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A multi-scale perspective into collective problem solving in ants

Objective

Cognition improves an animal’s ability to tune its responses to environmental conditions. In group living animals, communication works to form a collective cognition that expands the group’s abilities beyond those of individuals. Despite much research, to date, there is little understanding of how collective cognition emerges within biological ensembles. A major obstacle towards such an understanding is the rarity of comprehensive multi-scale empirical data of these complex systems.

We have demonstrated cooperative load transport by ants to be an ideal system to study the emergence of cognition. Similar to other complex cognitive systems, the ants employ high levels of emergence to achieve efficient problem solving over a large range of scenarios. Unique to this system, is its extreme amenability to experimental measurement and manipulation where internal conflicts map to forces, abstract decision making is reflected in direction changes, and future planning manifested in pheromone trails. This allows for an unprecedentedly detailed, multi-scale empirical description of the moment-to-moment unfolding of sophisticated cognitive processes.

This proposal is aimed at materializing this potential to the full. We will examine the ants’ problem solving capabilities under a variety of environmental challenges. We will expose the underpinning rules on the different organizational scales, the flow of information between them, and their relative contributions to collective performance. This will allow for empirical comparisons between the ‘group’ and the ‘sum of its parts’ from which we will quantify the level of emergence in this system. Using the language of information, we will map the boundaries of this group’s collective cognition and relate them to the range of habitable environmental niches. Moreover, we will generalize these insights to formulate a new paradigm of emergence in biological groups opening new horizons in the study of cognitive processes in general.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2017-COG

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Host institution

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 000 000,00
Address
HERZL STREET 234
7610001 Rehovot
Israel

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 000 000,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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