The Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence (; abbreviated MPI-BI) is a non-university

research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

of 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 ...

. The institute is dedicated to

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 ...

on topics in

behavioral ecology Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for ethology, animal behavior due to ecology, ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined Tinbergen's f ...

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biolo ...

and

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

. Research at the international institute focuses on how animal organisms acquire, store, apply and pass on knowledge about their environment in order to find ever-new solutions to problems and adapt to a constantly changing environment. Model organisms include

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' (), from Ancient Greek δρόσος (''drósos''), meaning "dew", and φίλος (''phílos''), meaning "loving", is a genus of fly, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or p ...

zebrafish The zebrafish (''Danio rerio'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Danionidae of the order Cypriniformes. Native to South Asia, it is a popular aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name zebra danio (an ...

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

and various bird species.

Structure and History

The board of directors manages the institute, with around 500 employees coming from more than 50 nations. One of the institute's directors is taking over as managing director for a specific time. As of February 2024, Manfred Gahr is the managing director of the institute. The MPI-BI emerged in January 2022 from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology (MPIN) and the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (MPIO). Following a founding year, the legal founding of the institute took place on 1 January 2023.

Campus

The institute has two locations: At the nature-oriented Seewiesen campus, in the municipality of

Pöcking Pöcking is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany. It is best known for being the location of Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria's childhood summer home, Possenhofen Castle. Transport The district has a railway station, , t ...

near

Starnberg Starnberg is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, some southwest of Munich. It is at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the "Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the Starnberg (district), district of Starnberg. Recor ...

, field research is combined with modern methods of behavioral biology. At the

Martinsried Martinsried is a village in the municipality of Planegg in Munich district, Bavaria, Germany. It is one of Munich's two science suburbs. Martinsried is best known as the location of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, the Max Planck Inst ...

campus in the southwest of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, neuroscientific research is currently the main focus. Here, laboratory experiments are combined with state-of-the-art methods such as

optogenetics Optogenetics is a biological technique to control the activity of neurons or other cell types with light. This is achieved by Gene expression, expression of Channelrhodopsin, light-sensitive ion channels, Halorhodopsin, pumps or Photoactivated ade ...

connectomics Connectomics is the production and study of connectomes, which are comprehensive maps of connections within an organism's nervous system. Study of neuronal wiring diagrams looks at how they contribute to the health and behavior of an organism. ...

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...

Scientific scope

Scientific research at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence is thematically divided into seven research departments and 17 independent research groups. Numerous thematic connections between the groups result in a lively exchange and numerous collaborations within the institute. Biological intelligence describes the ability to achieve complex goals. Animal organisms are able to attain this for example by means of calculation, planning and decision-making—as individuals or in groups. The brains and the associated behavior that we can observe today are the result of evolution due to the successful adaptation to previously mastered challenges. The goal of research at MPI-BI is to decipher the mechanisms of biological intelligence at its various levels. Research approaches ranging from the investigation of molecular interactions to those of entire groups of individuals. A particular focus lays on animal behavior in its natural environment, as the adaptation of biological systems occurs in harmony with their surroundings. The study of the brain in its natural environment thus provides insight, for example, into how organisms communicate with each other and change their environment, or how social interactions lead to the formation of differentiated societies.

Departments

* Department Genes – Circuits – Behavior, headed by Herwig Baier * Department Evolution of Sensory and Physiological Systems, headed by Maude Baldwin * Department Synapses – Circuits – Plasticity, headed by

Tobias Bonhoeffer Tobias Bonhoeffer (born January 9, 1960) is a German-American neurobiologist. He is director of the department Synapses – Circuits – Plasticity and current managing director at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Martinsr ...

* Department Circuits – Computation – Models, headed by Alexander Borst * Department Electrons – Photons – Neurons, headed by Winfried Denk * Department of Behavioral Neurobiology, headed by Manfred Gahr * Department of Ornithology, headed by Bart Kempenaers * Department Molecules – Signaling – Development, headed by Rüdiger Klein

External links

Homepage of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence

News release regarding the merger of the MPI of Neurobiology and the MPI for Ornithology

References

{{Max Planck Society Research in Germany Education in Munich Biological Intelligence Neuroscience research centers in Germany Ornithology Neuroscience