News & Awards

Physical Intelligence News 05-02-2026 OptoMaG: An Optoacoustically Augmented Magnetic Guidewire for Radiation-Free Image-Guided Therapies Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, ETH Zurich, Southeast University, and Koç University have developed an optoacoustically augmented magnetic guidewire (OptoMaG), that integrates optoacoustic imaging, magnetic navigation, and therapeutic functionality into a single flexible guidewire, enabling radiation-free, real-time navigation in complex vascular environments. Unlike conventional X-ray–guided interventions, OptoMaG provides high-contrast three-dimensional visualization in deep tissue and contact-free magnetic steering. Fan Wang Xianqiang Bao Erdost Yildiz Yan Yu Ren Hao Soon Jelena Zinnanti Metin Sitti Wenbin Kang Devin Sheehan

Mechanics for Intelligent Structures News 07-01-2026 Renate Sachse joins MPI-IS as new group leader She will lead the independent Cyber Valley Research Group "Mechanics for Intelligent Structures" at the Stuttgart site of our institute. Renate Sachse

News 17-12-2025 ELLIS Institute Tübingen joins CLS as Associated Partner It’s official: The ELLIS Institute Tübingen is now an <strong>Associated Partner</strong> of the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems (CLS)!

News 26-11-2025 RIGI Continues to Grow Our Stuttgart-based internship program RIGI attracted more than 900 applications for internship positions at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems during its 2026 recruitment round. Buse Aktaş Leila Masri Birgül Akolpoglu

News 24-11-2025 We are hiring a new Max Planck Research Group Leader at the MPI for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart The Max Planck Institute for Intelligent System (MPI-IS) seeks to advance intelligent systems that perceive, learn, and interact though fundamental research across computational, physical, and social dimensions. We shape artificial intelligence and robotics to advance knowledge and benefit society. The institute takes a highly interdisciplinary approach that combines mathematics, computation, engineering, materials science, and biology. Katherine J. Kuchenbecker Christoph Keplinger Eva Lämmerhirt

News 17-11-2025 Ausgezeichnete Schülerinnen und Schüler beim Bundeswettbewerb Künstliche Intelligenz Schlaganfälle schneller diagnostizieren, die Blackbox von Sprachmodellen öffnen oder Blutzuckerwerte schmerzfrei bestimmen – Gewinnerteams setzen mit KI-Projekten zukunftsweisende Impulse

News 15-11-2025 More room for world class research New building Cyber Valley I handed over to the University of Tübingen Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Science Petra Olschowski and Minister of Finance Dr. Danyal Bayaz handed over the new Cyber Valley I building to the University of Tübingen on Friday, 14 November. Max Planck research groups will also be based there.

News 13-11-2025 Agile, lightweight, efficient, intelligent: Researchers are developing next-generation robots New Institute for Adaptive Mechanical Systems (IAMS) is located at MPI-IS and focuses on new walking robots and soft robotics. C. David Remy Philipp Rothemund

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

Embodied Social Interaction News 01-11-2025 Philipp Müller starts as Cyber Valley Max Planck Independent Research Group Leader Group named "Embodied Social Interaction" is located at MPI-IS Stuttgart Philipp Müller

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.

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

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.

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.

Cooperative Machine Intelligence for People-Aligned Safe Systems 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

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.

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.

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 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

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

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.

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

Robotic Composites and Compositions News 08-05-2025 First team members join the new Robotic Composites and Compositions Group Group leader Buse Aktaş joins the Elisabeth Schiemann Kolleg as a fellow Buse Aktaş

Computational Applied Mathematics & AI Lab News 02-05-2025 Novel AI model inspired by neural dynamics from the brain Research co-authored by our new group leader Konstantin Rusch Text by

Neuromechanics of Movement News 28-04-2025 Janneke Schwaner starts Neuromechanics of Movement research group From May 1, 2025, Janneke Schwaner will lead the Neuromechanics of Movement research group at the Stuttgart site of the Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems. Janneke presented her research at the 2024 Scientific Symposium and thereafter received the call to join the Institute. Janneke Schwaner

Social Foundations of Computation News 24-04-2025 Florian Dorner, Vivian Nastl, Moritz Hardt: ICLR 2025 Oral with the paper "Limits to Scalable Evaluation at the Frontier: LLM as Judge Won’t Beat Twice the Data"

Social Foundations of Computation News 24-04-2025 Ricardo Dominguez-Olmedo, Florian Dorner, Moritz Hardt: ICLR 2025 Oral with the paper "Training on the Test Task Confounds Evaluation and Emergence"

Empirical Inference News 23-04-2025 Zhijing Jin Selected Young Researcher for the Heidelberg Laureate Forum 2025 Tübingen – Zhijing Jin, who is an incoming Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto starting in Fall 2025, and currently a postdoc in the Empirical Inference Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen, has been selected to attend the prestigious Heidelberg Laureate Forum 2025. The invitation comes a year after Zhijing attended the 73rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in June 2024. Zhijing Jin

