The 33^rd International
Conference on Comparative Cognition

You are cordially invited to the 33rd Annual International Conference on Comparative Cognition.
CO3 2026 will be held on April 15 - 18, 2026, at the Delta Hotel in Montréal, QC, Canada. More details below.

Topic

Animal cognition, broadly conceived to include all research on animal learning, memory, and perception.

Research Award

The Comparative Cognition Society is pleased to announce that the 2026 Research Award honoree is Dr. Robert Cook (Tufts University). Dr. Cook will deliver a Master Lecture at the conference, and be honored at the conference banquet. A special issue of in honor of Dr. Cook's contributions to the field will be published in early 2027.

Details

All conference attendees must agree to honor the CCS Code of Conduct.

Conference registration is now open. To register for the conference or submit an abstract, please log in.

The CCS policy on abstract submission/acceptance may be viewed here.

CCS Membership and CO3 fees can be viewed here.

For additional information about CO3, please contact Caroline Strang and Jenna Congdon (CO3 Conference Organizers) or M. Ali Qadri (CCS Secretary)

Instructions on how to prepare and submit your talk or poster can be found here. To submit an abstract and/or register for the conference, please log in to your account, or create a new account.

Faculty members, animal behavior professionals, and post-docs are invited to submit a poster, a 5-min talk, or a 10-min talk. Graduate students are invited to submit either a poster or a 5-min talk. Abstracts should be no more than 200 words, and the deadline for abstract submissions is December 12, 2025.

Undergraduate Students are encouraged to attend CO3 and may present posters if space on the program permits. If an undergraduate student wishes to present a 5-min talk, the student's supervisor must provide a supporting letter. Requests for talks by undergraduate students will be approved at the discretion of the CO3 Program Committee.

Faculty members may request an extended 20-min presentation, expected to integrate several years of empirical research, much of it published. To be considered for an extended talk, a detailed (300-400 word) abstract must be submitted as well as the standard short abstract. The same researcher may not give an extended talk more often than once every three years. Requests for long talks will be approved at the discretion of the CO3 Program Committee.

Symposia

Faculty members or animal behavior professionals may submit proposals for symposia. The topic of the symposium must fit within the scope of the conference and may consist of up to five presenters (including the organizer). To submit a symposium proposal, the organizer must send a brief abstract (300-400 words) outlining the theme, names of invited presenters and the title of their presentations, by November 14, 2025. Please email symposium proposals to the Program Committee. Requests for symposia will be approved at the discretion of the CO3 Program Committee. Organizers will be informed of the committee's decision before the abstract submission deadline, and symposium presenters should then submit their abstracts in the normal way (using the submission portal), specifying the symposium when selecting a preferred session.

The 2026 program will be posted here when it is available.

Programs from previous conferences are available here.

Photos from previous conferences are available here.

CCS also publishes a special issue highlighting the contributions of the Research Award honoree. Past SIs can be viewed here.

Montréal, is an exciting city with lots to see and do. Check out their tourism site.

Please note that, depending on your country of origin, you may require a visa to enter Canada. If you are from the US, you need to have either a passport or other eligible document (see here). Visitors from other countries may require either an eTA or visa. This video will walk you through the process.

The conference hotel is right in the heart of Downtown, less than a 5 minute walk from Montréal's famed old town, The Notre-Dame Basilica, and the banks of the St. Lawrence River. Just across the road in the other direction is the McGill University campus (in case you miss having an academic setting) and beyond that, the massive Mount Royal Park.

Note that, though it is a Francophone city, English is widely spoken in Montréal. Also note that the legal drinking age in Quebec is 18.

The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee has developed training for CCS members to use to help create a positive environment for all society members. These Allies will be expected to be part of a support network during the conference, and can be clearly identified via an ALLY tag on their name badge. For more information, see the training document.

Learn more about the EDI committee's activities here.

CCS offers a range of awards tied to CO3, including travel awards, best paper and best poster awards sponsored by the Psychonomic Society.

Student award information (publication awards, travel awards, paper competition) can be found here.

Information about the Early Career Award (for early career faculty) can be found here.

CO3 2026 will be held at the Delta Hotel in Montréal, Québec, Canada.
The hotel address is: 475 Av. President-Kennedy, Montréal, QC, H3A 1J7, Canada.

Reserving rooms at the Hotel

CCS has a block of rooms reserved at the conference venue, at a discounted rate. You can book your room over the phone at +1 (844) 860-3753, with reservation code YGS, or simply use this link (which will apply the discounted rate automatically):

Book your room

Important note on room bookings:

Please note that there is a very limited supply of double rooms. Most of the rooms available to us contain a single King bed. A very small nummber of rooms are available with a King bed and a pull-out couch. We ask that, if you are able to manage with a single bed, you book one of the King rooms, and leave the double rooms (which in the booking link are listed as "Large guest room") for those that really need 2 beds. If you do need 2 beds, please book early as these rooms will run out fast.

The rate for both room types is $215 CAD per night + tax (note that this is in Canadian Dollars). This rate is available during the conference and three (3) days before and after the conference, for those wishing to extend their stay. This rate is per room for up to 2 people per room; additional people in the same room can be added for $20 CAD per night.

The deadline for reservations at the conference rate is March 24th, 2026.

If you are interested in finding someone to share a room at the hotel, you can use our CO3 Roommate Finder (you must be logged into the website to access this page; from the member page, select "Find a roommate"). Please note that the roommate finder is only intended to connect people; CCS takes no responsibility for any arrangements you make with potential roommates.

Please make reservations early to let CCS know you are coming and claim your spot!