History of the MPIfG
1984

The
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
(Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung, MPIfG) in
Cologne is founded on November 23 by the Max Planck Society. The
Max Planck Society's goal is to provide a solid basis for basic
research in social sciences within its organization. The
institute's founding director is Professor
Renate Mayntz, Full
Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Applied
Social Research at the University of Cologne.
1986

Professor
Fritz W. Scharpf, Director at the the Social Science
Research Center Berlin (WZB) from 1973 to 1984, is appointed
to be the second director at the MPIfG. The institute's
research focuses on internationally comparative studies of
the interaction between political-administrative
intervention and societal self-organization in selected
sectors close to the state.
1988
The
MPIfG Scientific Advisory Board is established to advise the
directors on the institute's research program and to
evaluate the institute's work. The board (Fachbeirat)
reports to the President of the Max Planck Society.
1995

Professor
Wolfgang Streeck, Professor of Sociology and Industrial
Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1988 to
1995, joins the directorate of the MPIfG. He is to succeed
Professor Renate Mayntz as director at the institute when she
retires two years later.
1996
The modified and expanded research program of the MPIfG
focuses on the reaction of national political and societal
systems of regulation to international economic and
institutional integration.
1997
Professor
Renate Mayntz retires in April. Professor Colin Crouch
from Oxford University and the European University Institute is
appointed to be an External Scientific Member of the institute.
He is a distinguished international scholar whose comparative
work spans sociology, political science and economics. The MPIfG
Board of Trustees, whose members come from government, business
and research organizations, is established to promote the
exchange of ideas and information between the MPIfG and the
general public.
1998

In
August the MPIfG confirms its intention to remain in Cologne
by moving downtown to a new building in Cologne's Südstadt.
The increased office space enables the institute to host
more visiting researchers and expand its involvement in
international research projects.
2005

Professor
Jens Beckert succeeds Fritz W. Scharpf as director at the MPIfG.
By appointing Beckert, the MPIfG is opening up new perspectives
in the sociological study of the economy. Professor Kathleen
Thelen from Northwestern University is appointed to be an
External Scientific Member of the institute.
2012

The
Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo) officially opens its doors in October in order to investigate the impact of increasing liberalization, technological advances, and cultural change on industrialized Western societies. Funded in equal parts by the Max Planck Society and Sciences Po, the Center is a unique innovation in Franco-German collaboration in the social sciences. The founding directors are sociologist Marion Fourcade and political scientist Cornelia Woll. Culminating many years of collaboration between the MPIfG in Cologne and Sciences Po in Paris, MaxPo is a major step toward even closer cooperation between the two institutions.
2017

Professor
Lucio Baccaro has been appointed to replace Professor Wolfang Streeck.
Baccaro's research on the political and institutional foundations of the creation of macroeconomic demand has had a lasting impact on recent
discourse in the field and represents an enrichment of the MPIfG's research program.
The study of societies can aim to define the limits and
opportunities presented by trying to collectively tackle
specific problems within a given institutional
framework. If it succeeds, this research can have a
valuable impact on modern democracies.
Wolfgang Streeck, Director at the MPIfG
Social sciences must seek to explain how social and
economic macro phenomena such as events, structures and
the dissolution of structures emerge from the interplay
of two elements: proactive behavior that is purposive
and constructive and unplanned, natural developments.
Renate Mayntz, Founding Director of the MPIfG