Institute’s Structure
The Max-Planck-Institute for Biological Cybernetics
The Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics belongs to the Max Planck Society with its total of 85 Max Planck Institutes and facilities. All of these persue basic research in the service of the general public in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.
Like any other Max Planck Institute, the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics is characterized by freedom of content, and excellent facilities. The institute is headed by Directors who manage departments and decide on their own research priorities.
Structural organization of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics:
- Board of Directors/Management: The top management level consists of several scientific members (Directors) who are responsible for their departments. In addition, the institute has two permanent research groups, led by Max Planck Fellows.
- Temporary scientific groups: In addition to the departments and permanent research groups, there are a number of independent but temporary Max Planck research groups, project groups, free floaters, and guest groups, often in cooperation with universities in Germany and abroad.
- Infrastructure and services: To support research, there are central infrastructure facilities such as administration, maintenance, IT, workshops, and communications. Moreover, the institute houses the International Max Planck Research School for The Mechanisms of Mental Function and Dysfunction. It provides state-of-the-art training and research for Master´s and PhD students under the guidance of leading scientists.
- Origin and orientation: The Max Planck Society (MPG) is a registered association based in Berlin, while its administrative headquarters is located in Munich.
Scientific Divisions
General information about our scientific faculty can be found on their individual webpages:
In addition, there is group-specific information run on our internal information resources. Please consult with your respective group leader.
Institute Management and Rules
The institute is managed by the board of Directors and represented by the Managing Director. The Managing Director changes at regular intervals (normally every 3 years) and is supported in his work by the Head of Administration and the Assistant to the Managing Director.
Rules and regulations of the Institute, like Code of Conduct, By-laws, SOP, Guidelines, Agreements and Instructions can be found on our Confluence Intranet here:
https://kybinfo.kyb.local/confluence/spaces/GEN/pages/22184533/Institute+Management+and+Rules
Here, you can also find contact data related to the staff and to the representatives who are responsible for the various non-scientific areas at the institute.
Conflict Management and Representatives
https://kybinfo.kyb.local/confluence/spaces/IMR/pages/15860620/Conflict+Management+Representatives
Administration
The administration, headed by Rainer Hirt, handles all issues around human resources, purchasing, incoming goods, customs affairs, accounting, travelling, and salary payment. If you want to talk to one of the colleagues at administration, please arrange an appointment first.
The rules and forms for administrative processes can be found on our Confluence Intranet: https://kybinfo.kyb.local/confluence/spaces/GEN/pages/18647136/Administrative+Services
Facility Management
The team, headed by Thomas Hörner, takes care of electricity, ventilation, cooling, heating, water, plumbing, pressurized air, and many more technical aspects for servicing the institute. They maintain and repair all of these systems and keep all technical elements of the institute up and running.
If there is an immediate and urgent problem related to one of these topics (e.g. power outage, broken water pipe, etc.), please call the Technical Emergency Number, available 24 hours and seven days a week: +497071201234
Otherwise, please write an email to haustechnik-kyb@tuebingen.mpg.de to describe the problem. Please leave your name and the room number, where the problem is occurring.
Construction work
Our construction coordinator, Felix Ordelheide, supervises and coordinates the building and construction activities at the institute.