Max Planck Dahlem Campus of Cognition (MPDCC)

At the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, we want to understand how and why we humans develop differently, which factors play a role, and how they interact. With the MPDCC, the MPI for Human Development has created a high-end and innovative research infrastructure that enables interdisciplinary and cross-methodological research in the field of behavioral cognitive science and neuroscience. Networking exchange and collaboration are integral to the MPDCC, facilitating new approaches to answering the complex questions of our time.

Collaborators from partner institutions in Berlin and beyond as well as international guests work at the MPDCC. It also is a central research location for London and Berlin fellows of the Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, providing a unique research infrastructure for all associated MPDCC groups. We provide the opportunity to create collaborative networks across disciplines, methodologies, and institutions. 

The MPDCC is also set to provide an excellent environment for educating and promoting the next generations of leading researchers in cognitive (neuro)science and developmental psychology. Hence, it is the Berlin home base for three international PhD programs: the IMPRS LIFE, the IMPRS COMP2PSYCH, and the Max Planck School of Cognition (MPSCog). The graduate schools at the MPDCC partly organize curricula and training together to create synergies between schools and strengthen graduate education. Events like a colloquium series, talks, and workshops at the MPDCC form the basis for a vibrant scientific community with a focus on exchange and collaboration.

At present, the MPDCC houses a 3T MRI lab , a mobile 1.5 T MRI, an EEG lab including mobile EEG equipment that can be integrated with virtual reality (VR), a dedicated VR lab, a pilot set-up of a wave field synthesis lab (WFS), a babylab, a biolab, and several labs for behavioral testing as well as a high-performance computing cluster. In the next few years, the lab infrastructure will be extended by a second 3T MRI, a 7T MRI, a full-fledged WFS lab, a multifuctional lab for combining the various research methods, as well as a living lab, that allows for the simulation of various (living) environments. Research at the MPDCC is facilitated by an experienced lab team supporting study organization, recruitment, and data collection. We have introduced mandatory guidelines for conducting research at our labs. Study participants are recruited through our participant data base (Castellum). To make efficient use of office space and laboratory infrastructure and to secure the high standards of scientific practice and excellence of the Max Planck Society, every study planning to use MPDCC laboratory or staff resources is required to seek approval from the Campus User Meeting Committee.