Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry
research institute in Martinsried, Germany
The Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB; German: Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie) is a research institute of the Max Planck Society located in Martinsried, a suburb of Munich. The institute was founded in 1973 by the merger of three formerly independent institutes: the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, the Max Planck Institute of Protein and Leather Research (founded 1954 in Regensburg), and the Max Planck Institute of Cell Chemistry (founded 1956 in Munich).
With about 750 employees in currently nine research departments and more than 20 research groups, the MPIB is one of the largest institutes of the Max Planck Society.
Departments
There are nine departments currently in the institute:
Cell and Virus Structure (John A. G. Briggs)
Cellular Biochemistry (Franz-Ulrich Hartl)
Cellular and Molecular Biophysics (Petra Schwille)
Machine Learning and Systems Biology (Karsten Borgwardt)
Molecular Machines and Signaling (Brenda Schulman)
Molecular Medicine (Reinhard Fässler)
Proteomics and Signal Transduction (Matthias Mann)
Structural Cell Biology (Elena Conti)
Totipotency (Kikuë Tachibana)
Research groups
There are 26 research groups currently based at the MPIB, including 3 emeritus research groups:
Bacteriophages: Microbiology, Bacteriophages, RNA polymerases, Structural Biology, Biochemistry (Maria Sokolova)
Cell and Virus Structures: Structural Biology, Cryo-Electron Tomography, Viruses, Membrane trafficking (John Briggs)
Cell Dynamics: Phagocytosis, Actin Dynamics, Cell Motility (Günther Gerisch)
Cellular and Molecular Biophysics: Biophysics, Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, Single Molecule, Synthetic Biology (Petra Schwille)
Cellular Biochemistry: Molecular Chaperones, Protein Folding, Protostasis, Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases (Franz-Ulrich Hartl)
Chaperonin-assisted Protein Folding: Protein Folding and Assembly, Rubisco, GroEL and GroES, Mass Spectrometry (Manajit Hayer-Hartl)
Chromatin Biology: Genetics and Biochemistry of Chromatin, Transcription, Histone Modifications, Drosophila Development (Jürg Müller)
Chromosome Biology: Cell division, Meiosis (Wolfgang Zachariae)
Computational Systems Biochemistry: Systems Biology, Proteomics, Mass Spectrometry, Bioinformatics (Jürgen Cox)
CryoEM Technology: Cryo-Electron Tomography, Focused Ion Beam Milling, correlated light microscopy, in situ Structural Biology, visual Proteomics (Jürgen Plitzko)
DNA Hybridnanomaterials: DNA Nanotechnology, DNA-Silica Hybridnanomaterials, Bionanotechnology, Biophysics (Amelie Heuer-Jungemann)
Immunoregulation: Immunity, Macrophage: T cell cross-talk, Self-Tolerance, Amino Acid metabolism (Peter Murray)
Machine Learning and Systems Biology: biomedical research, data mining, machine learning, biological systems (Karsten Borgwardt)
Mechanisms of Protein Biogenesis: RNA Biology; Translation Dynamics; Protein Folding; Systems Biology (Danny Nedialkova)
Molecular Imaging and Bionanotechnology: Super-Resolution Microscopy, DNA Nanotechnology, Biophysics, Single-Molecule Studies (Ralf Jungmann)
Molecular Machines and Signaling: Structural Biology, Ubiquitin Proteasome System, Ubiquitin-like Proteins (Brenda Schulman)
Molecular Medicine: Integrin, Adhesion Signalling, Mouse Genetics (Reinhard Fässler)
Molecular Structural Biology: Cryo-Electron Tomography, Electron Microscopical Structure Research, Protein and Cell Structure, Protein Degradation (Wolfgang Baumeister)
Proteomics and Signal Transduction: Mass Spectrometry, Systems Biology, Bioinformatics, Cancer (Matthias Mann)
Structural Cell Biology: Structural Studies, RNA Transport, RNA Surveillance, RNA Degradation (Elena Conti)
Structure and Dynamics of Molecular Machines: DNA Replication Dynamics, Structural Biology, Single-Molecule Imaging, Biophysics (Karl Duderstadt)
Structure Research: Structural Biology, Methods of Protein Crystallography, Protein Degradation, Medicinal Chemistry (Robert Huber)
Totipotency: Mechanistic Cell Biology, Genomics and Biochemistry of Chromatin Reprogramming, Transcription, Mouse Genetics (Kikuë Tachibana)
Translational Medicine: Fibronectin, Integrin, Bone, Disease (Inaam Nakchbandi)
Graduate Program
The International Max Planck Research School for Molecules of Life (IMPRS-ML) is a PhD program covering various aspects of life science ranging from biochemistry to computational biology. The school is run in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, LMU Munich, and the Technical University of Munich.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry” as research institute in Martinsried, Germany. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as research institute in Martinsried, Germany. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q878218. VIAF identifies the subject as 146075661. The Library of Congress control number is n78012003. Authority coordinates are 48.105, 11.461. 5 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1973, 1954 and 1956.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry primary sources, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry archive and Planck research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.