Education
1999-2002: BSc in Biology (University of Wroclaw, Poland)
2002-2004: MSc in Human Biology (University of Wroclaw, Poland)
2005-2006: MSc in Evolutionary Psychology (University of Liverpool, UK)
2009- present: PhD in Psychology (University of York, UK)
Research interests
My research has been mainly focused on the mechanisms involved in social bonding in chimpanzees. For my MSc thesis at Liverpool, for example, I investigated the pattern of mutual grooming in a captive group of chimpanzees and its implications for social bonding. My PhD project (supervised by Dr Katie Slocombe) focuses on call exchanges and their potential relevance to long-term and short-term social bonds among male chimpanzees at Kanyawara, Kibale National Park, Uganda. The hypothetical role of short-range contact calls in regulating grouping dynamics in chimpanzees, a species forming highly complex fission-fusion societies, is also one of the research topics I am currently exploring.
Publications
Fedurek, P. & Slocombe, K.E. (in review). Primate vocal communication: a useful tool for understanding human speech and language evolution? Human Biology
Fedurek, P. & Dunbar, R.I.M. (2009). What does mutual grooming tell us about why chimpanzees groom? Ethology, 115, 566-575
Roberts, S.G.B., Wilson, R., Fedurek, P., Dunbar, R.I.M. (2008). Individual differences and personal social network size and structure. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 954-964
Conference proceedings and talks
Social correlates of vocal exchanges among male chimpanzees. In ‘Language as social coordination: an evolutionary perspective’ conference. University of Warsaw, Poland, 16-18 September 2010
The aspect of grooming among male and female chimpanzees in the context of Zahavi’s Handicap Principle model regarding social signals. Polish Anthropological Society Meeting; Department of Anthropology, University of Wroclaw, Poland, 8th November 2006
Grants
BBSRC (2009-2012)
Contact: fedurek@hotmail.co.uk