Max Planck Schools

Are your looking for an international PhD program within a unique network providing early access to cutting-edge interdisciplinary research and world-class supervision? And are you ready to start your career in academia learning and collaborating with leading researchers across Germany? The Max Planck Schools are best choice.

The Max Planck Schools are a joint graduate program of currently 27 universities and 35 institutes from non-university research organizations. Ambitious and promising PhD candidates engage in cutting-edge interdisciplinary research in the fields of Cognition, Matter to Life, and Photonics, while studying in the context of a unique scientific network, closely supervised by outstanding scientists. Both Bachelor and Master graduates can enter the program and benefit from early access to first-class research infrastructures and innovative teaching formats in a fully-funded PhD program. 

The idea behind the Max Planck Schools is to pool Germany’s scientific excellence in growing research fields in order to attract and train the best PhD candidates in the world and to enable them to make lasting contributions to a future worth living in. Moreover, the Max Planck Schools want to develop the German science system further to allow it to meet future demands. Each School brings together up to 50 leading scientists from related fields to offer talented PhD candidates from all over the world a unique scientific environment in Germany and trains them for leading positions, particularly within academia but also in industry. 

Key partners playing a prominent role in the pilot phase (2018 – 2025) are the Max Planck Society, Fraunhofer Society, DWI Aachen, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Georg August University Göttingen, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Humboldt University Berlin, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Technical University Munich, University of Heidelberg and University of Leipzig. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is supporting the pilot phase with 48 million Euros.

Max Planck School of Cognition

How do we acquire knowledge, how do humans or machines adapt and transform knowledge, and what, exactly, is there to know? The Max Planck School of Cognition aims to answer these questions using an interdisciplinary approach. Its scholarship revolves around researching knowledge in and of itself. more

Max Planck School Matter to Life

What, exactly, is life? Can processes, functions, and objects related to life be simulated and recreated in the laboratory? The Max Planck School Matter to Life’s interdisciplinary innovative curriculum and state-of-the art research focus on combining principles of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering to better understand processes essential for living systems. more

Max Planck School of Photonics

How can a photon contribute to imaging without it hitting a camera? How can light be manipulated and how can its properties be used to develop non-contact sensors? The Max Planck School of Photonics explores key questions relating to photonics in order to explore the future of basic research and new technologies in related disciplines. more

Applications must be submitted to the respective Max Planck School via an online portal on the basis of the specific requirements of each School. The application period starts in fall on a yearly basis; the selection procedure involves several stages. 

The Max Planck Schools outline their exact requirements and further details on their websites:

Max Planck School of Cognition

Max Planck School Matter to Life

Max Planck School of Photonics