Events, Lectures, Podium Discussions

The brain is still a mysterious organ. One of its most important functions is making decisions – but how does it do this? And what happens when decision-making goes wrong? The Max Planck Forum in cooperation with the Israeli Consulate General will address both these questions in April, integrating perspectives from neuroscience, psychology and neurology. [more]

Just over 95% of our universe comes in the shrouded form of dark energy and matter that we can neither explain nor directly detect. In the 19th Einstein Lecture Catherine Heymans will talk about new ideas how to explore the dark side of the Universe. Her online course 'AstroTech' has attracted over 40,000 students worldwide, and she is a regular contributor to Radio shows, Art, Music and Science Festivals. [more]

The Max Planck Symposium is an intensive, two-day career conference serving as a platform to connect international Max Planck Alumni and Max Planck Early Career Researchers of all disciplines and Institutes. The topic of every symposium is suggested and realized by the participants themselves, who are then supported by high level experts and invited guests. [more]

In this very first joint Max Planck Forum, organized with the Consulate General of the State of Israel, the key topic ist aging. As people in Germany and Israel are increasingly getting older, several social and cultural changes are to be expected. [more]

The discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology is considered one of the most important biotechnology breakthroughs of our times. [more]

Following up on the successful 2nd Max Planck Symposium in 2017 focusing on "Sustainability and Social Engagement", the Harnack-Haus will once more be transformed into a "home away from home" in the course of 3rd edition with the title "Advances in Digitalization" -- with interdisciplinary talks, panel discussions and workshops. [more]

Stress is a normal part of everyday life. But reactions to stressful situations differ greatly between individuals and cultures. Scientists know that chronic stress can make people ill in the long term and that a close relationship exists between stress and mental illnesses. [more]

There is hardly any other subject that so preoccupies cosmology as the question of the physical composition of dark matter and dark energy. Are they driving forces in the evolution of the universe or yesterday’s theory? [more]