Research in this group explores the evolution of cooperation in nature. In particular, we ask what mechanisms can maintain cooperation in interactions where partners may otherwise be tempted to exploit one another. In parallel, we investigate the ecological causes and evolutionary consequences of individual variation in social behaviour.
We work on a variety of model species, and use real-world and lab-based methods to tackle these questions.
We are striving to be an open science lab. We publish in open-access journals, we pre-register our experiments when we can, and we routinely post the materials, data and code to reproduce analyses online.
If you’re keen to come and work with us in the Social Evolution and Behaviour Lab at UCL, please get in touch.
Principal investigator
Nichola Raihani is PI of the Social Evolution and Behaviour Lab. She is Professor in Evolution and Behaviour, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.
UK academics: If you homeschooled kids during the pandemic, are you putting it on CV in the 'career break' section & how long of a disruption are you putting it as? I think primary schools closed for 6 months (?) but the disruption was obviously longer as no holiday clubs etc
— Prof Nichola Raihani (@nicholaraihani) May 11, 2021
I’ve twice been asked when I learned to speak English because I seem very fluent.
— Prof Nichola Raihani (@nicholaraihani) May 10, 2021
English is my first language. https://t.co/NHhlCPHjeW
Ever wondered why some species live longer than others? This is a fascinating deep dive into a topic I also cover in my book: how evolution shapes the lifespan. https://t.co/kah6ZLvACa
— Prof Nichola Raihani (@nicholaraihani) May 10, 2021
Nichola Raihani awarded Philip Leverhulme Prize for Psychology
New paper shows that social threat causes paranoid thinking
Nichola Raihani elected to Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology