The Structure of the Institute

The Max Planck Institute for Human Development is headed by four Directors: Ute Frevert (Director of the Center for the History of Emotions), Ralph Hertwig (Director of the Center for Adaptive Rationality), Ulman Lindenberger (Director of the Center for Lifespan Psychology), and Iyad Rahwan (Director of the Center for Humans and Machines). The current Managing Director is Ralph Hertwig. The Deputy Managing Director is Iyad Rahwan.

Research Centers

Adaptive Rationality

Lifespan Psychology

History of Emotions

Humans and Machines

Lise Meitner Groups

Environmental Neuroscience

Research Groups

Emmy Noether Group | Lifespan Neural Dynamics Group

ERC-funded Research Group Adaptive Memory and Decision Making

MPRG Biosocial | Biology, Social Disparities, and Development

MPRG iSearch | Information Search, Ecological and Active Learning Research with Children

MPRG Naturalistic Social Cognition

MPRG NeuroCode | Neural and Computational Basis of Learning, Memory and Decision Making

Service Units

Administration

Cafeteria

Library and Research Information

Press and Public Relations

Scientific Service

Technical and Central Services

The Institute’s four research centers, a Lise Meitner Group, an Emmy Noether Group, and three Max Planck Research Groups are also involved in numerous national and international collaborative research efforts with universities and nonuniversity research institutions.

More information about our research can be found on our Research and News pages, and in our brochure.

The Institute is one of more than 80 research institutions operated by the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, an independent, nonprofit research organization. The Max Planck Institutes carry out basic research in the natural sciences, life sciences, and social and human sciences.

The Institute’s service units provide the necessary infrastructure and offer unparalleled conditions for outstanding research.

Head of Administration is Jennifer Apel.

Head of Research Planning and Research Coordination is Imke Kruse.

Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research

The Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research was launched in April 2014. It is the result of the existing collaboration between the Max Planck Society and University College London that began in 2011. The UCL Centre is targeting the development and application of computational methods that reorganize and improve our understanding of mental illness and behavioral aging. more

Research Schools

Three International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS) and one Max Planck School have been set up at the Institute to advance the careers of young scientists. They offer especially talented young researchers the opportunity to participate in a structured doctoral program providing excellent research conditions and an intensive, interdisciplinary learning experience. The Institute’s three IMPRS and one Max Planck School are currently: