Groups and Max Planck UCL Centre

Max Planck Research Groups

While Max Planck Research Groups (MPRG) use the facilities and resources of a Max Planck Institute, they have their own staff and equipment, which enables their heads to pursue research projects independently, laying the foundations for a successful career. They are initially limited to 5 years, but can be extended for up to 3 years. Two Max Planck Research Groups are currently working at the Institute.

MPRG Biosocial | Biology, Social Disparities, and Development

Head: Laurel Raffington
The MPRG Biosocial examines how genetic influences and social inequality combine to shape life-course trajectories with downstream consequences for adult socioeconomic attainments and aging-related health.

MPRG MR Physics

Head: Benedikt Poser
The goal of the MPRG MR Physics is defined by a dual mission: first, to deliver state-of-the-art multi-field magnetic resonance (MR) technology as a shared, intramural resource for human imaging studies; and second, to pioneer novel MR physics methodologies.

Emmy Noether Group

The Emmy Noether Programme is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and gives particularly qualified young scientists the opportunity to qualify for a university professorship over a period of 6 years by independently leading a junior research group.

RAVEN | Real-world Applications of Variability in Episodic memory and Neurodevelopment

Head: Chi (Zoe) Ngo
The Emmy Noether Group RAVEN studies how children assemble the foundational building blocks of learning and memory abilities across childhood and how such memory abilities relate to children's memories for personal life events.

ERC-Funded Research Group

The ERC Starting and Consolidator grants support individual researchers who are starting or consolidating their own independent research team or program, and who can demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition, and feasibility of their scientific proposal.

Research Group Adaptive Memory and Decision Making (AMD)

Head: Bernhard Spitzer
The AMD Group was located at the MPIB until 2025. Its main research focus was on the representational dynamics of information in human working memory.

Minerva Fast Track Research Group

The Max Planck Society's Minerva Fast Track program offers exceptional female researchers the opportunity for long-term career planning after completion of their doctorate. Upon completing their dissertation or their first postdoctoral position, participants receive funding for up to four years.

Minerva Fast Track Research Group Migration, Identity and Blackness in Europe

Head: Johanna von Seggern-Lukate
The MIB (Migration, Identity and Blackness in Europe) Minerva Fast Track Group examines how identity and modes of identification are formed and transformed in the context of migration, with a particular focus on migration from the African continent to Europe.

Max Planck Partner Groups

Max Planck Partner Groups are intended for outstanding junior scientists or postdocs who have spent a minimum of 6 to 12 months at an MPI and, at the time of nomination, hold or are expected to hold a position at a research institution, ideally in their home country. Partner Groups are supported for up to five years with 20,000 EUR p.a. provided from MPG central funds. Funds can be used to cover expenses for travel, workshops, doctoral students/postdocs, and minor equipment. more

Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research

Directors: Raymond J. Dolan, London, and Ulman Lindenberger, Berlin

The Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research was established in April 2014 as a joint initiative of the Max Planck Society and the University College London. The Centre fosters a mechanistic understanding of behavioral aging and psychopathology by developing and applying statistical and computational tools to delineate individual differences in brain–behavior dynamics.