Judit Mokos
Judit Mokos
Evolutionary and Theoretical Biologist | Data Scientist
mokjud(a)gmail.com
Who am I?
I'm Judit, a theoretical and evolutionary biologist with strong data skills focusing on human behaviour. I wanna save the world and solve the climate crisis! My latest work is about why it is difficult, but still we can be optimistic. My work includes studying why humans are supercooperative in certain situations, but not in others; why we are happy to help a stranger, but not that helpful when it comes to big-scale problems, like climate crisis; how our lives changed living in big-scale societies; and how our relationship (with humans and pets) makes us happy (or not). I'm interested in all types of cooperation and well-being and my current work includes a little bit of everything: corruption, climate crisis, helpfulness in our changing world, online social interactions, owner-pet relationship, and human well-being.
When I'm not doing science, I'm a guide in the Botanical Garden of Budapest, I work on a gamification project about teaching evolution, do science communication (for example we put together a webpage about covid-19 that explains everything to a layperson, unfortunately it's only available in Hungarian, and wrote a book about how science works and what you should know about epidemics), and show the wonderful world of biology to high school student at Engame.
I love books, my very favourite topic to talk about is stories that explore our world as science can not do it (have you read Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu? wanna talk about Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro?). If you want to make me happy, recommend me more books. My bachelor's degree is in teaching biology and literature, and even though I don't teach in high school anymore, I still love everything related to literature, narrative, storytelling, and especially children's stories (Moomins!). I also publish short stories, mainly about topics which can not be reach by science yet (unfortunately only in my native language which is not English). My latest piece is on how using generative AI interferes with our communication with loved ones.
Currently I do
-
Research Fellow, Ethology Department of Eotvos Lorand University, 2023-
- Does owning a pet make you happy and healthy? How social relationships (friends, partner, child, family, pets) makes you happy and healthy?
- PI Eniko Kubinyi
- Data Scientist - I work for companies, research groups, journalist and civil organisations. 2016-
I worked on
-
Assistant Research Fellow, Data Scientist, National Laboratory for Health Security, 2022-2023
- Epidemic patterns of flu and coronaviruses. Long-term immunological effects of Covid.
- PI: Viktor Müller
-
Assistant Research Fellow, Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Evolution; and Hungarian Academy of Sciences – Eötvös Loránd University Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group
- Human cooperation and altruism
-
PhD, Evolutionary and Theoretical Biology, Eotvos Lorand University, Hungary, 2015-2024
- Topics: Human behavioural evolution, altruism, cooperation, biostatistics, data science
- Supervisor: Istvan Scheuring
I learnt already
-
PhD, Evolutionary and Theoretical Biology, Eotvos Lorand University, Hungary, 2015-2024
- Thesis: Human altruism in a real-life situation
-
Msc, Ecology-, Evolutionary and Conservation Biology, Eotvos Lorand University, Hungary, 2013-2015
- Thesis: The evolutionary aspects and motivations of human altruism
- Topics: human behavior, human evolution, human cooperation, animal cooperation, biostatistics
-
Bsc, Biology-Literature Teacher, Eotvos Lorand University, Hungary, 2010-2013
- Thesis: Evolution of HIV’s virulence
- Topics: informal learning, science communication, the evolution of viruses, magic realism in contemporary youth novels
-
Biologist trainee, University of Bath, Milne Centre for Evolution, UK, 2017
- Topic: Sex roles and sexual selection: testing an evolutionary hypothesis
- Biostatistics, comparative methods, meta-analyses, behaviour ecology, phylogeny-based statistical methods, path analysis, linear models
-
GLM2017VPA: GLM for Evolutionary Ecologist, France, 2017
- linear models, data visualization
- https://glm2017vpa.sciencesconf.org/
- Popular Science Video Workshop, Hungary, 2018
- High-Dimensional Data Analysis in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Lund, Sweden, 2018
- Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, St Andrews, Scotland, 2019
- Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, Virtual, 2020
I have experiences
- helping as a data scientist for several scientific programs and civil organizations. 2017-
- holding workshops about data science and R 2017-
- teaching biostatistics and R programming for undergrads, Eotvos Lorand University, Hungary, 2016-2024
- teaching research methodology for undergrads in English, Eötvös University, Hungary, 2019 - 2024
- teaching advanced R programming for PhD students, Eötvös University, Hungary, 2019 -
- teaching research methodology, evolutionary biology and science communication for high school students in English, Engame Academy, Hungary, 2019 -
- guide at the Botanical Garden of Budapest, holding workshops 2019 -
- plant Ecologist, Field Surveyor, Danube-Ipoly National Park, Hungary, 2015
- Volunteer-Program Coordinator, Jaffe Family Service, 2010-2017
I can do
- statistical softwares: R, SPSS, Jamovi, Power BI, you name it.
