The prestigious magazine Forbes published its ranking of the 25 most successful women in Czech science on Wednesday, September 24, 2025. Among those selected was Gurdun Illmann, from FAFNR CZU.
What is the focus of her scientific work?
“I am an ethologist. Ethology is the science that studies the behavior of animals and humans, its causes, and biological functions. My specialization is the behavior of farm animals, especially maternal and social behavior. For the past fifteen years, I have been devoted to the issue of animal welfare—that is, identifying indicators of their well-being and seeking ways to meet their biological needs. For example, I study how to assess negative and positive emotions in animals and how to improve their living conditions. I am interested in how different forms of human behavior or housing systems affect animal behavior, both positively and negatively.”
Gudrun Illmann, Dr. agr., studied Animal Science at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production at Humboldt University in Berlin. At the same university, she defended her doctoral dissertation in 1985 on the topic Ontogeny of Nursing Behavior in a Miniature Pig Breed at the Faculty of Biology, in the field of animal ethology. She works at the Research Institute of Animal Production in the Department of Ethology and at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources.
