The Max Planck Society is Germany’s top organization for basic research, funding more than 80 institutes in all areas of science including the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, which focuses on artificial intelligence and robotics.
We recently launched the Max Planck Transatlantic Program to strengthen our partnership with U.S. institutions and to help prevent the loss of scientific talent at all career stages. One key aspect is appointing up to 12 Max Planck Advanced Investigators to lead scientifically independent research teams that are highly synergistic with their host institutes.
This opportunity is available for selected senior principal investigators who wish to leave the U.S. and are presently between 55 and 64 years old. Max Planck Advanced Investigator positions will start in 2025 or soon thereafter and will run for 6 years with the possibility of an extension for 3 years. The appointment includes salary, funding, space, and administrative support at the host MPI similar to that provided for Max Planck Research Group Leaders.
Advanced Investigators are expected to significantly broaden the research portfolio of the host institute and the Max Planck Society as a whole, to acquire additional research funding (in particular ERC Super Grants, Advanced Grants or Synergy Grants), and to engage in scientific collaborations within the Max Planck Society.
Nominations for this opportunity must be prepared in close cooperation with the Directors of the intended host institute and are due in late August 2025 to the President of the Max Planck Society, Patrick Cramer. Direct self-nominations are not permitted.
As a Director at the MPI for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart and Tübingen, I welcome confidential inquiries from senior faculty who fit the criteria of this new Advanced Investigators program and are working in the broad areas of artificial intelligence and robotics.
The other Directors of my institute are Michael Black, Moritz Hardt, Christoph Keplinger, and Bernhard Schölkopf, and our present group leaders include Buse Aktaş, Wieland Brendel, Jonas Geiping, Florian Hartmann, Ksenia Keplinger, Celestine Mendler-Dünner, Michael Muehlebach, Antonio Orvieto, Konstantin Rusch, Samira Samadi, and Janneke Schwaner, with more starting soon. We would be happy to welcome an outstanding Advanced Investigator to our vibrant research community, which includes strong partnerships with the ELLIS Institute Tübingen, the Tübingen AI Center, the University of Stuttgart, the University of Tübingen, and ETH Zurich.
Senior researchers who meet the selection criteria (presently working in the U.S., 55–64 years old) and would like to explore becoming an Advanced Investigator at my institute should email a PDF of their CV along with a short summary of their interest to me at kjk@is.mpg.de. Thank you in advance!