Ralf Kurvers

Ralf Kurvers is a Senior Research Scientist at the Centre for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany, where he serves as Head of the Research Area for Collective Intelligence. Since 2019, he has also held the position of External Principal Investigator at the Excellence Cluster, Science of Intelligence at Technical University Berlin.

His educational background includes a PhD in Resource Ecology from Wageningen University (2007-2011), an MSc in Ecology and Management (2003-2005), and a BSc in Forest and Nature Conservation (1999-2003), all from Wageningen University. Prior to his current position, he held a Rubicon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (2011-2014).

Kurvers' research focuses on collective decision-making processes in both human and non-human animals, examining how social information is used, how individual differences in personality affect group behavior, and the ecological and evolutionary implications of social networks. His work bridges behavioral ecology, cognitive science, and decision theory, with particular emphasis on understanding the mechanisms underlying collective intelligence.

His publication record demonstrates a strong focus on collective intelligence phenomena, with recent work exploring information cascades, quorum decision rules, medical diagnostics through collective judgment, and the relationship between personality and social information use. His research spans multiple disciplines including cognitive science, behavioral ecology, and medical decision-making.

• 2021-2024: German Research Foundation (DFG) Grant on Human Foraging Dynamics (€535,680)
• 2020-2023: Excellence Cluster Research Grant on Information Integration (€657,097)
• 2019-2022: Excellence Cluster Research Grant on Collective Dynamics (€313,476)
• 2016-2019: DFG Grant on Individual Differences in Collective Behaviour (€292,050)
• 2011-2014: NWO Rubicon Postdoctoral Fellowship (€118,080)
• Multiple publication awards including PE&RC Best PhD Publication Award (2011)

Kurvers has served as a reviewer for approximately 130 manuscripts across prestigious journals including Nature, Nature Communications, PNAS, Current Biology, and Trends in Ecology and Evolution. He leads the Collective Intelligence research group at the Centre for Adaptive Rationality, where his team investigates the cognitive and ecological foundations of social decision-making in diverse species.