Haptic Intelligence News 16-04-2025 Max Planck Partner Group established to strengthen ties between MPI-IS and the University of Tennessee Knoxville Assistant Professor at UTK receives five-year funding from the Max Planck Society Katherine J. Kuchenbecker Rachael Burns

Physical Intelligence News 13-04-2025 Ren Hao Soon named 2025 Schmidt Science Fellow Pioneering researcher in magnetic millirobotics to pivot into biomedical sciences with prestigious fellowship

Haptic Intelligence News 18-03-2025 RIG hosts first German Robotics Conference MPI-IS scientists showcase their research on soft robotics and haptic intelligence Robotics Institute Germany (RIG), founded with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), successfully hosted the first German Robotics Conference (GRC) at the Nuremberg Convention Center on March 13-15. This significant event brought together about 500 participants, including leading scientific minds based in Germany, prominent industry pioneers, and 15 current employees from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. Jonathan Fiene Katherine J. Kuchenbecker Birgül Akolpoglu Yijie Gong Felix Grüninger Moaaz Hudhud Mughrabi Florian Hartmann

Physical Intelligence News 17-03-2025 Magnetic microalgae on a mission to become robots Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems developed a single-cell green microalgae coated with magnetic material. This miniature robot was put to the test: would the microalgae with its magnetic coating be able to swim through narrow spaces and, additionally, in a viscous fluid that mimics those found in the human body? Would the tiny robot be able to fight its way through these difficult conditions? The team's research has now been published in the journal Matter. Metin Sitti Birgül Akolpoglu Saadet Baltaci

News 10-03-2025 RIG internships high in demand at MPI-IS in Stuttgart As soon as it was announced, the internship program of the newly founded Robotics Institute Germany attracted more than 450 applications for internship positions at the Stuttgart site of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. Buse Aktaş Birgül Akolpoglu

Robotic Materials News 06-03-2025 Artificial Muscles for Tremor Suppression Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, the University of Tübingen and the University of Stuttgart under the Bionic Intelligence Tübingen Stuttgart (BITS) collaboration developed a biorobotic arm that can mirror human tremors, such as those experienced by individuals that live with Parkinson's disease. Artificial muscles on either side of the forearm contract and relax to suppress the involuntary shaking of the wrist and hand. The researchers see their biorobotic arm not only as a platform for other scientists in the field to test new ideas in exoskeleton technology. The arm also serves as a test bed to see how well artificial muscles known as HASELs can one day become the building blocks of wearable devices. The vision is to one day develop a sleeve that tremor patients can comfortably wear to be able to better cope with everyday tasks such as holding a cup. Alona Shagan Christoph Keplinger

Empirical Inference News 06-03-2025 Neural network deciphers gravitational waves from merging neutron stars in a second Machine learning method could revolutionize multi-messenger astronomy Binary neutron star mergers emit gravitational waves followed by light. To fully exploit these observations and avoid missing key signals, speed is crucial. In a study to be published in Nature on March 5, 2025, an interdisciplinary team of researchers presents a novel machine learning method that can analyze gravitational waves emitted by neutron star collisions almost instantaneously – even before the merger is fully observed. A neural network processes the data and enables a fast search for visible light and other electromagnetic signals emitted during the collisions. This new method could be instrumental in preparing the field for the next generation of observatories. Maximilian Dax Bernhard Schölkopf Jakob Macke

Robust Machine Learning News 25-02-2025 From research to startup: Polybot receives order for AI-based harvesting robotics The harvesting robot project Polybot is supported by the Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation (Deutsche Agentur für Sprunginnovation: SPRIND) with a seven-month validation grant of approximately 220,000 euros. This funding will help the team to prepare the transition from scientific research to founding a start-up company. The project, which has so far been supported by the Tübingen AI Center at the University of Tübingen, the ELLIS Institute Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, combines top-level research with practical application and strengthens Tübingen as an innovation location within the Cyber Valley. Martin Kiefel Bernhard Schölkopf Wieland Brendel

Biomimetic Materials and Machines News 20-02-2025 A miniature swimming robot inspired by marine flatworms EPFL and MPI-IS engineers have developed a versatile swimming robot that nimbly navigates cluttered water surfaces. Inspired by marine flatworms, the innovative device offers new possibilities for environmental monitoring and ecological research. Florian Hartmann

Robotic Materials Organizational Leadership and Diversity News 12-12-2024 Diversity and inclusion accelerate the pace of innovation in robotics Diverse and inclusive teams are not merely a moral imperative but also a catalyst for scientific excellence in robotics, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems point out in a study. The team now published an article in which they outline how a scientific community can benefit if its leadership fosters an environment of diversity and inclusion, and propose a leadership guide for roboticists to help reap these benefits. Daniela Macari Ksenia Keplinger Christoph Keplinger

Social Foundations of Computation News 11-12-2024 Ricardo Dominguez-Olmedo, Moritz Hardt, Celestine Mendler- Dünner: NeurIPS 2024 Oral with the paper "Questioning the Survey Responses of Large Language Models"

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