On Saturday 19^th November 2016 Nencki Institute hosted a scientific session „Ethology: an interesting, increasingly interesting science” organized to celebrate the jubilee of 50 years of the Ethological Seminars in the Nencki Institute (1966-2016) [as a part of the celebration of 100 years of the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology (1918-2018)] and 25 years of the Polish Ethological Society (1991-2016).

The session was organized by the Polish Ethological Society and the Nencki Institute. The Organizing Committee included several members of the team of Laboratory of Ethology of Department of Neurophysiology of the Nencki Institute (Ewa J. Godzińska, Julita Korczyńska, Anna Szczuka, Paweł J. Mazurkiewicz, Beata Symonowicz, Stefan Hornostaj and Katarzyna Kuraszkiewicz), and two persons from other laboratories of that department, Laboratory of Emotions Neurobiology (Karolina Rokosz) and Laboratory of Limbic System (Karolina Rejniak). The scientific programme of the session (attached) included ten lectures devoted to various aspects of ethology and behavioural sciences (among others, history of Polish ethology, importance of behavioural research for unraveling secrets of human mind, modern methods and theoretical concepts used in the research on laboratory, wild living and companion animals, evolution of the nervous system and behaviour, and popularisation of the advances of ethology and other behavioural sciences). Unfortunately, Professor Jerzy A. Chmurzyński, who fifty years ago created the Ethological Seminars of the Nencki Institute, was not present because of health problems, but his lecture „Nascence and beginnings of the Ethological Seminars in the Nencki Institute” was presented in form of a video recording made two days before the session. During the discussion further informations about the beginnings of ethology and behavioural sciences in the Nencki Institute were presented by Professor Leszek Kuźnicki. The Session also included a brief ceremony during which Mrs Maria Kieruzel, M. Sc., received the Certificate of Appreciation awarded to her by the General Board of the Polish Ethological Society for many years of involvement in the organization of Ethological Seminars. After the session, flowers were also offered to Professor Jerzy Chmurzyński at his home. The session was attended by 53 participants, mostly from Warsaw, but there were also participants from Bydgoszcz, Cracow, Kosewo Górne, Węgierska Górka and Wrocław. Many other persons who for various reasons could not attend the Session sent their congratulations to the Organizing Commitee. The session was videorecorded and will be soon available online.