About
Mathias Osvath is a Professor in Cognitive Zoology at Lund University's Department of Philosophy. He leads research on cognitive evolution across species, focusing on animals like corvids, great apes, crocodilians, and extinct dinosaurs. His work bridges cognitive science and evolutionary biology, exploring how cognition develops biologically. He directs the Lund University Corvid Cognition Station and supervises doctoral students. Osvath is a member of the Swedish Young Academy and served as Deputy Head of the Department of Philosophy (2015-2018).
Research Interests: His research compares cognitive functions across species to understand evolutionary principles. Key areas include dinosaur cognition via living relatives, tool use, and social cognition in animals. He also investigates philosophical aspects of animal consciousness.
Teaching: Teaches courses such as KOGP13: Animal Cognition from an Evolutionary Perspective. Current teaching in autumn 2025 includes this course.
Grants & Projects: Leads projects like 'The Evolution of Minds' (2022-2027), exploring intelligence across 325 million years. Active in grants investigating fire understanding in animals and sequential planning evolution.
Labs & Facilities: Manages the Lund University Corvid Cognition Station, a research infrastructure studying corvid cognitive abilities.
