Cast off! Starting May 7, the MS Wissenschaft will once again tour Germany.

On board the floating science center is our Elderbot. The AI chatbot designed to combat loneliness is a joint project of the Research Center for Environmental Neuroscience and for Human & Machine, together with the Department of Psychiatry at the University Medical Center Hamburg‑Eppendorf. © Retusche: Gabriel_Kienast / Wissenschaft im Dialog, CC BY-SA 4.0

New Lise Meitner Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Since early May, the new Lise Meitner Research Group Neuroplasticity in Development and Learning has joined our institute and is dedicated to the biological foundations of neuroplasticity and how it supports learning across the lifespan.

Digital Helpers for Mental Health

Smartwatches, apps, and chatbots: digital helpers will soon be indispensable. What will matter going forward?

What ice-fishing competitions reveal about human decision-making

An international team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, the Cluster of Excellence “Science of Intelligence” at TU Berlin and the University Eastern Finland in Joensuu has carried out an unusual study in the frozen landscapes of Finland. The researchers used ice-fishing competitions as a natural setting to investigate human foraging behavior. The results of the study have been published in Science. 

Our Institute in the media

Here you can find links to selected articles, radio- and TV reports about the activities of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in 2025.

Join our research – become part of our studies

The Max Planck Institute for Human Development is always looking for adults and children of all ages, who would like to take part in studies.

About our Institute

Get to know us – our Research Center and Groups, our service structure, and what drives us in our scientific work.