News & Awards

Neuromechanics of Movement News 05-11-2025 Janneke Schwaner and Philipp Rothemund awarded prestigious grant through the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities The scientists receive funding for 'Tails in Motion' project The project is a step forward in the fundamental understanding of how muscles and tendons work together to control movement. The cutting-edge simulations and robotic systems developed may revolutionize the design of agile and maneuverable robots, inspiring a new generation of high-performing bioinspired robots. Philipp Rothemund Janneke Schwaner

Physical Intelligence Blog Post 3 minute read 03-11-2025 BLOG: Active Droplets Get a Magnetic Upgrade: Controlling Self-propelling Droplets and Their Collectives This blog post was written by Muhammad Turab Ali Khan from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. Muhammad Turab Ali Khan Gaurav Gardi Ren Hao Soon Mingchao Zhang Metin Sitti Ugur Bozuyuk

Robotic Materials Award 29-10-2025 Alona Shagan receives the Research Prize Parkinson-Tremor together with Syn Schmitt (University of Stuttgart) und Daniel Häufle (Hertie Institute for AI in Brain Health and University of Tübingen) Alona Shagan

News 29-10-2025 IMPRS-IS Now Accepting Applications for 2026! We invite outstanding applicants to join its 10th generation of doctoral researchers in 2026. Apply by November 16, 2025, to pursue cutting-edge research in artificial intelligence, robotics, and related fields.

Robotic Materials Blog Post Linda Behringer 2 minute read 29-10-2025 Parkinson’s Foundation supports collaboration between MPI-IS, Uni Stuttgart and Uni Tübingen BITS Researchers Alona Shagan, Syn Schmitt, and Daniel Häufle receive 50.000 Euros Alona Shagan

Haptic Intelligence Award 27-10-2025 Postdoc Mayumi Mohan is selected for the MPG career building program Sign Up For Leadership Mayumi Mohan

Haptic Intelligence Award 27-10-2025 Postdoc Rachael L'Orsa is selected for the MPG career building program Sign Up For Your Career Rachael Lorsa

Social Foundations of Computation News 23-10-2025 Vivian Nastl and Ricardo Dominguez-Olmedo receive 2025 Google Ph.D. Fellowship Program supports exceptional graduate students working on innovative research in computer science and related fields Vivian Nastl Ricardo Dominguez-Olmedo Moritz Hardt Bernhard Schölkopf

Perzeptive Systeme Award 21-10-2025 2025 Mark Everingham Prize The PAMI Mark Everingham Prize For Contributions to the Computer Vision Community was awarded at ICCV 2025 to "The SMPL body model team (Michael J. Black, Naureen Mahmood, Matthew Loper, Javier Romero, Gerard Pons-Moll) for a family of foundation models that have enabled body pose research." Michael J. Black Naureen Mahmood Matthew Loper Javier Romero Gerard Pons-Moll

News 21-10-2025 Principal Investigator Positions (m/f/d) as Hector Endowed Fellows of the ELLIS Institute Tübingen The ELLIS Institute in Tübingen, Germany, invites applications for Principal Investigator (m/f/d) positions as Hector Endowed Fellows of the ELLIS Institute Tübingen.

Haptic Intelligence Perceiving Systems Award 16-10-2025 Doctoral student Maria-Paola Forte is recognized as a NeurIPS 2025 Top Reviewer She is awarded a non-transferable complimentary registration to attend the conference. Maria-Paola Forte

Robotic Composites and Compositions Press Release 16-10-2025 From Stiff to Soft in a Snap Magnetic Jamming Opens New Frontiers for Microrobotics Could tiny magnetic objects, that rapidly clump together and instantly fall apart again, one day perform delicate procedures inside the human body? A new study from researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart and at ETH Zurich introduces a wireless method to stiffen and relax small structures using magnetic fields, without wires, pumps, or physical contact. Buse Aktaş

News 15-10-2025 Antonia Georgopoulou starts as Cyber Valley Max Planck Independent Research Group Leader Group named "Cyborg Robotics and Intelligent Sensing" or CyRIS Antonia Georgopoulou

Empirical Inference News 09-10-2025 Siyuan Guo receives the MIT EECS Rising Star award Her research focuses on understanding learning and intelligence from first principles. Siyuan Guo

News 08-10-2025 Jonas Geiping awarded the German Pattern Recognition Award 2025 Geiping was awarded the German Pattern Recognition Award 2025 for his outstanding scientific contributions in the area of Understanding of Safety, Security, and Efficiency in Modern Pattern Recognition.

