Place & date of birth: Budapest, Hungary – 18. 10. 1964.
Nationality: Hungarian
Education: biologist (1989)
Contact: topal.jozsef@ttk.mta.hu

Studies:
1989-1992 MTA TMB, PhD student
MSc in biology, Loránd Eötvös University, 1989

Languages skills: English, Germany

Degree:
CSc in biology 2000
Doctor of the Academy (DSc) 2014 (in psychology)

Professional experience and positions:
2014-                        Scientific vice director, head of research group, scientific advisor, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hung. Acad. Sci.

2011-2013                 Associate professor, head of research group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hung. Acad. Sci.,  Comparative Behavioral Research Group

2010-2011                 Associate professor,  head of research group Institute of Psychology, Hung. Acad. Sci. Comparative Behavioral Research Group

2007-2009                Associate professor, Institute of Psychology, Hung. Acad. Sci. Dept. of Developmental Psychology

1999-2006                  Associate professor, MTA-ELTE Comprative Ethology Reserach Group

1996-1999                   Researcher, ELTE Department of Ethology

1993-1995                    Reseracher, MTA-ELTE ’Evolutionary Models in Ethology’ Research Group

Teaching experience
Cognitive ethology (Eotvos University Budapest),
Behaviour Genetics (Eotvos University Budapest),
Evolution of communication (Eotvos University Budapest),
Evolutionary Psychology (Eotvos University Budapest)

Domestic and foreign scholarships:

2007-2009                        Bolyai Scholarship

5 most significant publications (within 5 years):
Miklósi, Á., Topál, J. 2013. What does it take to become ‘best friends’? Evolutionary changes in canine social competence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 17: 287-294.

Hernádi, A., Kis, A., Turcsán, B., Topál, J. 2012. Man’s underground best friend: Domestic ferrets, unlike the wild forms, show evidence of dog-like social-cognitive skills. PLoS One, 7(8): e43267. 

Miklósi Á, Topál J. 2012. The evolution of canine cognition. In: J. Vonk and T. Shackelford (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Evolutionary Psychology Oxford University Press pp. 513-568

Téglás, E., Gergely, A., Kupán, K., Miklósi, Á., Topál, J. 2012. Dogs’ gaze following is tuned to human communicative signals. Current Biology, 22: 209-212.

Kupán, K., Miklósi, Á., Gergely, Gy., Topál, J. 2011. Why do dogs (Canis familiaris) select the empty container in an observational learning task? Animal Cognition, 14: 259-268.