Die Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in München
Closely linked to the Max Planck Society

The Max Planck Society

The Max Planck Society (MPG) operates as Germany’s most successful organization in basic research and is worldrenowned for its cutting-edge research. Since its establishment in 1948, no fewer than 29 Nobel laureates can be found in the ranks of its scientists (as of 2022). The MPG is thus on par with the best and most prestigious research institutions worldwide. Over 15,000 publications each year in internationally renowned journals are further evidence for their outstanding research.

The MPG employs around 24,000 staff. 16,000 of them – in other words about 66 percent – work in the scientific field. The financing of the Max Planck Society is predominantly comprised of basic financing from the public sector, in the year 2020 the MPG is financed to approximately 1,97 billion euros. In addition, the Max Planck Society and its Institutes receive third party project funding from public and private contributions and from the European Union. The federal and state governments jointly provide the subsidies for the budget of the Max Planck Society.

The currently 86 Max Planck Institutes and facilities conduct basic research in the service of the general public in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. Max Planck Institutes focus on research fields that are particularly innovative, or that are especially demanding in terms of funding or time requirements. And their research spectrum is continually evolving: new institutes are established to find answers to seminal, forward-looking scientific questions, while others are closed when, for example, their research field has been widely established at universities. This continuous renewal preserves the scope the Max Planck Society needs to react quickly to pioneering scientific developments. Here you can find pictures from the research landscape of the Max Planck Society.

The Max Planck Institutes

Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics

Frankfurt am Main, Hessen

  • Cultural Studies
  • Social and Behavioural Sciences
  • Cognitive Science
  • Linguistics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Leipzig, Saxony

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Behavioural Biology
  • Cognitive Science

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Astronomy
  • Astrophysics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics

Garching, Bavaria

  • Astronomy
  • Astrophysics

To the Institute

Bibliotheca Hertziana - Max Planck Institute for Art History

Rome, Italy

  • Cultural Studies

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Berlin

  • Cultural Studies
  • Cognitive Science
  • Social and Behavioural Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry

Martinsried, Bavaria

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Immunobiology
  • Infection Biology
  • Medicine
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry

Jena, Thuringia

  • Microbiolog
  • Ecology
  • Earth Sciences
  • Climate Research

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing

Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine

Muenster, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Immunobiology
  • Infection Biology
  • Medicine
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Biophysics

Frankfurt am Main, Hessen

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Associated Institute - Research Center caesar (center of advanced european studies and research)

Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Developmental Biology
  • Genetics Immunobiology
  • Medicine
  • Neurosciences
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry

Goettingen, Lower Saxony

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Neurosciences
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Chemistry

Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz

  • Chemistry
  • Earth Sciences
  • Climate Research

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

  • Social and Behavioural Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems

Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt

  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Complex Systems

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization

Goettingen, Lower Saxony

  • Neurosciences
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences
  • Complex Systems

To the Institute

Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH

Duesseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Chemistry
  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences

to the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion

Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Chemistry

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology

Tuebingen, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Plant Research
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Associated Institute - Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max-Planck-Society

Frankfurt am Main, Hessen

  • Medicine
  • Neurosciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt

  • Cultural Studies
  • Jurisprudence
  • Social and Behavioural Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology

Ploen, Schleswig-Holstein

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Behavioural Biology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research

Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Chemistry
  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences
  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience

FL 33458, USA

  • Neurosciences
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society

Tuebingen, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society

Berlin

  • Chemistry
  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences
  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods

Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Jurisprudence
  • Social and Behavioural Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics

Berlin

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Immunobiology
  • Infection
  • Biology Medicine

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies

Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Social and Behavioural Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics

Potsdam-Golm, Brandenburg

  • Astronomy
  • Astrophysics
  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Hannover)

Hannover, Lower Saxony

  • Astronomy
  • Astrophysics
  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research

Bad Nauheim, Hessen

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Immunobiology
  • Infection Biology
  • Medicine
  • Physiology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Brain Research

Frankfurt am Main, Hessen

  • Neurosciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics

Freiburg, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Immunobiology
  • Infection Biology
  • Medicine

