The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI EVA) was founded in 1997. Researchers from over 30 countries and different disciplines work in seven departments. Their common goal is to explore the history of humanity from an interdisciplinary perspective. This involves comparative analyses of the genes, cultures, cognitive abilities and social systems of past and present human populations, as well as those of closely related primate groups. Of particular note is the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to the Institute’s founding director, Svante Pääbo, for his discoveries of the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution.

The Max Planck Society (MPG) was founded in 1948 to keep up the tradition of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft. Many outstanding reserachers worked and still work at this most renowned German research organization, as exemplified by the large number of nobel laureates in its rows. After the reunification in 1989 the society started to found new institutes in several locations in Eastern Germany. Three of them are located in Leipzig.

The Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) is an internationally renowned institute for research into the fundamentals of human cognition. The main focus of the research is on fundamental mechanisms of human thinking and the neural foundations of higher brain functions such as language, memory, orientation, music and communication. Furthermore, the plastic change capacity of the brain and its influence on various cognitive abilities are examined, as well as the neuronal and hormonal basis of diseases of civilization such as high blood pressure and obesity.

The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (MPI MiS) is an internationally oriented research institute for mathematics whose research focus is particularly on the interaction between mathematics and other sciences. The institute’s name is understood as a philosophical and cultural mission: to view mathematics not merely as a modern and powerful tool for scientific applications, but also as a means to address fundamental questions in the sciences through its unique approach, thereby enriching mathematics itself. In addition to its academic mission, the institute is particularly committed to supporting early-career researchers, fostering both doctoral candidates and young scientists in their initial postdoctoral steps. A distinctive feature of the institute is its highly international guest program, which promotes global collaboration and exchange.