The Max Planck Institute for Human Development (Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung) (MPIB) is a social science research organization. Located in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, it is one of over 80 institutions run by the

Max Planck Society The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, it was renamed to the M ...

. It was initiated in 1961 and officially began operations in 1963 under the name Institute for Educational Research in the Max Planck Society, before receiving its current name in 1971. Its first director was Hellmut Becker. The institute is part of the Human Sciences Section of the Max Planck Society. Research activities focus on the

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

and

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

, with an emphasis on

basic research Basic research, also called pure research, fundamental research, basic science, or pure science, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenome ...

. The concept of education is defined broadly, embracing both formal educational processes as well as developmental processes from childhood to old age. Currently, around 350 employees contribute to interdisciplinary research in four research centers, and three research groups. ''Research Centers'' * Center for Adaptive Rationality (director in 2025: Ralph Hertwig) * Center for Lifespan Psychology (director in 2025: Ulman Lindenberger) * Center for Environmental Neuroscience (director in 2025: Simone Kühn) *Center for Humans and Machines (director in 2025: Iyad Rahwan) ''Research Groups'' * Max Planck Research Group Biosocial , Biology, Social Disparities, and Development * ERC-funded Research Group Adaptive Memory and Decision Making * Max Planck Research Group MR Physics The ''Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research'' took up its work in April 2014; it was the result of the existing collaboration between the Max Planck Society and University College London that began in 2011. The Centre is dedicated to studying the causes of psychiatric disorders as well as the causes of individual differences in cognitive development, with an emphasis on adulthood and old age. The ''Harding Centre for Risk Literacy'', which was opened at the MPIB in 2009, is now based at the University of Potsdam. The centre's research focuses on the vision of the responsible citizen who knows how to deal with the risks of a modern technological world in an informed manner. The director of the Harding Center is

Gerd Gigerenzer Gerd Gigerenzer (; born 3 September 1947) is a German psychologist who has studied the use of bounded rationality and heuristics in decision making. Gigerenzer is director emeritus of the Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition (ABC) at the Ma ...

. The Research Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition (Director: Gerd Gigerenzer) ended its activities in 2017. The Research Center of Educational Research (Director: Jürgen Baumert) ended its activities in 2010. Its best-known projects were the TIMS study (

TIMSS The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)'s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a series of international assessments of the mathematics and science knowledge of students aro ...

) and the

PISA Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

study, whose results received wide attention by both the

mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

and

politicians A politician is a person who participates in policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles or duties tha ...

. The institute is located in

Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf () is an inner-city locality of Berlin which lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf following Berlin's 2001 admin ...

, a neighbourhood in the southwest of Berlin, immediately bordering on the neighborhood of Dahlem, and is therefore considered part of Dahlem's traditional science district. This is home to a number of scientific organizations such as the Free University Berlin, which works together with the institute. The founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development was Hellmut Becker, subsequently joined by Dietrich Goldschmidt (1963) and Saul B. Robinsohn (1964) as the first generation of directors. They were followed by directors Wolfgang Edelstein (1973), Peter M. Roeder (1973) and Friedrich Edding (director from 1973), Paul B. Baltes (1980), Karl Ulrich Mayer (1983), Jürgen Baumert (1996),

(1997), Ulman Lindenberger (2003), Ute Frevert (2008), Ralph Hertwig (2012), Iyad Rahwan (2019) and Simone Kühn (2024). During 2024, over 60% of the institute’s research was in the area of Biological Sciences, with Biology and Health making up 85% of research work. Publications were mainly from the field of social sciences, with Psychology, Human Development and Economics making up 75% of published articles.

References

External links

Publications of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Official site of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Harding Center for Risk Literacy

Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research

BlueSky Channel of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Twitter Channel of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development

YouTube Channel of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development
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Human Development Human development may refer to: * Development of the human body ** This includes physical developments such as growth, and also development of the brain * Developmental psychology * Development theory * Human development (economics) * Human Develo ...

Research institutes in Berlin Social science research institutes Universities and colleges in Berlin

See also

References

External links