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Nonprofit · Munich · Germany

Max Planck Society

In research, Max Planck Society stands highest in Social Sciences (#1,305 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#880 of 6,365 worldwide) and Medicine (#1,552 of 10,443 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Transportation, General Economics, Econometrics and Finance and Aerospace Engineering — Transportation is 30.1× its share of world research.

mpg.de/enROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#3,162
of 28,054 · #48 all time
Rank in Germany
#153
of 1,178
Research works
104k
▼ 45% vs 2013–17
Citations
3M
28.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
4.7%
record average 16.5%
Open access
30%
world 28%

What is Max Planck Society known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Social SciencesDomain #1,305 of 10,521 5.5%2,407 #101
Social SciencesField #880 of 6,365 4.9%1,795 #188
MedicineField #1,552 of 10,443 2.8%321 #351
Health SciencesDomain #2,087 of 11,982 3.2%383 #397
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #253 of 1,201 6.5%437 #62
Physical SciencesDomain #2,921 of 12,888 3.7%1,212 #47
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #1,064 of 2,578 4.3%569 —
Arts and HumanitiesField #862 of 1,998 8.5%175 #84
TransportationSubfield #61 of 132 3.4%426 —
EngineeringField #3,523 of 6,636 3.2%632 #204

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Max Planck Society sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Social Sciences#101 #1,305
  2. Social Sciences#188 #880
  3. Medicine#351 #1,552
  4. Health Sciences#397 #2,087
  5. Political Science and International Relations#62 #253
  6. Physical Sciences#47 #2,921
  7. Arts and Humanities#84 #862
  8. Engineering#204 #3,523
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Max Planck Society specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Transportation takes 30.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. TransportationSubfield · 426.3 works30×
  2. General Economics, Econometrics and FinanceSubfield · 112.7 works11×
  3. Aerospace EngineeringSubfield · 424.5 works8.5×
  4. Political Science and International RelationsSubfield · 436.5 works6.9×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.72× its world share, 146 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.28× its world share, 63 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.29× its world share, 12 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.36× its world share, 25 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.43× its world share, 6 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.23× its world share, 4 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.53× its world share, 35 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.50× its world share, 165 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.76× its world share, 50 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.47× its world share, 18 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.99× its world share, 632 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.88× its world share, 186 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.36× its world share, 53 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.39× its world share, 19 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.53× its world share, 50 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.34× its world share, 7 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.44× its world share, 50 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.39× its world share, 321 worksMedicineNursing: 0.18× its world share, 4 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.30× its world share, 2 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.43× its world share, 175 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.85× its world share, 116 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.71× its world share, 29 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2.54× its world share, 232 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.46× its world share, 60 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 3.33× its world share, 1,795 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Social Sciences, 3.3×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Max Planck Society?

Ranked on the composite score, Willem J. M. Levelt, Gunnar Rätsch and Ernst Helmut Brandt lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Max Planck Society.

  1. 1 Willem J. M. Levelt Germany · #1,937 worldwide 1.6k citations · 87 works
  2. 2 Gunnar Rätsch Germany · #2,761 worldwide 1.7k citations · 91 works
  3. 3 Ernst Helmut Brandt Germany · #8,907 worldwide 1.3k citations · 98 works
  4. 4 Antje S. Meyer Germany · #9,132 worldwide 1k citations · 75 works
  5. 5 Jürgen Aschoff Germany · #15,387 worldwide 578 citations · 53 works
  6. 6 Bernhard Schölkopf Germany · #15,770 worldwide 4.7k citations · 384 works
  7. 7 Jeff Schell Germany · #16,842 worldwide 783 citations · 86 works
  8. 8 Olivier Bousquet Germany · #20,227 worldwide 632 citations · 60 works
  9. 9 Manfred Prenzel Germany · #24,343 worldwide 319 citations · 49 works
  10. 10 Eduard Arzt Germany · #25,390 worldwide 966 citations · 103 works
All ranked researchers at Max Planck Society

