Canaries have been domesticated since the 15 th century and are the descendants of the wild canary that lives on the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. Like their wild ...

Astronomers have directly imaged the “swirl” where a protoplanet interacts with the gas in the surrounding protoplanetary disk. Taking an image of structures this small requires a powerful observatory ...

The seven million year old Sahelanthropus tchadensis was discovered in 2001 in Chad and announced in 2002 as a habitual bipedal hominin species based on an adult distorted cranium. Thus, any ...

Orangutan infants spend their first eight years with their mothers, and throughout this time, they can draw on her knowledge. After that, however, orangutans are entirely on their own. To fare well as ...

The number of people living in liberal democracies is declining. The democracies that remain, meanwhile, are fragile, not least because many people view politics and political parties with scepticism.

AI models are becoming increasingly adept at identifying and exploiting security vulnerabilities in IT systems. In July 2026, models from OpenAI, including GPT‑5.6 Sol, even began acting autonomously ...

The Executive Committee advises the President and prepares important decisions for the Society. The Executive Committee draws up the overall budget and prepares the annual accounts. Members of ...

Entering the postdoc phase requires distinguishing yourself through excellent research, impactful publications, and affiliations with leading institutes in your field. At the institute, you will ...

The current call for applications for the Max Planck Postdoc Program runs from 1 September to 13 October 2026 (12 pm CEST). Open positions can be found on the application platform. Please check the ...

Medical therapies are constantly evolving. As part of our focus on the “Future of Medicine” Science Year, we are presenting new approaches in three areas. We describe how a team in Göttingen is ...

At the Max Planck Society, there are various ways to become the Leader of a Research Group - via centralized selection procedures as well as via decentralized ones at the MPIs. Group Leaders can draw ...