About the MPIfG

The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies conducts advanced basic research on the governance of modern societies. It aims to develop an empirically based theory of the social and political foundations of modern economies by investigating the interrelation between economic, social and political action. Using primarily an institutional approach, it examines how markets and business organizations are embedded in historical, institutional, political and cultural frameworks, how they develop, and how their social contexts change over time. The institute seeks to build a bridge between theory and policy and to contribute to political debate on major challenges facing modern societies.
 

Who decides what the MPIfG will investigate?

The research program is determined by the directors of the institute, Jens Beckert and Wolfgang Streeck. Within the guidelines of the Max Planck Society, the directors are free to choose their research projects. Some forty to fifty researchers, including research staff, doctoral students, scholarship recipients, visiting researchers and researchers in grant-funded projects work together in teams that are often international. Researchers at the institute participate in research planning and develop their own projects in this context. The MPIfG does not do contract research.
 

Research is dialogue

The MPIfG considers international cooperation to be the most promising organizational form of comparative research. Many visiting researchers make valuable contributions to its research program. The MPIfG is part of a worldwide network of research institutions and researchers working in the social sciences. It cooperates closely with several research institutes abroad, including

• the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (Sciences Po) in Paris and its affiliated institutes, such as the Centre d'Etudes Européennes (CEE), the Centre de Sociologie des Organisations (CSO) and the Centre d'Études et de Recherches Internationales (CERI);
• CEPREMAP (Centre pour la recherche économique et ses applications) in Paris;
• the Center for European Studies and the Department of Sociology at Harvard University;
• the Institute for Policy Research and the Department of Sociology at Northwestern University in Evanston;
• the Department of Management at the London School of Economics (LSE);
• the Graduate School in Social, Economic and Political Sciences at Università degli Studi di Milano;
• the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence;
• Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS).

 

Who evaluates the Institute's research?

The Scientific Advisory Board of the MPIfG, an independent commission made up of scholars from different countries, convenes every two years to evaluate the methods and results of the MPIfG's research. It also advises the directors regarding the development of new research areas. The institute's contact with the public is enhanced by its Board of Trustees, which is made up of representatives of government, business, associations, and the media.
 

Research results are easily accessible

The institute uses its website, www.mpifg.de, to present its current research projects and the research staff to the general public. The website also provides news and information about events and job openings. Research results are another major part of the website. Visitors to the site have easy access to recent publications by the institute and its researchers, publications since the MPIfG's founding and a large number of downloadable documents. The MPIfG has four publication series:

• MPIfG Books are monographs aimed at a wide professional readership;
• MPIfG Discussion Papers are articles reporting on current projects or featuring the work of a visiting researcher. They are usually subsequently published in scholarly journals;
• MPIfG Working Papers report on preliminary research results or contribute to current debates.
• The MPIfG Journal Articles series features articles by MPIfG researchers published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals as well as articles by visiting researchers written at the institute.

The interested public is also informed about the institute's work through its yearbook, its biennial report, informational material, workshops for practitioners, and events and mailings aimed at journalists. Public lectures given by the research staff and visiting researchers, seminars for high-school students and an annual art exhibit give local residents an opportunity to come to the institute and hear about its work.
 

Facts and figures

The MPIfG was founded under the directorship of Renate Mayntz in 1985. It is one of the smaller institutes of the Max Planck Society (MPS), which has some eighty institutes conducting basic research in several disciplines. Most of the Max Planck institutes are devoted to research in the natural sciences, but there are also a number of institutes working in the human and social sciences. With a 1.4 billion euro annual budget, the Max Planck Society is one of the largest non-university research organizations in Germany. Some eighty percent of the Society's funds are provided publicly by federal and regional governments. The rest comes from donations, project funding and self-generated income. The annual budget of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies is presently 4.4 million euros.
 
The institute has 31 full-time positions for researchers and service staff, and some 25 positions for doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers. Additional funding is acquired from the German federal government, the European Union, private funding organizations and foundations.
 
The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies has a library with about 260,000 monographs and journal articles and subscribes to 180 periodicals. It offers online access to its own catalog and a wide range of specialized databases. A well-equipped, state-of-the-art infrastructure ensures optimal international connectivity for the institute's researchers and administration. The MPIfG also provides vocational training to three apprentices working in office communication and information technology.