Empirical Inference Award 08-10-2025 Siyuan Guo receives the MIT EECS Rising Star award Siyuan Guo

News 01-10-2025 Sahar Abdelnabi starts her position as new Group Leader She joins the ELLIS Institute Tübingen as PI and Hector Endowed Fellow and has a co-affiliation with the MPI-IS and the Tübingen AI Center as Independent Research Group Leader. Sahar Abdelnabi

Haptic Intelligence Organizational Leadership and Diversity News 30-09-2025 Carl Schneider Foundation supports innovative technology at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart Funding enables purchase of a functional near-infrared spectroscopy system Katherine J. Kuchenbecker Matthias Tröndle Ksenia Keplinger

Safety- and Efficiency- aligned Learning Award 29-09-2025 Jonas Geiping receives 2025 GCPR Award Jonas Geiping

Haptic Intelligence Award 26-09-2025 Postdoc Andrew Schulz and Fatemeh Farsijani win the top prize for outstanding demo at the Stuttgart open house of the IMPRS-IS Boot Camp Andrew K. Schulz Fatemeh Farsijani

News 24-09-2025 New Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network Starts Call for Applications for its Ph.D. Program Join our new Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network Ph.D. program The Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network 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. Bernhard Schölkopf Matthias Tröndle Emna Eitel

Robotic Composites and Compositions News 23-09-2025 How We Touch Study captures how humans touch unfamiliar objects, offers potential lessons for human-robot interaction Buse Aktaş

News 15-09-2025 Apply until November 5, 2025 for a PhD in CLS Apply to do your Ph.D. in our research center between ETH Zurich, Switzerland and the Max Planck Society, primarily the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany.

Physical Intelligence Press Release 15-09-2025 Matryoshka doll-like robot changes its shape in real time and in situ In a paper published in Nature, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, introduce a method by which they can reprogram a stack of magnetic tubes in real time and in situ. Rearranging and recombining each tube’s magnetic unit enables the nesting doll-like robot to achieve unprecedented shape-shifting capabilities, unlocking new possibilities for soft robots. Such robots could be used for a variety of applications, including medical devices. Metin Sitti Xianqiang Bao Fan Wang Jianhua Zhang

Medical Systems Award 10-09-2025 Jelena Zinnanti (born Lazovic) receives Best Oral Presentation Award at the Advanced Ceramics and Application Conference, No. XIII, Belgrade, Serbia Jelena Zinnanti

Empirical Inference Award 19-08-2025 Bernhard Schölkopf wurde zum Korrespondierenden Mitglied in die Akademie der Wissenschaften und Literatur in Mainz gewählt Bernhard Schölkopf

Empirical Inference News 19-08-2025 Six new members elected to the Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz Bernhard Schölkopf was elected as a corresponding member.

Neuromechanics of Movement Award 31-07-2025 Janneke Schwaner receives the Dr Jacquelin Perry Emerging Female Scientist Award Every two years the International Society of Biomechanics awards the Jacquelin Perry Emerging Scientist Award. This price is awarded in honor of Professor Jacquelin Perry and her pioneering contribution to the science and application of biomechanics, in particular in the area of gait analysis and rehabilitation. The award is designed to acknowledge female researchers who have performed superior biomechanics research early in their career. Janneke Schwaner

Physical Intelligence News 29-07-2025 EndoSurge wins 3rd place in Science2Start competition Max Planck Start-up develops MRI-compatible catheter system to treat cardiovascular disease Martin Phelan Siddhant Prakash

News 29-07-2025 Max Planck Scientists at Christopher Street Day in Stuttgart A Grassroots Celebration of Pride and Inclusion Vani Sundaram Rut Martinez Miras Antonio Orvieto Buse Aktaş

News 24-07-2025 MPG Diversity Excellence Fund Award supports RIGI Internship The MPI-IS has secured funding from the Max Planck Society's Diversity Excellence Fund for their Robotics Institute Germany Internship program. Buse Aktaş Birgül Akolpoglu Leila Masri Katherine J. Kuchenbecker

Robotic Materials News 21-07-2025 Humboldt Fellow from the US conducts research in robotics to one day harvest energy from ocean waves The Humboldt Research Fellowship Program for Postdocs fosters partnerships between international researchers and leading German research institutions. Linda Behringer Lawrence Smith Christoph Keplinger

Empirical Inference News 15-07-2025 Zhijing Jin receives honorable mention for the Wilhelm Schickard Dissertation Award The Wilhelm Schickard Dissertation Award recognizes the most outstanding dissertation in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Tübingen, celebrating innovative and impactful research embodying Schickard’s spirit of intellectual curiosity and technological advancement. Zhijing Jin Bernhard Schölkopf

