The doctoral programs at our institute offer diverse opportunities for aspiring researchers in artificial intelligence and robotics.
While the Max Planck Society does not award doctoral degrees itself, we offer various ways to obtain your doctoral degree through our partnerships with leading universities. Your research and dissertation preparation will typically take place at our institute, under the supervision of an MPI-IS scientist.
Our primary doctoral program, the International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems (IMPRS-IS), brings together the MPI-IS with the University of Stuttgart and the University of Tübingen, with over 100 internationally recognized faculty and 400 enrolled students.
We also offer internationally co-supervised programs, including the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems (CLS) and the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS). These programs provide opportunities to work with leading researchers across Europe.
In addition, there are more opportunities to obtain your doctoral degree by doing your research at MPI-IS through individual partnerships of our faculty with outstanding universities.
To apply, visit our program pages for eligibility and application deadlines. Note that admission is competitive. Doctoral positions at Max Planck are funded and offer scientific freedom and financial security, including social insurance and a salary based on the German public funding system.
Whichever option you choose, you will have access to cutting-edge resources and mentorship to accelerate your academic journey in the interdisciplinary field of Intelligent Systems.
The International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems, known as IMPRS-IS, is one of the largest doctoral programs in the Max Planck Society. It's a partnership between our institute, the University of Stuttgart and the University of Tübingen, forming a highly visible and unique graduate school of internationally recognized doctoral students and faculty. This program is a key element within the Cyber Valley research consortium, aiming to accelerate basic research and commercial development in AI, machine learning, and robotics. Doctoral students obtain their degree from either the University of Stuttgart or Tübingen.
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Apply now to join in 2026: application deadline is midnight (23:59 CET) on November 5, 2025. The Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems, known as CLS, offers a highly competitive doctoral training program. CLS doctoral fellows are co-supervised by one advisor from ETH Zurich and one from the MPI for Intelligent Systems, the MPI for Informatics in Saarbrücken or the ELLIS Institute Tübingen. Each CLS fellow has a primary location and conducts a mandatory 12-month exchange at the other location. All CLS Ph.D. fellows register as graduate students at ETH Zurich and, upon successful completion of their Ph.D. project, will be granted a doctoral degree by ETH.
The European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems, known as ELLIS, is a pan-European AI network of excellence which focuses on fundamental science, technical innovation and societal impact. Founded in 2018, ELLIS builds upon machine learning as the driver for modern AI and aims to secure Europe’s sovereignty in this competitive field by creating a multi-centric AI research laboratory. ELLIS follows a three-pillar strategy, of which one pillar is its PhD and Postdoc program. Both offer outstanding young researchers from all over the world a unique entry point to cutting-edge machine learning research by connecting them to leading scientists across Europe and by offering them a variety of training activities.
The Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network (MP-AIX) is a Ph.D. program that provides doctoral researchers with fully funded Ph.D. fellowships and a pool of outstanding faculty comprising directors and independent research group leaders from across the Max Planck Society. MP-AIX allows young academics to contribute to the ongoing transformation of the sciences by developing and applying AI methodology, following the “AI+X” concept: one advisor works in a field close to ML/AI, and the other advisor works in an application area (“X”). MP-AIX is funded by the Max Planck Society and collaborates closely with ELLIS.
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