Max Planck Institute in Germany invites applications for vacant (16) Postdoctoral Scholarships

Apply for Max Planck PhD and Postdoc Positions. Competitive TVöD salaries & premium facilities. Strict entry standards. Start your career in Germany!

The Max Planck Society is Germany's most successful research organization. With over 80 specialized institutes, it provides a unique "excellence-driven" environment where the world’s leading scientists are given the freedom to pursue high-risk, high-reward research without the burden of heavy teaching loads.

Why Pursue Research at Max Planck?

• First-Class Funding: PhD candidates are typically employed under the TVöD (Public Service Wage Agreement), usually at 65% or 75% of the E13 level, ensuring a comfortable living standard in Germany.
• International Environment: More than half of all researchers at Max Planck Institutes come from outside Germany, creating a truly global and English-speaking academic culture.
• The "Harnack" Principle: Max Planck chooses the best "brains" and builds the research around them, rather than following pre-set rigid departmental structures.

Below, you will find the latest research vacancies across the various Max Planck Institutes, including roles in Biology and Medicine, Chemistry, Physics, and the Human Sciences.

Max Planck PhD and Postdoc Positions

Personal Assistant (m/f/d) to support the Department Director (part-time 50 - 75%)October 21, 2026Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg

Call for Postdoctoral Fellowships (2027-29) | Collaborative research project “Connected Teams”October 20, 2026Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max Planck Institute, Florence, Italy

Finance and Purchasing Administrative Support (m/f/d)October 20, 2026Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden

Student / Research Assistant (m/f/d)October 20, 2026Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne

Electronics Engineer (m/f/d)October 19, 2026Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen

Population and Social Data Science Summer Incubator ProgramOctober 15, 2026Demographics International Social SciencesMax Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock

Postdoc / Research Scientist (m/f/d) | Kinship Inequalities Research GroupOctober 14, 2026Demographics International Social SciencesMax Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock

Postdoctoral position (m/f/d) | Oceanic Collective IntelligenceOctober 14, 2026Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell / Constance

Project Scientist (m/f/d) | Development of a plasma spectrometerOctober 14, 2026Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen

Postdoctoral Researchers (m/f/d) | Applied and Computational MathematicsOctober 13, 2026Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden

University of Hong Kong – Max Planck PhD Studentship in Population StudiesOctober 13, 2026Demographics International Social SciencesMax Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock

Postdoctoral scientist (m/f/d) | Atmospheric inverse modeling to constrain high-latitude greenhouse gas budgetsOctober 12, 2026Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena

Student Assistant (m/f/d)October 08, 2026Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried

Postdoctoral Position(s) (m/f/d) | High-Energy AstrophysicsOctober 08, 2026Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching

Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d) | Biomolecular Phase Transitions from Microfluidics to ProcessesOctober 08, 2026Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Magdeburg

PhD Student (f/m/d) | Engineering Crystallization and Precipitation Processes for BiopharmaceuticalsOctober 08, 2026Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Magdeburg

Research Fellow positions (Doctoral Researchers) (f/m/d)October 08, 2026Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg

PhD Student (m/f/d) | Analysis of communication and coordination in animal groupsOctober 07, 2026Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell / Constance

PhD Student or Postdoc (f/m/d) | Theory and methods for non-equilibrium theory and atomistic simulations of complex biomoleculesOctober 07, 2026Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen

PhD Student (m/f/d) | Oceanic Collective IntelligenceOctober 07, 2026Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell / Constance

Electronics Engineer (m/f/d)October 07, 2026Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg

Post-doctoral position (m/f/d) in ancient pathogen genomicsOctober 07, 2026Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig

PhD Position (m/f/d) | Reproductive MechanobiologyOctober 02, 2026Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg

First Research Article Fellowship ProgramOctober 01, 2026Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin

PhD positions (m/f/d) | Physics and Chemistry of Quantum MaterialsOctober 01, 2026Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden

PhD Student Positions (f/m/d) | Electron-Light Interaction in Silicon Photonic NanostructuresOctober 01, 2026Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen

Postdoctoral position (f/m/d) | Experimental particle physicsSeptember 30, 2026Max Planck Institute for Physics, Garching

Max Planck Research Group Leader (W2) (m/f/d) | NeuroethologySeptember 29, 2026Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior - caesar, Bonn

PhD student (m/f/d) | Cultural grooming and social bonds in Great ApesSeptember 29, 2026Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell / Constance

Postdoctoral Positions (m/f/d) | Gravitational-Wave ScienceSeptember 28, 2026Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Potsdam-Golm

Scientist (m/f/d) | Quantum Sensors & Qubit TechnologySeptember 28, 2026Semiconductor Laboratory of the Max Planck Society (HLL), Garching

Scientific Coordinator (m/f/d) | International Max Planck Research School for Ultrafast Imaging and Structural DynamicsSeptember 25, 2026Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg

Scientific Coordinator (m/f/d)September 24, 2026Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Frankfurt am Main

Postdoc position (m/f/d) |Astrophysical Plasma Theory GroupSeptember 24, 2026Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg

Postdocs (f/m/d) incl. possibility to earn post-doctoral lecturing qualification (habilitation)September 23, 2026Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg

PhD Student (m/f/d) | Organometallic CatalysisSeptember 21, 2026Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr

Postdoctoral position (m/f/d) | Computational Relativistic AstrophysicsSeptember 17, 2026Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Potsdam-Golm

Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d) | Detecting exoplanets through magnetic star-planet interactionSeptember 17, 2026Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen

Fully funded PhD positions (f/m/d) | Quantum MaterialsSeptember 16, 2026Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Halle, Dresden

23 interdisciplinary PhD positions (f/m/d) | Ultrafast Science and Quantum MaterialsSeptember 15, 2026Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg

Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d) | Characterizing young star-planet systems and their flaring activitySeptember 14, 2026Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen

Two Research Support Positions (m/f/d)September 14, 2026Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne

Postdoctoral position (m/f/d) | Bonobo life history including database managementSeptember 09, 2026Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell / Konstanz

25 PhD Positions (m/f/d) | Max Planck School of Biomedical AISeptember 04, 2026Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried

PhD / Postdoc position | AI-Driven Molecular Modeling for Atmospheric Organic Reactions and Multiphase/Interfacial ChemistryAugust 28, 2026Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz

PhD Researcher Positions (f/m/d) | Quantitative Past Urban StudiesAugust 13, 2026Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena

Fully funded PhD positionsAugust 11, 2026Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne

Postdoctoral Researcher positions | Statistical Physics and Active MatterJuly 28, 2026Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen

PhD positions | Statistical Physics and Active MatterJuly 28, 2026Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen

Postdoctoral Position (f/m/d) | Spectro-Microscopy Studies of Complex Processes in Thermal Catalysis and ElectrochemistryMay 29, 2026Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Berlin