Max Planck Schools
Fully Funded PhD Programs in Germany
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.
At a Glance
- 30 universities and 33 non-university research institutions
- four interdisciplinary and future-oriented research fields: Biomedical AI, Cognition, Matter to Life, Photonics
- fully funded PhD programs
- programs conducted entirely in English
- applications accepted annually from September 1st to December 1st — the next cohort begins the following year
The Max Planck Schools are a joint graduate program of currently 30 universities and 33 institutes from non-university research organizations. Ambitious and promising PhD candidates engage in cutting-edge interdisciplinary research in the fields of Biomedical AI, 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 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, University of Leipzig, Leibniz Institute of Virology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and University of Tübingen. The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) supports the PhD programme.
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 Biomedical AI
Max Planck School of Cognition
