Project description
How emotional are your pets?
Can your dog think and feel? Does your cat plan ahead? Does a bear have consciousness? Do elephants show empathy? These are the questions many researchers are asking. The EU-funded ASENT project will search for answers. The project will construct a methodology for the science of animal sentience – an animal’s subjective experience of the world and of its body. Specifically, ASENT will develop a conceptual framework for understanding how sentience varies across the animal kingdom. It will also design a scheme of proposed experimental tests for constructing a sentience profile according to species type. The project will also assess the dimensions of sentience (in terms of relevance to animal welfare and the ethical status of animals).
Field of science
- /natural sciences/biological sciences/evolutionary biology
- /natural sciences/biological sciences/neurobiology
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
ERC-2019-STG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
ERC-STG - Starting GrantHost institution
WC2A 2AE London
United Kingdom
Beneficiaries (3)
WC2A 2AE London
TW20 0EX Egham
E1 4NS London