About us
Our Mission
Launched in 2025 with generous support from the Jeremy Coller Foundation, we aim to develop new approaches to studying the feelings of other animals scientifically - and to use the emerging science of animal sentience to design better policies, laws and ways of caring for other animals.
"Ethical moonshots"
Disregard for other animals as sentient beings with lives of their own has become far too common around the world. Farmed animals and farmers alike are in danger of becoming cogs in corporate machines, machines that would put profit before care, compassion, and dignity.
“Our mission is to remodel the way people see, think about, and relate to other species", Professor Jonathan Birch, Centre Director.
Who We Are
The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience is an interdisciplinary research centre within the London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method.
Our community includes experts in philosophy, veterinary medicine, behavioural science, artificial intelligence, environmental studies, law and policy. What unites us is not any single discipline or methodology, but a shared research programme and a shared commitment to producing research that benefits all sentient beings.
We work collaboratively with a community of wide-ranging subject experts, decision-makers, NGOs and industry stakeholders to ensure that emerging insights into animal minds lead to meaningful, real‑world change. Our aim is to help shape future policy and practice, improving how society understands animal experiences, supporting more ethical ways of living alongside other species.
History
The centre builds upon the Foundations of Animal Sentience (ASENT) project, which investigated how we can identify and assess sentience across a wide range of species, particularly invertebrates.
The project established a rigorous evidence base - most notably contributing to the UK Government’s review of cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans - helping to shape the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 and extend recognition of sentience to species such as octopuses, crabs and lobsters.
Following this recognition, the UK Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy states an intention to end the practice of boiling live crustaceans. Globally, NGOs and researchers continue to use the evidence base on cephalopod and decapod sentience to inform public communication and policy debates, including opposition to octopus farming. California has recently enacted a ban on commercial octopus farming, citing welfare concerns.