Which keywords describe research at Max Planck Society?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Legal Regulation, Economic Security, Ethnicity, Literature, Culture, History, Public Oversight and Transport Policy.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Legal Regulation716▲ 76×8 topics
  2. Economic Security491▲ 54×7 topics
  3. Ethnicity439▲ 27×13 topics
  4. Literature429▲ 19×28 topics
  5. Culture428▲ 19×20 topics
  6. History428▲ 14×32 topics
  7. Public Oversight425▲ 79×1 topic
  8. Transport Policy425▲ 79×1 topic
  9. Foresight423▲ 74×2 topics
  10. Philosophy421▲ 22×14 topics
  11. Modernization414▲ 53×4 topics
  12. Science411▲ 39×8 topics
  13. Strategic Planning410▲ 65×4 topics
  14. Islam410▲ 46×4 topics
  15. Social Influence410▲ 44×3 topics
  16. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles410▲ 51×3 topics
  17. Design409▲ 58×2 topics
  18. Air Force409▲ 79×1 topic
  19. Warfare409▲ 79×1 topic
  20. Sharia Law408▲ 66×2 topics
  21. Malay Language408▲ 68×1 topic
  22. Human Rights386▲ 8.8×63 topics
  23. Sustainable Development304▲ 4.5×67 topics
  24. Globalization254▲ 3.0×87 topics
  25. International Law209▲ 16×27 topics
  26. Digital Economy197▲ 25×18 topics
  27. Economic Development194▲ 5.6×34 topics
  28. Artificial Intelligence190▲ 3.3×47 topics
  29. Education162▲ 2.2×63 topics
  30. Innovation156▲ 3.5×54 topics
  31. Financial Security131▲ 28×3 topics
  32. Social Responsibility129▲ 13×10 topics
  33. Criminal Justice126▲ 13×9 topics
  34. Pedagogy114▲ 5.5×12 topics
  35. International Cooperation108▲ 52×3 topics
  36. Intellectual Property108▲ 22×6 topics
  37. Forensic Science105▲ 118×2 topics
  38. Corruption Prevention105▲ 117×2 topics
  39. Environmental Information104▲ 181×1 topic
  40. Global Society104▲ 181×1 topic

Which research topics does Max Planck Society publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Legal and Regulatory Analysis, Military Technology and Strategies, Linguistic, Cultural, and Literary Studies and Ukrainian Legal and Forensic Studies.

Legal and Regulatory Ana…425Legal and Regulatory Analysis: 425 fractional worksMilitary Technology and …409Military Technology and Strategies: 409 fractional worksLinguistic, Cultural, an…408Linguistic, Cultural, and Literary Studies: 408 fractional worksUkrainian Legal and Forensic Studies: 104 fractional worksEducation and Social Development in Ukraine: 62 fractional worksEconomic Issues in Ukraine: 62 fractional worksWar, Law, and Justice: 62 fractional worksLegal Studies and Reforms: 57 fractional worksLegal, Health, Environmental and COVID-19 Challenges: 41 fractional worksBusiness and Economic Development: 39 fractional works
TransportationAerospace EngineeringSociology and Political SciencePolitical Science and International Relations4 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Legal and Regulatory Analysis Transportation 425 works
  2. 2 Military Technology and Strategies Aerospace Engineering 409 works
  3. 3 Linguistic, Cultural, and Literary Studies Sociology and Political Science 408 works
  4. 4 Ukrainian Legal and Forensic Studies Political Science and International Relations 104 works
  5. 5 Education and Social Development in Ukraine Education 62 works
  6. 6 Economic Issues in Ukraine General Economics, Econometrics and Finance 62 works
  7. 7 War, Law, and Justice Political Science and International Relations 62 works
  8. 8 Legal Studies and Reforms Political Science and International Relations 57 works
  9. 9 Legal, Health, Environmental and COVID-19 Challenges Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health 41 works
  10. 10 Business and Economic Development Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law 39 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available29.6%not open70.4%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors19.0%domestic only81.0%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Max Planck Society's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 45% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Munich

All research institutions in Munich

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.