Social Foundations of Computation Award 14-07-2025 Moritz Hardt co-authored a paper which receives the 10-Year Test of Time Award at ACM STOC 2025 "Preserving Statistical Validity in Adaptive Data Analysis" published in 2015 is co-authored by Cynthia Dwork, Vitaly Feldman, Moritz Hardt, Toniann Pitassi, Omer Reingold, Aaron Roth. Moritz Hardt

Social Foundations of Computation News 14-07-2025 Paper co-authored by Moritz Hardt receives 10-Year Test of Time Award at ACM STOC 2025 "Preserving Statistical Validity in Adaptive Data Analysis" published in 2015 is co-authored by Cynthia Dwork, Vitaly Feldman, Moritz Hardt, Toniann Pitassi, Omer Reingold, Aaron Roth. Moritz Hardt

News 14-07-2025 Shiwei Liu starts his position as new Group Leader He joins the ELLIS Institute Tübingen as PI and Hector Endowed Fellow and has a co-affiliation with the MPI-IS and the Tübingen AI Center as Independent Research Group Leader. Shiwei Liu

Haptic Intelligence Award 11-07-2025 Katherine J. Kuchenbecker wins the Top Work-in-Progress Contributor Award at the 2025 IEEE World Haptics Conference Katherine J. Kuchenbecker

Empirical Inference Award 11-07-2025 Zhijing Jin receives Honorable Mention for the Wilhelm Schickard Dissertation Award, University of Tübingen Zhijing Jin wrote her dissertation “Causality for Natural Language Processing” under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schölkopf. Zhijing Jin

News 10-07-2025 MPI-IS researchers with 11 papers at upcoming ICML The International Conference on Machine Learning is one of the world's leading conferences in the field of machine learning. Linda Behringer

News 07-07-2025 Vivian Nastl wins 2025 MPI-IS Outstanding Female Doctoral Student Prize Melis Ilayda Bal, Maria-Paola Forte, and Natalia Sanchez-Tamayo receive honorable mentions Melis Ilayda Bal Maria-Paola Forte Natalia Sanchez-Tamayo Vivian Nastl Katherine J. Kuchenbecker Moritz Hardt

Haptic Intelligence Award 04-07-2025 Postdoc Andrew Schulz wins the prize for best poster at the ELLIS Unit Stuttgart Summer Symposium for his poster "Material Intelligence of Animal Whiskers" Andrew K. Schulz

Haptic Intelligence Award 01-07-2025 Postdoc Giulia Ballardini and Fatemeh Farsijani are accepted to the Touch Sensing and Processing Summer School 2025 Giulia Ballardini Fatemeh Farsijani

Haptic Intelligence Award 27-06-2025 Doctoral students Maria-Paola Forte and Natalia Sanchez-Tamayo receive honorable mentions for the 2025 MPI-IS Outstanding Female Doctoral Student Prize Maria-Paola Forte Natalia Sanchez-Tamayo

Social Foundations of Computation Award 27-06-2025 Vivian Nastl receives 2025 Outstanding Female Doctoral Student Prize of MPI-IS The following scientists received honorable mentions for this award: Melis Ilayda Bal (LDS Research Group) Maria-Paola Forte (HI- and PS Dept.) Natalia Sanchez-Tamayo (HI- and RM Dept.) Vivian Nastl Melis Ilayda Bal Maria-Paola Forte Natalia Sanchez-Tamayo

Organizational Leadership and Diversity Award 25-06-2025 Ksenia Keplinger receives SIG Best Paper Award at the 2025 EURAM Conference EURAM Conference in Florence, Italy, June 22-25, 2025 Ksenia Keplinger Yulia Litvinova

Organizational Leadership and Diversity Award 24-06-2025 Ksenia Keplinger receives EURAM/ERC Award for advancing to the interview round of the ERC Starting Grant Ksenia Keplinger

Haptic Intelligence Award 04-06-2025 Katherine J. Kuchenbecker wins the MPI-IS Community Award 2025 at the institute's retreat Katherine J. Kuchenbecker

News 28-05-2025 T. Konstantin Rusch starts his position as new Group Leader He will join the ELLIS Institute Tübingen as PI and Hector Endowed Fellow and have a co-affiliation with the MPI-IS and the Tübingen AI Center as Independent Research Group Leader.

Empirical Inference Award 27-05-2025 Siyuan Guo receives G-Research PhD Prize. Siyuan Guo

News 22-05-2025 Double excellence Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems involved in two further funded Clusters of Excellence at the University of Stuttgart and the University of Tübingen MPI-IS was involved in three applications, of which two were selected for further funding as Clusters of Excellence. Katherine J. Kuchenbecker Michael J. Black Moritz Hardt Bernhard Schölkopf

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