The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG) is part of a worldwide network of research institutions and researchers working in the social sciences. The institute considers international cooperation to be the most promising organizational form of comparative research. It cooperates closely with several research institutes abroad. Many visiting researchers make valuable contributions to its research program.
 
In 2008, 45 researchers were working at the MPIfG, including 25 research fellows and postdoctoral fellows, 17 doctoral fellows and 3 grant-funded fellows. The institute also hosted 21 visiting researchers from France, Germany, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United States.