Edina Prondvai
Address
Postal address: Ghent University – Department of Biology K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent
Phone: + 32 9 264 5233.
e-mail:
edina.prondvai@gmail.com ;
edina.prondvai@ugent.be
web:
www.magyardinoszaurusz.hu ;
www.fun-morph.ugent.be
Current Research Interests
- Biological aspects of Mesozoic tetrapods inferred from bone histology
Education
2005 – MSc in Biology (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary)
Scientific degrees
2011 – PhD (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary); title of dissertation: Investigation of some functional anatomical and developmental aspects of pterosaurs
Employment
2011 – 2015 Hungarian Academy of Sciences – Eötvös Loránd University „Lendület” Dinosaur Research Group
Associate research scientist
2016 – 2019: Postdoctoral research assistant at the Evolutionary Morphology of Vertebrates research group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Research grants
2011 – 2015 (Participant)
MTA-ELTE „Lendület” 95102 (“After a 85 Million years old ecosystem: the anatomical, bone histological and paleobiogeographical investigation of the vertebrate fauna found in the Iharkút dinosaur locality and its comparison with other faunas of the Late Cretaceous European Archipelago”); Project leader: Ősi Attila
2016 – 2018: BOF (Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds) – Special Research Fund, Ghent University; grant nr. 01P12815; project title: ‘Functional signals in the bone microstructure of flying vertebrates and their importance in understanding the evolution of powered flight in feathered dinosaurs’ (‘Functionele signalen in de bot microstructuur van vliegende gewervelde dieren en hun belang voor het begrijpen van de evolutie van vlucht in gevederde dinosauriërs’)
Honors and Awards
2010 – Best PhD student performance (III. place) on the 14th Hungarian Symposium of Paleontology
Donator: Hantken Fund
2009 – Best PhD student performance (I. place) on the 13th Hungarian Symposium of Paleontology
Donator: Hantken Fund
Fellowships
2016 – International Conference Attendance Grant of Fonds Wetenschapelijk Onderzoek (FWO) – Vlaanderen, grant nr: K134316; Cost of transport to the 11th ICVM meeting, Washington DC, USA
2010 – 2011
Regular Scientific Scholarship of the Students’ Autonomy of Eötvös Loránd University
2010
Fellowship for Conference-participation of Hantken Fund; Research Fellowship of Hantken Fund
Service in scientific bodies and conference organization
2008 –
European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists (EAVP), member
2012 –
European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists (EAVP), board member
2014 – 2015: Palaeovertebrata, editorial member
2015 – present: Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group), editorial member
Teaching experience
2017: Promoter & supervisor of BSc (Toon Meersman) and MSc (Vicky Vandewiele) student projects at Ghent University
2016: Supervisor activities at Ghent University, Belgium for MSc Student Research Integration Project (Nelle Meyers) and ERASMUS student (Laura Hildago); co-supervision of PhD student (Sarah Strachan) at University College London, UK
2014 – 2015: Fossil bone histology – course organizer & lecturer, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary (course provided for MSc students in Biology and Geology)
2010 – 2015: Vertebrate Paleontology (ELTE TTK, BSc in Geology, in Hungarian), guest lecturer: 1, Introduction to the general osteology of tetrapods; 2, Amniotes – An introduction; 3, Flying reptiles – Pterosaurs
2007: „Hector-Seminar“ – a scientific project offered for high-school students with outstanding skills, Project leader (SMNK, Karlsruhe, Germany). Project: Pterosaurier:„Anatomie des Rhamphorhynchus – eine Konstruktion zum Fliegen?“ (Pterosaurs: The anatomy of Rhamphorhynchus – a construction for flying?) (www.hector-seminar.de)
2005 (3 months): Substitute biology teacher in Dózsa György High School, Budapest
Visits, field trips
2014 – 2015 – Royal Belgian Institue of Natural Sciences – collaboration with Dr. Pascal Godefroit on ‘dinobird’ histology
