Kathrin Kopp

Kathrin Kopp is a Research Fellow with a teaching assignment at the University of Leipzig’s Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Human Biology & Primate Cognition. She also holds a postdoctoral position at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology’s Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology. Her research focuses on prosocial behavior in great apes, socio-cognitive development, and social dynamics in zoo-housed primates. She coordinates the GrApeNet initiative to establish a Europe-wide research network for comparative studies of great apes in zoos.

Education: PhD in Comparative Psychology (Freie Universität Berlin, 2017), Magistra Artium in Philosophy and Biology (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2009). Advanced training in university didactics (Freie Universität Berlin, 2016).

Research interests include the regulation and development of prosocial behavior, individual variation in ape social cognition, and cognitive enrichment strategies for captive primates. Her work bridges comparative psychology, evolutionary anthropology, and applied research in zoological institutions.

Key projects include GrApeNet (scientific collaboration network for European zoos) and methodological advancements in studying ape cognition, such as mirror self-recognition tests. She has authored/co-authored studies on tool use, social learning, and brain connectivity in primates.

Professional roles include line management for behavioral research at zoos/sanctuaries and lecturing in primate cognition and developmental psychology. Affiliated with the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center.