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology

Berlin

  • Immunobiology
  • Infection Biology
  • Medicine

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Informatics

Saarbruecken, Saarland

  • Informatics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition

Munich, Bavaria

  • Jurisprudence
  • Social and Behavioural Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart site

Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tuebingen site

Tuebingen, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Informatics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics

Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg

  • Astronomy
  • Astrophysics
  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences

Leipzig, Saxony

  • Neurosciences
  • Cognitive Science
  • Linguistics

To the Institute

Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung

Muelheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Chemistry
  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces

Potsdam-Golm, Brandenburg

  • Immunobiology
  • Infection Biology
  • Medicine
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences

To the Institute

Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence - Max Planck Institute

Florence, Italy

  • Cultural Studies

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics

Tuebingen, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Neurosciences
  • Cognitive Science

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law

Luxemburg

  • Jurisprudence

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics

Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Mathematics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences

Leipzig, Saony

  • Mathematics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine

Goettingen, Lower Saxony

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Immunobiology
  • Infection Biology
  • Medicine
  • Neurosciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Medical Research

Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History

Jena, Thuringia

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Infection Biology
  • Social and Behavioural Sciences
  • Linguistics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Meteorology

Hamburg

  • Earth Sciences
  • Climate Research

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology

Bremen

  • Microbiology
  • Ecology
  • Chemistry

to the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology

Marburg, Hessen

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Microbiology
  • Ecology
  • Plant Research

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics

Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt

  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences
  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity

Goettingen, Lower Saxony

  • Cultural Studies
  • Social and Behavioural Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology

Martinsried, Bavaria

  • Immunobiology
  • Infection Biology
  • Medicine
  • Neurosciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics

Frankfurt am Main, Hessen

  • Genetics
  • Medicine
  • Neurosciences
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

Jena, Thuringia

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Microbiology
  • Ecology
  • Neurosciences
  • Plant Research

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Ornithology

Seewiesen, Bavaria

  • Behavioural Biology
  • Microbiology
  • Ecology
  • Neurosciences
  • Physiology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell site

Radolfzell, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Eevolutionary Biology
  • Behavioral Biology
  • Ecology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology

Potsdam-Golm, Brandenburg

  • Plant Research
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Physiology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research

Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Plant Research

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Physics

Munich, Bavaria

  • Astronomy
  • Astrophysics
  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light

Erlangen, Bavaria

  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences
  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids

Dresden, Saxony

  • Chemistry
  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences
  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

Garching, Bavaria

  • Astronomy
  • Astrophysics
  • Complex Systems

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems

Dresden, Saxony

  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences
  • Complex Systems

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology

Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Physiology Chemistry

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics

Garching, Bavaria

  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (Greifswald)

Greifswald, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research

Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz

  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law

Hamburg

  • Jurisprudence

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry

Munich, Bavaria

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Immunobiology
  • Infection Biology
  • Medicine
  • Neurosciences
  • Physiology
  • Cognitive Science

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics

Nijmegen, Netherlands

  • Cognitive Science
  • Linguistics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics

Garching, Bavaria

  • Particle Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Quantum Physics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy

Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Astronomy
  • Astrophysics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property and Competition Law

Munich, Bavaria

  • Jurisprudence

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for European Legal History

Frankfurt am Main, Hessen

  • Cultural Studies
  • Jurisprudence

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, Kaiserslautern site

Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz

  • Computer Science

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, Saarbrücken site

Saarbruecken, Saarland

  • Computer Science

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research

Goettingen, Lower Saxony

  • Astronomy
  • Astrophysics

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy

Munich, Baaria

  • Jurisprudence
  • Social and Behavioural Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance

Munich, Bavaria

  • Jurisprudence

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research

Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Immunobiology
  • Infection Biology
  • Medicine
  • Neurosciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law

Freiburg, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Jurisprudence
  • Social and Behavioural Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter

Hamburg

  • Solid State Research
  • Material Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg

  • Jurisprudence
  • Social and Behavioural Sciences

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

Berlin

  • Cultural Studies

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

Dresden, Saxony

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Neurosciences
  • Structural Biology
  • Cell Biology

To the Institute

Max Planck Institute of Economics (1993 to 2014)

Jena, Thuringia

  • Social Science

To the Institute