Department-independent Research Groups

Research groups at the MPI-IE are either department-associated or department-independent. Department-independent groups can be established in different ways.

The Max Planck Society provides financial resources for so-called Max Planck Research Groups (MPRG). These "free-floating" positions are centrally advertised by the Max Planck Society. The establishment of new research groups can also be enabled by central resources of the institute.

Department-associated and department-independent research groups are considered equivalent and have comparable budget. They pursue – within the framework of the MPI-IE – their research fully independently. Currently, six department-independent research group are established at the MPI-IE headed by

Jumana AlHaj Abed

The lab aims to understand how maternal and paternal chromosomes communicate in Drosophila and mammals using genomic approaches and super-resolution imaging. more

Ayele Argaw-Denboba

The lab aims to decipher the regulatory role of gut microbiota in gametogenesis, embryogenesis, epigenetic inheritance mechanisms, and identify microbiome-sourced metabolites that regulate chromatin functions. more

Nina Cabezas-Wallscheid

The lab investigates the mechanisms that maintain HSC quiescence. By using a wide range of interdisciplinary approaches the lab tries to understand which signaling pathways and extracellular biochemical stimuli keep HSC dormancy. more

Valentin Flury

The lab dissects the regulatory mechanisms maintaining chromatin states across the cell cycle. more

Emeritus Laboratory Rudolf Grosschedl

The overall goal of the lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the generation of B lymphocytes from hematopoietic stem cells and the regulation of ES cell pluripotency. more

Valérie Hilgers

The lab investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying neuron-specific RNA signatures and aims to understand how RNA processing affects neuronal development and function. more

Tim Lämmermann

The lab investigates mechanisms that shape single cell and population dynamics of immune cells in the complexity of inflamed and infected tissues. Therefore, it explores the strategies immune cells have evolved to achieve an optimal immune response. more