Now’s the time to start your PhD journey at our International Max Planck Research School - Biological Intelligence (IMPRS-BI)! 🎓 Applying for a PhD position doesn’t have to be complicated – let us guide you through the process. Have a look at our simple guide to the IMPRS-BI recruitment process to help you find your way. 🧭 🗺️ ❗ Apply now: https://lnkd.in/dknb6P5M ⏰ Deadline: 10 November 2026
Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence
Research Services
Planegg, Bavaria 17,503 followers
At the MPI-BI, we investigate how animals acquire, store, apply, and pass on knowledge about their environment.
About us
The Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence is home to seven research departments and around 20 independent research groups. The institute is devoted to basic research and its members investigate how animals acquire, store, apply, and pass on knowledge about their environment in order to find ever-new solutions to problems and adapt to a constantly changing environment. Model organisms include Drosophila, zebrafish, mice, and different bird species.
- Website
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http://www.bi.mpg.de/en
External link for Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence
- Industry
- Research Services
- Company size
- 201-500 employees
- Headquarters
- Planegg, Bavaria
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 1917
- Specialties
- Basic research, Neurobiology, Evolutionary research, Behavioral Ecology, and Biological Intelligence
Locations
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Primary
Get directions
Am Klopferspitz 18
Planegg, Bavaria 82152, DE
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Get directions
Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße
Seewiesen, 82319, DE
Employees at Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence
Updates
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Last week, the new art exhibition opened in our lobby. "More than research", a showcase of the artistic endeavors of our employees at both Max Planck Institutes in Martinsried . With 80 different works of art from painting, sculptures, photography and many other art forms, the exhibition highlights the broad variety and diversity of creative expression among our employees. Everybody is welcome to visit! 📅 21.10.-10.12.2026 🕐 Mon-Fri: 8:00-22:00; Sat & Sun: 8:00-20:00
Earlier this week we opened up the exhibition "More than research", a showcase of the artistic endeavors of our employees at both Max Planck Institutes in Martinsried. With 80 different works of art from painting, sculptures, photography and many other art forms, the exhibition highlights the broad variety and diversity of creative expression among our employees. A huge "Thank You" goes to all exhibiting artists from all fields of the Institutes, be it science, administration, service groups or technical staff. And very special thanks go to the organizers from both institutes who came up with the idea and execution of this beautifully curated exhibition. "More than research", our staff art exhibition, is now open and can be visited until December 10 in the foyer of both Max Planck Institutes in Martinsried at the following opening hours: 🕐 Mon-Fri: 8:00-22:00; Sat & Sun: 8:00-20:00 Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence
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‼️ Registration is now open: Zebrafish Neural Circuits & Behavior This event brings together the zebrafish research community to share scientific ideas, present new discoveries, and build collaborations. The meeting covers a wide range of topics, including sensory and motor systems, cognition, social behavior, neurodevelopment, disease models, imaging, connectomics, and transcriptomics. Registration remains open until December, so there is still an opportunity to participate, even at short notice. We look forward to welcoming you! 📅 December 9-12, 2026 📍Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Martinsried ➡️ Register here: https://lnkd.in/dNWC9Uxs 🔗 More information: https://lnkd.in/dpKcXpEj
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🎨 More than research: Art at the Martinsried Campus! Scientists, researchers and staff members have many talents and not all of them happen in the lab. From 21 October to 10 December 2026, the entrance foyer of the Max Planck Institutes in Martinsried will turn into a creative space. An art exhibition features work by employees of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and the Max-Planck-Institut für biologische Intelligenz. Paintings, photography and works created in many other ways will come together in one exhibition, offering a glimpse of the creative side of our campus community. Everyone is welcome to visit – including external guests! 📍 Foyer Max Planck Institutes, Martinsried 📅 21 October – 10 December 2026 🕐 Mon-Fri: 8:00-22:00; Sat & Sun: 8:00-20:00
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A very warm welcome to our IMPRS-BI class of 2026! 🎓 This year, 14 new PhD students joined our graduate program and kicked off their journey with a week full of introductions, information, and opportunities to connect. During the Orientation Days, they explored the Institute, its research facilities and surroundings. Also, they took part in the workshop on Good Scientific Practice and visited our research site in Seewiesen. Throughout the week, there were plenty of opportunities to meet fellow PhD students and exchange experiences about life as a doctoral researcher. We look forward to the science, collaborations, and friendships that will grow over the coming years. All the best for your PhD journey! 🚀
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Are you ready for your next career move? 🚀 From “just one more scroll” to “Wow, I didn’t know that!” Want to help make science stand out in the TikTok feed? AHA – The Science Communication Hub is looking for a creator with fresh ideas and a passion for science communication. 👉 Interested? Find out more in the slides and follow the link to apply: https://lnkd.in/ekFmCXhu
Wie bringt man Wissenschaft in den Feed von Menschen, die gerade eigentlich nur kurz auf TikTok scrollen wollten? 💡Dieser Frage wollen wir auf den Grund gehen und brauchen dafür kreative Unterstützung. Für unseren TikTok-Kanal suchen wir Creator/-innen, die Lust haben, wissenschaftliche Themen neu zu erzählen, eigene Ideen einzubringen und Wissenschaft dort sichtbar zu machen, wo man sie im Alltag eigentlich nicht erwartet. Du willst dafür sorgen, dass aus „kurz scrollen“ ein „Wow, das wusste ich noch nicht!“ wird? Dann freuen wir uns auf deine Bewerbung! 👉 Die wichtigsten Infos findet ihr auf unseren Slides. Zur ausführlichen Stellenausschreibung geht es über den Link in den Kommentaren.
