OCTOFISH HiWi Position
A Hiwi position is available in Prof. Dr. Couzin's group.
The position involves annotating (and possibly processing) video data, which consists of underwater videos of octopus and fish groups hunting
together. The aim is having not only 3D reconstructions of the environment, but also kinematics of the
animals exploring said environment and quantifying meaningful social interactions and group
behavior 1,2. The project can be continued as a Bachelor's or Master's thesis (see below). Therefore, the
position can also entail co-authoring papers if the Hiwi contributes significantly.
Task: First, the Hiwi will segment animals in selections of frames as training data, and if capable, use
computer vision to train deep learning algorithms to identify and track different animals over the video
datasets. Afterwards, studies can be conducted to analyze different facets of these multispecies groups,
such as: signalling and communication, frequency-dependent physical properties of the group, game
theoretical modelling, the interplay between group and the 3D structure of the environment, etc.
Requirements: Interests in any of the following disciplines: biological or computational physics,
movement ecology, animal behaviour, mathematical biology, behavioural ecology, and computer vision.
A preliminary understanding of Python programming and computer vision, or modelling of 3D
kinematics, is beneficial (particularly if intending to pursue a thesis on the topic), but not mandatory.
When: The position starts in October for an initial period of 1 month with the possibility of extension.
Please reply ASAP.
Scope: 40 h/month Contact: esampaio@ab.mpg.de
1. Sampaio, E., Seco, M. C., Rosa, R. & Gingins, S. Octopuses punch fishes during collaborative interspecific
hunting events. Ecology 102, e03266 (2021).
2. E. Sampaio, VH Sridhar, FA Francisco, M Nagy, Ada Sacchi (previous Hiwi), A Strandburg-Peshkin, P
Nührenberg, R Rosa, ID Couzin†, Simon Gingins†. Multidimensional social influence drives leadership and
composition-dependent success in octopus-fish hunting groups. Nature Ecology & Evolution (in press)