-
any statistical methods that a biologist, psychologist, ecologist or social scientist would need, for example:
- Basic statistical methods (for example t-tests, F-tests, One-way and Multiway ANOVA, correlations, simple and multiple linear regressions, Chi-square tests, non-parametric tests, etc)
- Comparative methods
- Phylogeny-based methods (for example Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares, Phylogenetic Path Analysis)
- Meta-analytical methods
- General Linear Models, Linear Mixed Models, General Linear Mixed Models, etc
- Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis
- High-Dimensional Data Analysis
- network analysis
- text mining
- and so on
- data visualisation
- web scraping
- research methodology
- science communication
- teaching
- team building
- I have extended knowledge in ecology, evolutionary biology, behavioural biology, and cognitive psychology.
- I worked on research project about human cooperation, altruism, human psychological well-being, social media usage, climate games, and sexual selection, therefore I have detailed knowledge on these topics.
I like to do
- Science communication.
- Gamification
My current projects
- does owning a pet makes you happy and healthy?
- do people tend to be more corrupt if they have an altruistic good excuse? - Corruption in the lab - this is pre-registrated study.
- can we solve the climate crises knowing there are riches and poors? - A highly competitive climate game - this is a pre-registrated study
- why do humans like to help strangers?
- does your childhood experiences in societal variables influences your cooperativity in a dictator game? - this is a pre-registrated study
- how we can make humans even more cooperative?
- how to lower bullying behaviour in online communication? - this is a pre-registrated study
- how we could solve the climate crisis?
- academic diversity and innovation - check out Viki's (my student) popular science articles on gender and affiliation bias and on gender behaviour differences on conferences!
I teach at ELTE:
- Research methodology for biologists (2019-2024)
- Advanced R for biologists (2021-)
- Biostatistics (2015-2022)
I teach at Engame:
- Evolutionary Biology: Giraffes are real but unicorns are not?
- How curiosity turns into scientific knowledge - Research Methodology
- How to talk your granny about science - Science communication
- Are you smarter than an octopus - Cognition and Intelligence
- Intro to Natural Science - how to choose a STEM carrier
If you are looking for a supervisor
- Human altruism. for example: why and how we help strangers
- Human cooperation. for example: how we cooperate on a large scale
- Pet-keeping and well-being. for example: does owning a pet makes you happy and healthy
- Diversity in the scientific world. for example: how gender, age, background and workplace affects the way researches behave. how diversity increases the performance of a research group
- Science communication. gamefication, informal teaching, online teaching, teaching adults. fore example: how to teach evolution to adults
If you are interested, email me!
