IMPRS LIFE

International Max Planck Research School on Learning, Institutions, and Future Evolution (LIFE)

LIFE is an “International Max Planck Research School,” a doctoral program of the Max Planck Society. Its research focus is on the development of human behavior across the lifespan in interaction with the environment. LIFE follows an integrative and interdisciplinary approach to understand how people develop, make decisions, and actively shape their social, cultural, and technological environments in a changing world. The program brings together perspectives from the social, behavioral, and life sciences, while taking into account the role of the environment, institutions, and emerging technologies.

The aim of the research school is to provide advanced training in the study of human behavior and its contextual conditions across the lifespan. To better understand human development in a changing world, LIFE adopts an integrative, interdisciplinary approach that combines developmental, institutional, and environmental perspectives.

The institutions involved in LIFE include the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, and the University of Zurich.

The doctoral program is aimed at graduate students (post-master’s or equivalent) who wish to complete a dissertation in a relevant field (e.g., psychology, sociology, neuroscience, economics, education, or related disciplines). As a structured program that ensures close collaboration and regular exchange among participants, LIFE offers doctoral researchers a wide range of training opportunities on issues related to the development of human behavior in different contexts and across various timescales.

The training program also includes research stays abroad at partner institutions. In addition, it comprises courses, workshops, and methodological training, as well as joint supervision of research projects.