Personale docente

Date and place of birth: 5 August 1960 in Bergamo (BG) Italy.

Current position and address: Associate Professor, University of Parma, Department of Neuroscience, Behavioural Biology Unit, Viale delle Scienze 11A, 43124, Parma (Italy); phone: 0521-905671; Fax: 0521-905657; e-mail: paolamaria.valsecchi@unipr.it

Education: Ph.D. in Psychobiology (curriculum: Behavioural Biology), University of Milano , 1986; Degree in Natural Sciences (110/110 cum laude), University of Parma, 1984

Position and Employment: 2014-today: Associate Professor of Applied Ethology, Department of Neuroscience; 2005-2014 Aggregate Professor at the Department of Evolutionary and Functional Biology, University of Parma; 1993-2004 Senior Researcher at the Department of Evolutionary and Functional Biology, University of Parma; 1990-1993 Researcher at the Department of General Biology and Physiology University of Parma;

Main institutional roles: 2013-today: academic staff PhD program in Neuroscience; 2000-2012 academic staff PhD program in Biology of Behaviour; 2000-today teaching activity in Applied Ethology; 2009-2010 teaching activity in Nature Conservation; 2004-2009 teaching activity in Management and Welfare of Laboratory Animals; 2000-2002 teaching activity in General Biology; 1994-1998 teaching activity in Zoology. 2012-today secretary of the Council for the Master Degree in Ecology and Nature Conservation; 2012-2014 elected member of the Department Council.

Professional Membership: Italian Society of Ethology (SIE); Italian Society of Zoology (UZI)

Main Grants as Principal Investigator of Local Unit (year, agency, project code, grant amount to P.V.)
2004 MIUR, PRIN, #2004078103_002 € 20,200
2006 MIUR, PRIN, #2006071374_003 € 32,100

Publication Records: Author of 54 full papers in peer-reviewed international Journals, including high-impact Journals such as Science (2010), Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology (2012), Neuropharmacology (2013). Authors of 4 book chapter and coeditor of a scientific book. Contributor of more than 120 communications to national or international scientific meetings. For the complete list of my publications: Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.it/citations?hl=it&user=6biXXdgAAAAJ;

Bibliometric Indicators: Sum of the times cited: 1005 (Research Gate, Dec 21th 2015); Total Impact point 159,61 (Research Gate, Dec 21th 2015); h-index: 19 (Scopus, Dec 21th 2015). In the last five years: 20 paper all published in Journal with IF (Q1 and Q2); sum of the times cited: 654.

Research fields. Rodents: Ontogeny and development of diet selection in rodents; Social transmission of food preferences in rodents; Theoretical aspects of social learning; Neurochemical basis of social learning; Foraging and spatial orientation in rodents; Kin recognition and mate choice in gerbils.
Dogs: Dog Behaviour & Welfare in rescue center (Behavioural and physiological adaptation of dogs to the shelter environment; environmental enrichment; temperament test for implementing the adoption process); Human – dog relationships (Study on the development of the attachment between guide dog and blind owner; attachment behaviour of abandoned and then adopted dogs). Dog cognition (study on social cognition of dogs in relation to their training, life style and attachment to the owner); Breed differences (study on behavioral differences among 13 dogs’ breed; analysis of development of temperament in puppies; temperamental differences in adult dogs). Social dynamics of free-ranging dogs (studies on hierarchy, social behavior, reproductive strategies, cooperation and leadership in groups of free ranging dogs).

Complementary education:
3-years course on Theology at the Istituto di Scienze Religiose " S. Ilario di Poiters" (Diocesi di Parma)

Bioethics Course organized by The Luso_American Foundation (FLAD) and the National Science Foundation (US) in Portugal, July 2001.

Animal Welfare Course, University of Cambridge, September 2002.

International Scientific collaboration:
Prof .B. G. Galef, jr., Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Dr. Grant Singleton, Division of Wildlife and Ecology, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia
Prof. M. Kavaliers, Department fo Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Dr. Elena Choleris, Lawson Research Institute Nuclear Medicine, St. Joseph's Health Centre and University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario Canada
Prof. Cort Pedersen, Depart of Psychiatry- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - USA
Prof. James Serpell - University of Pennsylvania

Research activity carried out abroad:
March to June 1988: Visiting scientist at the Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
April to May 1990:Visiting scientist at the Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
October to December 1991:Visiting scientist at Division of Wildlife and Ecology, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia
May to June 1997:Visiting scientist at the Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
August 2000: Visiting scientist at the School of Agriculture (Applied Ethology Center) of the University of Edinburgh, UK
March 2005: Visiting scientist at the Depart of Psychiatry- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - USA

Scientific coordinator of the International project: ICSC - World Laboratory (Switzerland)) entitled: "Mice and other rodents: a basic and applied research on the mechanisms of feeding and reproductive behaviour to control wild populations