2014 – 2015 – Vrije Universtiteit Brussel – collaboration with Dr. Koen Stein on a common eggshell histological project
2013 – Kolozsvár Babes-Bolyai University, Romania, study of armored dinosaur material
2012 – Mechin collection (private), Vitrolles, France – histological sampling of Rhabdodon material
2012 – Paläontologisches Institut, Universität Wien, Austria – histological sampling of Mochlodon material
2012 – Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle d’Aix-en-Provence, Aix-en-Provence, France, study of Rhabdodon material
2010- 2013 Steinmann Institut für Geologie, Mineralogie und Paläontologie, Universität Bonn, Germany, bonehistological studies
2010- München, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Germany, study of pterosaur material
2007 – 2009 – Natural History Museum, Karlsruhe, Germany (SMNK)
Presentations
Selection of scientific presentations
2016 – 11th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM) (Washington DC. USA, 2016. June) Intraskeletal growth dynamics and functional maturation in the limb bones of ‘dinobirds’
2015 – 13th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists (Opole, Poland, 2015. July) Eggshell fragments from the Late Cretaceous of Iharkút, Hungary
2015 – 3rd Internation Symposium on Paleohistology (Bonn, Germany, 2015. July): Evaluation of the reproductive role of medullary bone-like tissues in fossils
2013 – 16. Hungarian Symposium of Paleontology (Orfű, Hungary, 2013. May): Bakonydraco et al.? Az iharkúti pteroszauruszok mandibuláris symphysiseinek morfometriai és hisztológiai elemzése. (Bakonydraco et al.? The morphometric and histological analysis of the mandibular symphyses of pterosaur from Iharkút) (In Hungarian)
2012 – WSKolloquium Geowissenschaften Meeting in honor of Prof. Dr. Em. Armand de Ricqlès (Bonn, Germany, 2012. November): Phylogeny vs. functionality in comparative bone histology – On which to place the emphasis?
2012 – 10th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists (Teruel, Spain, 2011. June): Size matters – Contribution of bone histology-based body size estimates to the understanding of the ornithopod family rhabdodontidae.
2011 – 9th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists (Heraklion, Crete, Griece, 2011. June): Life history of Rhamphorhynchus inferred from bone histology.
2010 – 8th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists (Aix-en-Provence, France, 2010. June): Cranial kinesis in pterosaurs – Motile skulls?
2009 – 7th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists (Berlin, Germany, 2009. June): Wing extension in pterosaurs: new models.
2009 – PaleoPodium course of lecture, 25. presentation (Hungarian Natural History Museum, 2009. April): “A szájpadlás „mindennek a teteje”: A repülő hüllők (pteroszauruszok) szájpadlás-szerkezetének revíziója. (“The palate is the top of all”: Revision of the palatal structure of flying reptiles (pterosaurs). (In Hungarian)
2008 – 6th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists (Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia, 2008. June): Mass estimate of pterosaurs: a case study on Rhamphorhynchus and the problems of finding the best method.
Popular
2013 – April Fót, (in-service training for biology teachers) Németh Kálmán Elementary and Basic Arts School
2012 – November Fót, Németh Kálmán Elementary and Basic Arts School
2010 – October Budapest, Arany János Elementary School
2010 – September Budapest (Night of Researchers), Eötvös Loránd University
2010 – March Budapest, Dózsa György High School
2009 – April Fót, Németh Kálmán Elementary and Basic Arts School
Appearance in media
2015: Scientific expert interview about the movie ‘Jurassic World’ by HVG (Hungarian weekly economic and political magazine) (http://hvg.hu/plazs/20150617_Valora_valhate_a_Jurassic_World_vilaga)
2014: Scientific expert and commentator on a dinosaur documentary; OzoneNetwork (TV channel); (http://videa.hu/videok/tudomany-technika/2014.07.16.-dinoszaurusz-kutatas-WilaYtTdXOHMlTSZ)
2013 – April, Blikk (daily newspaper)
2012 – October M1 TV
2012 – February MTI (Hungarian Telegraphic Office) and other on-line news portals