Step into the future with us!
More than 400 motivated and talented vocational trainees have secured an apprenticeship contract with a Max Planck Institute. In the areas of electronics, information technology, mechanics, laboratory work, animal care, administration, and many other service professions, they frequently experience the allure of research first-hand, often within a project-based and international environment. The Max Planck Society offers approximately 30 different apprenticeship roles to support researchers.
Over 80 per cent of the Max Planck Institutes, as well as the central administration, are actively involved in vocational training. Applicants with severe disabilities are encouraged to apply!
Just as in the realm of scientific research, the MaxPlanck Society similarly cultivates exceptional young talent under optimal conditions. Individual MaxPlanck Institutes have established alliances with partner companies in their respective regions, thereby imparting a diverse array of skills to meet the increasingly demanding requirements of professional life.
The exceptionally high quality standard of the training is demonstrated by the fact that the apprentices often rank among the best of their exam cohorts – a perfect start to your career! It provides an excellent basis for competing for the internal company apprentice award and helps establish one’s position in the labour market. Three quarters of all annual graduates take advantage of the offer of continued employment on a fixed-term basis for up to twelve months at their Max Planck Institute.
A number of Max Planck Institutes working in biology have their own animal houses in which they keep mice, insects, fish or birds. They serve as model organisms for animal experiments, for example to develop new diagnostic procedures and therapies against diseases.
Uschi Kagerer was already interested in biology and chemistry at school. The 19-year-old from Wolfratshausen has been training as a biology laboratory assistant at the MPI for Biochemistry in Martinsried for three years - her dream job.
When you think of suspense and resistance, you don't necessarily just think of the latest action thriller in the movies, but also know how to classify the terms “electrically”? And do you have mathematical and technical knowledge? Then you might be the right person for an apprenticeship in electrical engineering, as offered in many workshops at Max Planck Institutes.
We want you to develop your potential and skills to the full: That's why we offer exchange visits and personality training seminars.
When Larissa Winkler meets her friends, her profession is rarely mentioned. This is because the 19-year-old turns threads, reads circuit diagrams and programs CNC milling machines. She is training as an industrial mechanic at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich.
The Max Planck Institutes need trainees to plan IT systems, rectify faults and build mechatronic systems. Apprenticeships include IT specialist for system integration and application development, mechatronics technician, IT systems electronics technician, mathematical-technical software developer and media designer for digital and print media. The main tasks of the Max Planck Institutes are to plan and configure these IT systems, rectify faults and advise users on the one hand, and to build and assemble mechanical and electronic components of complex mechatronic systems according to circuit diagrams and design drawings on the other.
Pipetting, measuring and analyzing: Laboratory technicians are very close to the research - and support the scientists at the Max Planck Institutes. Almost all Max Planck Institutes in the natural sciences have laboratories for experimental research.
Do you have a penchant for manual work, handling tools and are not afraid of getting dirty? Then perhaps one of the workshops at Max Planck Institutes is the right place for you. Here, workpieces, equipment and device parts are manufactured specifically for the needs of scientists. To do this, you will set up machine tools and process metals; you will turn, mill, drill and grind, weld or screw components, assemble and adjust them.
Research needs service: Every Max Planck Institute has an administration that performs organizational and commercial tasks and handles personnel matters for its employees. Furthermore, the majority of the institutes have their own library.
The Max Planck Institutes offer apprenticeships for gardeners, wood mechanics, carpenters as well as specialists for events, hospitality, housekeeping, kitchen and warehouse logistics.
Empathy and the ability to deal with conflict are important when working in the service sector - after all, as a trainee you will always be dealing directly with people.
Having completed your training means you have taken the step into professional life. At the Max Planck Society, there is something else associated with this: Anyone who has completed their training period in the General Administration or at a Max Planck Institute or are about to complete it can be nominated for the Trainee Award.