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Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence reposted this
A new study by the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence and Loro Parque Fundación, published in Royal Society Open Science, shows that blue-throated macaws learn by watching each other. They copy how another macaw solves a problem, including which way it moves a door and which part of the device it uses. The Max Planck Institute has a research station at Loro Parque, where Esha Haldar and her team studied 15 macaws on two tasks, each with two possible solutions. In the first, a door can be slid up or down using a knob. In the second, a cork can be pulled out or pushed in to reach the food. Five birds solved the tasks without a demonstration, and all of them preferred to slide the door down and pull the cork out. The other ten first watched another macaw do the opposite. Afterwards, most of them slid the door up as well. With the cork, the effect was weaker, as half of the birds stayed with their own preference. In both tasks, however, the birds that had watched solved the problem faster, which saves them time and energy. Parrots live in complex social groups, so a solution that passes from one bird to the next can spread through a group and, over generations, become a shared tradition. The study shows how such a tradition could develop, and it opens new research into how these birds learn and organise themselves as a group. This also matters for their protection, as blue-throated macaws are an endangered species, native only to Bolivia. Rafael Zamora, Scientific Director of the Fundación, explains that the better we understand how these birds learn from each other, the more targeted our conservation work can be. Our work with the Max Planck Institute shows that Loro Parque can also be a place for research at the highest level. Thank you to Esha Haldar, Auguste von Bayern and their team, and to our team at Loro Parque Fundación who care for these macaws.
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Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence reposted this
We are looking for a Science Student (M/F/D) with a completed bachelor degree as support for our School and Visitors’ Lab MaxLab. The Lab is being used by both MPIs in Martinsried, the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, to educate interested school classes and other visitor groups with practical showcases and trainings. In your position you will support the Head of our MaxLab in preparing, conducting and assessing the courses. The ideal candidate has knowledge in Molecular biology, cell biology, neurobiology and biochemistry, has experience working in a lab, is interested in working with children of different age groups (elementary up to high school/gymnasium) and is capable to induce excitement for scientific research. Working schedules are on demand and per hour, fluency in German is required. If you are interested in this opening and for further information, please see the link below: ❕ https://lnkd.in/dRt28xTN ❕ https://lnkd.in/dVQkpe95 #hiring #jobalert #StudentJob #LabJob #Education #ScienceBachelor #MaxLab
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Almost 3.000 km across the Tasman Sea: Most New Zealand banded dotterels migrate to Australia to spend a milder winter there. Analysing 12 years of observations from the citizen science platform eBird across Australia, researchers from our Institute found that since 2014, the birds arrive at their Australian non-breeding grounds approximately four days later per year. Their departure back to New Zealand, however, has not changed. Therefore, their estimated stay in the wintering area has decreased by around 25 %. The researchers link the later arrivals to changes in the Southern Annular Mode, a large-scale climate pattern affecting winds and weather around Antarctica, with increasingly mild conditions in New Zealand during the birds’ post-breeding period. If this trend continues, scientists suspect the migration could all but disappear, meaning that most birds would remain in New Zealand year-round. 🔗 Press release: https://lnkd.in/dZjtRjm6 📄 Publication: https://lnkd.in/diW2f9r4 📸 Picture by Bashar Jarayseh
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As part of “Türen auf mit der Maus”, we welcomed children to our Institute on October 3. This year’s theme “Little Miracles” was a perfect match for our research. Our visitors discovered fish and fruit flies and explored their development from egg to adult animal. Microscopes allowed them to see details that are normally invisible to the naked eye. 🐟🪰🔬✨ For us, opening our doors is about more than showing our laboratories. It is about making research accessible, encouraging curiosity and showing young people that science is a process of observing, asking questions and discovering something new. Thank you to everyone who joined us and to all colleagues who helped make this day of discovery possible! Christina Bielmeier & Swantje Grätsch & Danielle Paynter