Hightech made in Germany

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2025 was a successful year for Max Planck spin-offs Intricate mechanical design with metallic coils and colourful components, including green and purple accents, on a gray backdrop.

Proxima fusion: a start-up on the home stretch to fusion power

Proxima Fusion leverages the agility of a start-up to advance its stellarator concept toward power plant maturity more

German Entrepreneur Award 2025 for planqc

The spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics wins in the StartUp category with its approach to a powerful and reliable quantum computer more

Start-up capital for successful in vitro fertilization

Max Planck start-up Ovo Labs develops drugs to improve fertility treatments more

Research news

Side view of a reptile's head with dark-coloured scales and yellow and green spots. The mouth is open, revealing the tongue.

‘Hulk’ wall lizards cause millions of years of color diversity to disappear

January 09, 2026
Evolution
New lizard form alters the reproductive strategies of its fellow species
Fluorescence image shows a purple cell with a blue nucleus and yellow details, surrounded by scattered blue particles, scale 10 µm.

Symbiotic bacteria help clean wastewater

January 08, 2026
Climate Microbiology (B&M) Microbiology (E&C)
Scientists identify new species of denitrifying endosymbionts in wastewater
773,000-year-old mandible ThI-GH-1 from Thomas Quarry in Morocco.

Early hominins from Morocco

January 07, 2026
Neanderthals
773,000-year-old fossils from Thomas Quarry I in Morocco illuminate the shared ancestry of Homo sapiens, Neandertals, and Denisovans
Further News

Career

World map with symbold for international networking

Post from ...

International Support for young researchers
Notes from fieldwork around the world: Max Planck scientists cooperate with partners in around 120 countries worldwide. Here they relate their personal experiences and impressions.
Full indoor shot of a large, dark-red robotic arm and a dark-red, dome-shaped object suspended from it, along with two people standing in the foreground. The arm is large and complex, with many dark-colored, flexible components and a dark-grey base. Steps and caution tape are visible on the floor around the base of the robotic arm. A dark-red, rounded object resembles a large head or helmet, suspended from the robotic arm, hanging over the scene. The material is smooth and appears to be some kind of composite. Two individuals are centrally positioned in front of the robotic apparatus. A man and a woman stand side-by-side, smiling, looking at the camera. Both wear casual clothing: the man wears a maroon-colored t-shirt and dark-colored pants, while the woman is wearing a teal-green sweater and dark-wash jeans. The background is mostly dark grey walls and a dark-grey floor surface. The walls appear to be made of brick-like or panelled material. The overall impression is of a technological or manufacturing environment, potentially a research lab or design studio. The image highlights a sophisticated piece of industrial machinery alongside human operators.

Innovative training programmes for Phd students

Talented German and foreign junior scientists are offered the opportunity to earn a doctorate under excellent research conditions

Job Offers

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (f/m/d)

Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim
January 16, 2026

PhD Student (m/f/d)

Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim
January 16, 2026

Postdoc / project engineer (m/f/d)

Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg
January 16, 2026
to the JobBoard
Career

Topic Specials

The muddy hands of a person cupped together under a water tap in a muddy background.

Climate and Transformation

In addition to climate forecasts, the consequences of climate change are increasingly becoming the focus of research at Max Planck Institutes
A schematic view from above of a human brain with many coloured fibres connecting the two halves and extending out in various directions.

The brain

The human brain is the most complex organ that nature has ever produced: 100 billion nerve cells and many times more contact points give it capabilities that no supercomputer can match
Full shot of a world map, likely a graphic design or print, overlaid with numerous passport stamps of varying colors and sizes.

Migration

The causes and consequences of human mobility and its history are central topics for research at Max Planck Institutes
Further Topic Specials

Publications


Illustration of networks and two persons
Research is Calling! cover
Cover Max Planck Research Magazine 3/2025
Image brochure - Max Planck Society
Cover - Highlights 2024 from the Yearbook of the Max Planck Society
Annual Report 2024 cover - Max Planck Society
Living and Working in Germany cover
Evaluation cover

From the Institutes


MPI for Chemical Ecology
Plant diversity shapes chemical communication in ecosystems more
MPI for Physics
Cosmic expansion with standard particle physics repertoire   more
MPI for Human Development
Treasure trove of data on aging publicly accessible more
MPI for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
Expanding Research on Political Institutions and Conflict more
MPI for Chemical Ecology
Fungus turns bark beetles’ defenses against them more
MPI of Psychiatry
Stress hormone helps repair the brain more
MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology
Bronze Age DNA from Calabria reveals a distinct mountain community more
MPI for Plant Breeding Research
Diversity through repression more
MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Christian Doeller receives Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2026 more
MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology
Raw materials from CO2 more
MPI for Marine Microbiology
Urea: The Hidden Fuel for Ocean Microbes more
MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology
New method boosts DNA editing efficiency and kills cancer cells in the lab more
MPI for Meteorology
More realistic simulations of the Atlantic Overturning Circulation more
MPI for Plant Breeding Research
Shining a Spotlight on Polyploid Cells  more
MPI for Chemical Ecology
The ship-timber beetle's fungal partner: more than just a food source more
MPI of Psychiatry
Early warning signal in the brain more
MPI of Animal Behavior
Orangutans can’t master their complex diets without cultural knowledge more
MPI for Chemical Ecology
Reed leafhopper: From reeds to potatoes more

Events

January 2026
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26 27 28 29 30 31
Plasticity and fracture behavior of high-strength steels at low temperatures

Jan 8, 2026 from 02:00 PM to 04:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

Machine learning and Big Data in materials science: How big is Big?

Jan 9, 2026 from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

“Physical Devices that Learn” (Prof. Florian Marquardt)

Jan 13, 2026 at 02:30 PM (Local Time Germany)

"Gas Giant Planets Caught While Feeding"

Jan 14, 2026 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

Upcoming Events

Dangerous Science, Anticipation and the Human Right to Science

Apr 22, 2026 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
Freiburg/Germany, Fürstenbergstr. 19, Room: Seminar room (F 113) | Guests are welcome; please register

Tomorrow Labs: The Festival at the Science Port Magdeburg - 6 June 2026

Jun 6, 2026 04:00 PM - 09:59 PM (Local Time Germany)
Magdeburg
All Events

Multimedia


Screenshot of the picture gallery "My Science and Me"

My Science and Me

What fascinates scientists about their research? What drives them? Science thrives on the people who shape it. Our picture gallery depicts aspects of research from the perspective of those who carry it out
Two smiling women standing looking in the direction of the camera with a dark background.

Unraveling Behavior

Podcast
A science podcast about the patterns driving human judgment and decision making. In each episode,  Ana Sofia Morais sits down with a researcher to explore how people make decisions, how they handle risk, and how our surroundings and the online world shape our behavior.
A microsopic view of a fluorescent green worm on a black background.

Cell droplet research

Video
A new hope for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. A film about the research of Anthony Hyman, who was awared the Koerber Prize 2022 and the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences 2023.
A sombre grey cartoon image of four people sitting on a bench.

Flight and Trauma

Video
Traumatic experiences from fleeing war zones can lead to distressing symptoms, which impair everyday life. Now with Ukranian sub-titles.
more
Optogenetics | briefly explained

Optogenetics | briefly explained

Video
Turning nerve cells on and off using pulses of light. Optogenetics is a relatively new field that uses light to control genetically modified cells. It is based on light-activated membrane proteins, such as bacteriorhodopsin or channelrhodopsin, that are built into nerve cells.
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Social Media

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