Popular science
I wrote it:
- Békés vírusok agresszív rokona, a HIV
- Koronavírus kisokos - Covid-19 FAQ
- Az együtt átélt katasztrófa összekovácsolja a közösséget Qubit
- Együttműködőbbé tesz minket a járvány? interjú
- Covid: Like the flu, only a bit deadlier - The Hitchhiker's Guide to Epidemics, Kun, Kozák, Mokos, Rózsa
- Miért könnyebb becsajoznia egy pingvinnek mint egy pávának - az utódgondozás evolúciós háttere. Talk at the Budapest Science Meetup
- Surviving, even enjoying, conferences
It was written about me:
- Magyar kutatók adatai szerint a valóság csak részben igazolja a sejtszintű szexuális szelekcióról szóló evolúciós elméletet. Qubit.hu
- Magyar kutatók javították ki Charles Darwin szexuális szelekciós elméletét. Index.hu
Hardcore science
- Do pathogens always evolve to be less virulent? The virulence-transmission trade-off in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kun, Hubai, Kral, Mokos, Mikulecz, Radvanyi. Biologia Futura, 1-12.
- Communicating the cost of your altruism makes you cool -- competitive altruism and sexual selection in a real-life charity situation. Mokos, Csillag, Scheuring. 2023. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 77:17.
- Degree of anisogamy is unrelated to the intensity of sexual selection, Mokos, Scheuring, Liker, Freckleton, Székely , 2021, Sci Rep 11, 19424 (2021).
- Altruism, costly signaling, and withholding information in a sport charity campaign, Mokos, Scheuring, 2020, Evolution, Mind and Behaviour Volume 17: Issue 1
- Examining perceptions of stress, wellbeing and fear among Hungarian adolescents and their parents under lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, Törő, Mokos, Rózsa, Hadházi, Kövesdi, Földi, 2020, PsyArxiv
- Is working less really good for the environment? A systematic review of the empirical evidence for resource use, greenhouse gas emissions and the ecological footprint, Antal, Plank, Mokos, Wiedenhofer, 2021 Environ. Res. Lett. 16 013002
- Rugalmas "szülő"-e a gyermekotthon? Törő, Csikós, Mokos, Gyetvai, Kövesdi, Hadházi, Földi, 2020, Serdülő- és gyermekpszichoterápia, 13:2 pp. 113-134. , 22 p.
- Félelemtípusok, stressz és jóllét szintje a magyar családokban a koronavírus járvány első hullámában In: Furkó, Péter; Szathmári, Éva (szerk.) Tudomány, küldetés, társadalmi szerepvállalás : STUDIA CAROLIENSIA - A Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem 2020-as évkönyve. Budapest, Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem (KGRE), L'Harmattan Kiadó (2021) 503 p. pp. 95-110
- Stressz, betegség- és halálfélelem a koronavírusjárvány idején, Csikós, Mokos, Fenyvesi, Törő, 2021. In Pozitív pedagógia és nevelés, Konferencia kötet II., 2021.
-
A stressz mértéke és a Big Five személyiségfaktorok kapcsolata a Covid-19 őszi hullám alatt magyar serdülőkben, Törő, Krisztina ; Mokos, Judit ; Róth, Eszter ; Csikós, Gábor Psychologia Hungarica Caroliensis3 pp. 83-94. , 12 p. (2021)
I am proud of
- our paper is cited on wikipedia
- I'm a volunteer at a Serious Fun Camp. I wrote my phd about the other volunteers.
- our Covid FAQ webpage was recommended by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences as a trusfull information source for laypeople
- ambassador of Researchers' Night in Hungary, 2018, 2019
- LifeScience Elevator Speech Festival, 2016, 1st place
- FameLab Hungary, 2017, finalist
-
Students who work/worked under my supervison:
- Sz. M. (MSc, 2022) The effect of double anonymized peer review on the diversity of authors in biological journals
- M. V. (MSc, 2024) Diversity and innovation in academic life
- M. Gy. (MSc,2024) Cooperation and sociopolitics - How early life experience of sociopolitical variables effect adult cooperation in world-wide
- A. B. (MSc, 2024) Epidemic caused mortality patterns in historical data
- S. L. (Msc, in progress) Does societal variables predict altruism?
I can speak
- English
- Hungarian
- Spanish