. L., & Byrne, R. W. (2017). Living in stable social groups is associated with reduced brain size in woodpeckers. Biology Letters, 13(3).
2015-2016	Research project: Perceptions of Bearded Faces Perception Lab, St Andrews Worked on the research methodology and data collection of a collaborative research project studying the effects of bearded stimuli on participant’s ratings of personal traits
2015	Workshop: “Mate Choice: A Fussy Affair ” Sexpression Scotland Conference 2015 Conducted a workshop on parental investment and evolutionary approaches to human mate choice
2014-2015	Research Assistant Perception Lab, St Andrews Carried out the stimuli preparation and data collection of several experiments
2014-2015	Research Assistant Edinburgh Zoo Assisted data collection on a study addressing selective imitation in 5-7 year olds