News and Press Releases

At the beginning of October 2025, Anna Hehenberger successfully defended her dissertation, “Green Vanguards and Dependent Followers: Green Growth and Decarbonization in Export-Led Economies” at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Using Denmark and Austria as case studies, she explores in her research why export-led economies decarbonize at different rates and to different extents. more

Muhammad Osama Iqbal successfully defended his dissertation, “Tightening the Geoeconomic Toolkit: Advanced Capitalism’s Response to the Rise of China” at the University of Cologne in late October. His research analyzes the rise of Chinese foreign direct investment (CFDI) in advanced industrialized economies and political reactions to it. more

Five new doctoral students are beginning their dissertation projects at the International Max Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy (IMPRS-SPCE) this winter semester.
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The MPIfG welcomes four new postdocs and six international visiting scholars this winter semester, with research projects ranging from the political economy of the green transition to global growth models and environmental privilege. more

The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies hosted the second instalment of its Max Planck Summer School for Women in Political Economy from September 22 to 25 this year. The event was attended by twenty-seven female early-career researchers from Europe, North America, and Asia, who came together in Cologne to discuss current debates in the field and to establish professional networks. more

After fifteen years as a researcher at the MPIfG, Timur Ergen is taking over as director of the Institute Labour and Economy (iaw) at the University of Bremen. In addition to managing the institute, in his new role he will also teach economic sociology and political economy at the University of Bremen. more

Julian Jürgenmeyer, a postdoctoral researcher at the MPIfG between 2023 and 2025, is taking up a Harper-Schmidt Fellowship at the University of Chicago this fall. The four-year position as Collegiate Assistant Professor is one of the most coveted postdoctoral positions in the humanities in the US and combines research with teaching in this leading American university’s interdisciplinary undergraduate courses. more