Liesbeth Sterck appointed as Professor of Ecological Determinants of Behaviour
Professor Liesbeth Sterck was appointed as Professor of Ecological Determinants of Behaviour at the Faculty of Science on 1 April. Before that, she was an Associate Professor of Behavioural Biology.
Sterck is mainly known for her research with primates. Recently, she was a guest on the Dutch science show Labyrint, where she showed, with the help of an experiment, that chimps can be charitable. Her PhD research, which she conducted in the Behavioural Biology research group at the beginning of the nineties, was about the socio-ecology of wild macaques and langur monkeys. She conducted this research in the jungle in Aceh, Indonesia.
But Sterck has not always been a biologist. She first started as a student of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Utrecht University in 1978. Although she never left the university, she switched to Biology after obtaining her Bachelor’s degree. She obtained her PhD in 1995 and was appointed as Assistant Professor. Nine years later, she was promoted to the position of Associate Professor, a position which she held for eleven years.
Her expertise is not only used at the university. She is also Section Head of Ethology at the Biomedical Primate Research Center in Rijswijk. These two positions make her work leading in the area of research into the social behaviour of primates. She has cooperated with Frans de Waal and Carel van Schaik, among others, and she has received various grants, including a Vidi grant of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.
But Sterck has not always been a biologist. She first started as a student of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Utrecht University in 1978. Although she never left the university, she switched to Biology after obtaining her Bachelor’s degree. She obtained her PhD in 1995 and was appointed as Assistant Professor. Nine years later, she was promoted to the position of Associate Professor, a position which she held for eleven years.
Her expertise is not only used at the university. She is also Section Head of Ethology at the Biomedical Primate Research Center in Rijswijk. These two positions make her work leading in the area of research into the social behaviour of primates. She has cooperated with Frans de Waal and Carel van Schaik, among others, and she has received various grants, including a Vidi grant of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.