Home - Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology & Epigenetics

Welcome at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics

The Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg is an interdisciplinary research institution that conducts basic research in two key areas of modern biology.

Immunobiology is concerned with the ways multicellular organisms defend themselves against pathogens. Epigenetics is the study of inheritable traits that are not caused by changes in the underlying DNA sequence.

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Research Groups

Our current labs.

Core Facilities

World-class expertise.

Publications

Institute overview

Staff List

Contact us.

News

Healing a broken heart

April 02, 2025

How a vitamin A metabolite could help myocardial infarction patients by modulating blood stem cell activity

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Ankita Kapoor awarded two prestigious fellowships

March 25, 2025

EMBO and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions honor Max Planck researcher with postdoctoral fellowships

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International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2025

February 11, 2025

Interview series

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Artistic representation of the principle of method LiTEC by the Youssef Youssef

Bringing Cellular Condensates to Light

December 12, 2024

New light-based method reveals the nature of biomolecular condensates through in vivo targeting and manipulation

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Gaining insights into neurological diseases and RNA biology with fruit flies and mini-brains

December 03, 2024

Valérie Hilgers receives an ERC Consolidator Grant

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Davor Solter named 2024 Citation Laureate

September 19, 2024

Davor Solter, MPI-IE Director Emeritus, has been named a Citation Laureate in Clarivate’s annual list of “Researchers of Nobel Class”

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Discovery of key protein that helps cells maintain their identity

August 20, 2024

The protein Mrc1 is essential for the accurate transfer of chemical marks on histones during cell division

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Allergy Cells’ Hidden Secret

August 02, 2024

How mast cells trap and use living neutrophils during allergic reactions

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Seminars & Events

Symposium: TriRhena in Gene Regulation Club

5 February 2025 at the IGMBC in Strasbourg (France)

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Girls’ Day

April 03, 2025

April 3: The pipettes are calibrated, the fruit flies are taken out of cold storage to be ready in time for Girls’ Day at the MPI in Freiburg

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Upcoming Seminars

Zukunftstag 2025

Apr 3, 2025 09:30 AM - 03:10 PM (Local Time Germany)

Max-Planck-Institut für Immunbiologie und Epigenetik, Room: Labor

MPS: Stefanie Grosswendt - Cell communication uncovered in single-cell resolved neighborhoods

Apr 23, 2025 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

MPI-IE, Room: Lecture Hall

MPS: Danny Leung - Deciphering the epigenomic impacts of repetitive elements: How do retroviruses control our genes?

May 12, 2025 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

MPI-IE, Room: Iovino Seminar Room

Career

Excellent PhD training

We train the next generation of research scientists. Learn more about our PhD program – the International Max Planck Research School for Immunobiology, Epigenetics, and Metabolism (IMPRS-IEM)

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Welcome Service

We welcome all new arrivals, assist in the onboarding procedure, help you to find a new place and get acquainted with your new colleagues. Learn more about our services.

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Job offers

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Multimedia

Watch: Can we hack our genes?

November 05, 2023

Epigenetics studies how certain parts of our genome can be switched on or off. Can epigenetics help us to become more musical, fitter, smarter, more beautiful? – Epigenetics TV documentary with Thomas Jenuwein on ARTE

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Swarms & swarming immune cells

Podcast July 07, 2022

podcast

Podcast special by detektor.fm on swarms and swarm intelligence, including an interview with Max Planck scientist Tim Lämmermann on immune cell swarms and pathogen hunting in a collective.

How the immune system learns to defend itself

Video February 11, 2021

podcast

Thomas Boehm talks to detektor.fm editor Dominik Lenze about vaccinations. The Max Planck Director explains how an immune reaction actually takes place during vaccination.