Max Planck Institutes and Experts

To understand better the methods of visual communication of new scientific discoveries in the seventeenth century, this project focusses on the Dutch microscopist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. With a team of experts on visual culture, early modern microscopy, and modern photomicrography, we investigated the earliest surviving microscopic specimens made by Leeuwenhoek himself through one of his hand-made microscopes. We compared the results to his original letters and drawings, resulting into new insights into the epistemological value of drawings in the seventeenth-century microscopy.

The search for a „final theory“ was a leitmotif of physics in the 20th Century. The Max Planck Research Group „Historical Epistemology of the Final Theory Program“, headed by Alexander Blum, studies and assesses this century-long search, using the methods of historical epistemology. Here it presents the (failed) attempts of the later Werner Heisenberg at constructing such a final theory.

Consumers need independent health information to evaluate health care services. Fast-and-frugal decision trees can reduce complexity and help consumers identify useful health information. Together with experts and laypeople and based on machine learning methods, we developed a fast-and-frugal tree that warns consumers about unreliable health information. Integrated learning methods, we developed a fast-and-frugal tree that warns consumers about unreliable health information. Integrated into the RisikoKompass-App (RiskCompass-App), the decision tree enhances consumer’s risk literacy.

In December 2019, the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg (MPI Luxembourg) completed the empirical research project IC2BE, which is dedicated to the so-called second generation of EU regulations on procedural law for cross-border cases. It was developed in cooperation with numerous renowned research institutions in Europe. The project is funded by the European Commission (EUR 780 000).

Stress-induced diseases are among the most common health problems worldwide and include both mental disorders such as depression and physical conditions such as diabetes. These diseases are causally related to each other and the mechanisms of stress regulation could be a common cause of both physical and mental disorders. We have identified a central mechanism that is decisively involved in the development of stress-induced diseases and represents a novel treatment option.