Research
The Max Planck Institute for Human Development is dedicated to the study of human development, education, and human-machine interaction. Researchers of various disciplines; including psychology, education, sociology, medicine, history, economics, computer science, and mathematics; work together on interdisciplinary projects at the Berlin Institute.
The research questions they examine include how people make effective decisions even under time pressure and information overload, how the school as an institution affects students; development and learning processes, how the interaction between behaviour and brain function changes over a persons lifespan, how human emotions change in a historical context and how they have affected the course of history itself, as well as what social innovations and challenges digitalization brings with it.
At the moment, research at the Institute is primarily organized in four research centers:
Max Planck Partner Groups have been developed as an instrument for the support of collaborative research in target areas which are scientifically promising and innovative, geared to the future and of mutual interest to Max Planck Institutes (MPI) and to the designated partner institutions. Max Planck Partner Groups enable both the MPI and the Head of the Partner Group to continue a sustained scientific interaction.
In research groups, young scientists work on various topics according to their fields of interest.
Emmy Noether Group The Emmy Noether Programme is a programme funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) that gives particularly qualified young scientists the opportunity to qualify for a university professorship over a period of six years by independently leading a junior research group.
ERC-funded Research Group
With the Consolidator Grant of the European Research Council (ERC), the European Union supports promising scientists at the beginning of an independent career. In addition to the ERC Consolidator Grant, the research group "Adaptive Memory and Decision Making" is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Max Planck Research Groups The Max Planck Society offers gifted young scientists and researchers the possibility of independent scientific work through its Max Planck Research Groups.