The Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology () performs fundamental research into

archaeological science Archaeological science consists of the application of scientific techniques to the analysis of archaeological materials and sites. It is related to methodologies of archaeology. Martinón-Torres and Killick distinguish ‘scientific archaeology ...

. The institute is one of more than 80 research institutes 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 ...

and is located in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

History

Max Planck Institute of Economics

The predecessor of the present institute was founded in 1993 as the

Max Planck Institute for Research into Economic Systems The Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology () performs fundamental research into archaeological science. The institute is one of more than 80 research institutes of the Max Planck Society and is located in Jena, Germany. History Max Planck ...

(''Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung von Wirtschaftssystemen'') and later renamed the Max Planck Institute of Economics (''Max-Planck-Institut für Ökonomik''). Its initial mission was researching the transition of the former

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

economic systems, but it later researched a broad set of problems relating to change in modern economies more generally, including

evolutionary economics Evolutionary economics is a school of economic thought that is inspired by evolutionary biology. Although not defined by a strict set of principles and uniting various approaches, it treats economic development as a process rather than an equil ...

experimental economics Experimental economics is the application of experimental methods to study economic questions. Data collected in experiments are used to estimate effect size, test the validity of economic theories, and illuminate market mechanisms. Economic expe ...

, and

entrepreneurial studies Entrepreneurial economics is the field of study that focuses on the study of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship within the economy. The accumulation of factors of production per se does not explain economic development. They are necessary factors of ...

. It was organized into three research units: * Evolutionary Economics Group (director: Ulrich Witt) * Strategic Interaction Group (director:

Werner Güth Werner Güth (born 2 February 1944) is a German economist who, together with Rolf Schmittberger and Bernd Schwarze, first described the ultimatum game. He is currently Emeritus Director at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Good ...

) * Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group (director: David B. Audretsch)

Present-day

In March 2014, the institute was renamed the Max Planck Institute for History and the Sciences. A few months later, on November 21, 2014, the Institute of Economics was realigned and renamed to the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. From 2016, it consisted of three interdisciplinary research departments that integrate methods and research questions from the natural sciences and the humanities: the Department of Archaeogenetics, led by Johannes Krause, the Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, led by Russell Gray, and the Department of Archaeology, led by Nicole Boivin. In 2015 it took over from the

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (, shortened to MPI EVA) is a research institute based in Leipzig, Germany, that was founded in 1997. It is part of the Max Planck Society network. Well-known scientists currently based at ...

the task of maintaining the

Glottolog ''Glottolog'' is an open-access online bibliographic database of the world's languages. In addition to listing linguistic materials ( grammars, articles, dictionaries) describing individual languages, the database also contains the most up-to-d ...

. In October 2021, Boivin was removed from her position, after an investigation found evidence of "workplace misconduct and bullying". In June 2022, the Max Planck Society announced that it would rename the institute as the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology.

Location

The institute is located on Kahlaische Strasse, about 1 km south-east of the city center. It is housed in a restored

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

villa, linked by a glass bridge to a much larger modern building, which includes offices and other facilities for each of the research units, each unit having one floor of the main section of the building.

Administration

The director of the institute is: *

Jonathan Gershenzon Jonathan Gershenzon (born 1955) is an American biochemist. Scientific career After studying biology as an undergraduate at the University of California in Santa Cruz, Gershenzon received his PhD in botany from the University of Texas in 1984. ...

(Managing Director)

References

External links

Website for the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History

Website for the former Max Planck Institute of Economics
{{Authority control Science of Human History Research institutes established in 1993 Anthropological research institutes Genetics or genomics research institutions Buildings and structures in Jena