IMPRS - International Max Planck Research Schools

A state-of-the-art degree in research

Since 2000, the International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS) have become a permanent part of our efforts to promote Ph.D. students. Talented German and foreign junior scientists are offered the opportunity to earn a doctorate under excellent research conditions. A shared characteristics of the graduate programmes at Max Planck Institutes is a close colloboration with universities.

Currently, there are 68 IMPRS. The research schools are established by one or several Max Planck Institutes. However, these IMPRS work in close cooperation with universities and other – sometimes foreign – research institutions. This provides an extraordinary framework for the graduate students to work in, and is a great advantage in interdisciplinary research projects, or in projects that require special equipment. Currently, approx. 80 Max Planck Institutes are associated with an IMPRS.

Innovative training programmes

In general, about half of the junior researchers who receive their training at an IMPRS are from Germany and the other half from around the world. The principal component of the 3-year study programme is the doctoral thesis representing a major piece of independent research, mainly in an interdisciplinary topic. Doctoral students also benefit from regular workshops, which facilitate exchange of information and provide students with the opportunity to see their research topic from different perspectives. The right to confer degrees remains with the respective university. However, supervising tutors at both the universities and the Max Planck Institutes look after the students, instruct them and test them.

Applications are welcome!

How to apply for a PhD position in the Max Planck Society

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2yDs5FHDok

Students interested in joining the doctoral programme at an International Max Planck Research School should decide which IMPRS would be relevant for them in terms of its scientific focus and directly contact the relevant School's coordinator for more details.

An overview of all IMPRS

IMPRS - Biological Intelligence

Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence (Seewiesen site), Seewiesen, Bayern
Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence (Martinsried site), Martinsried, Bayern

IMPRS on Computational Methods in Psychiatry and Ageing Research

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin

IMPRS for Molecules of Life

Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Bayern

IMPRS for Molecular Plant Science

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Brandenburg

IMPRS for Quantum Dynamics and Control

Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Sachsen

IMPRS on Ageing

Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior - caesar, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen

IMPRS for Astronomy and Astrophysics

Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen

IMPRS for Astronomy and Cosmic Physics

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg

IMPRS on Gravitational Wave Astronomy

Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Potsdam-Golm, Brandenburg
Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Hanover), Hannover, Niedersachsen

IMPRS on Astrophysics

Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Bayern
Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Bayern

IMPRS for Quantitative Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution

Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell / Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg

IMPRS for Global Biogeochemical Cycles

Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Thüringen

IMPRS for Molecular Biology

Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen, Niedersachsen

IMPRS for Biology and Computation

Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin

IMPRS for Evolutionary Biology

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Schleswig-Holstein

IMPRS for Molecular Biomedicine

Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen

IMPRS on Multiscale Bio-Systems

Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam-Golm, Brandenburg

IMPRS on Cellular Biophysics

Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Hessen

IMPRS for Brain and Behavior

Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior - caesar, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen

IMPRS for Cell, Developmental and Systems Biology

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Sachsen

IMPRS for Elementary Processes in Physical Chemistry

Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Berlin

IMPRS on Earth System Modelling

Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg

IMPRS on Chemical Communication in Ecological Systems

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Thüringen

IMPRS on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy

Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen

IMPRS on Elementary Particle Physics

Max Planck Institute for Physics, Garching, Bayern

IMPRS for Advanced Methods in Process and Systems Engineering

Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt

IMPRS for Precision Tests of Fundamental Symmetries

Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg

IMPRS for Genome Science

Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen, Niedersachsen
Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen, Niedersachsen

IMPRS Global Multiplicity - A Social Anthropology for the Now

Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle (Saale), Sachsen-Anhalt

IMPRS: The Leipzig School of Human Origins

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Sachsen

IMPRS for the Science of Human History

Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Thüringen

IMPRS for Ultrafast Imaging and Structural Dynamics

Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg

IMPRS for Immunobiology, Epigentics and Metabolism

Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg

IMPRS for Infectious Diseases and Immunology

Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin

IMPRS for Intelligent Systems

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart site, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen site, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg

IMPRS - Knowledge and Its Resources: Historical Reciprocities

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin

IMPRS for Language Sciences

Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, Niederlande

IMPRS on the Life Course

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin

IMPRS for Living Matter

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, Nordrhein-Westfalen

IMPRS of Marine Microbiology

Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen

IMPRS for Condensed Matter Science

Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg

IMPRS Mathematics in the Sciences

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig, Sachsen

IMPRS for Sustainable Metallurgy - from Fundamentals to Engineering Materials

Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Berlin

IMPRS on Principles of Microbial Life

Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Hessen

IMPRS for Moduli Spaces

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen

IMPRS "From Molecules to Organisms"

Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg
Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg

IMPRS for Science and Technology of Nano-Systems

Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle (Saale), Sachsen-Anhalt

IMPRS for Neural Circuits

Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt am Main, Hessen

IMPRS on Cognitive NeuroImaging

Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Sachsen

IMPRS for Synapses and Circuits

Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, FL 33458, USA

IMPRS for The Mechanisms of Mental Function and Dysfunction

Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg

IMPRS for Neurosciences

Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen, Niedersachsen
Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen, Niedersachsen

IMPRS for Molecular Organ Biology

Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim, Hessen

IMPRS on Advanced Photon Science

Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching, Bayern

IMPRS Physics of Light

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Bayern

IMPRS Physics and Medicine

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Bayern

IMPRS for Physics of Biological and Complex Systems

Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen, Niedersachsen
Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen, Niedersachsen

IMPRS on Understanding Complex Plant Traits using Computational and Evolutionary Approaches

Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen

IMPRS for Population, Health and Data Science

Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

IMPRS for Translational Psychiatry

Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, München, Bayern

IMPRS for Quantum Science and Technology

Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching, Bayern

IMPRS for Chemistry and Physics of Quantum Materials

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Sachsen

IMPRS for Quantum Dynamics in Physics, Chemistry and Biology

Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg

IMPRS on Reactive Structure Analysis for Chemical Reactions

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Nordrhein-Westfalen

IMPRS on Behaviorally Smart Institutions

Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen

IMPRS for Solar System Science

Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Niedersachsen

IMPRS on Trustworthy Computing

Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbrücken, Saarland
Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, Kaiserslautern site, Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz
Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, Saarbrücken site, Saarbrücken, Saarland

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