The Max Planck School of Cognition invites applications from exceedingly bright students with strong academic experience in areas related to cognition such as artificial intelligence, biology, (cognitive) neuroscience, genetics, linguistics, mathematics, neurobiology, neuroimaging, neurology, neurophysics, philosophy, physics, psychiatry, and psychology.

General information on the application procedure

Please prepare the following documents:

• Certificates or proof of current enrollment (B.S. and / or M.S.) (see FAQs 1.3-1.5)
• Copy of your passport / identity card
• Academic curriculum vitae
• Personal statement (see FAQ 2.2)
• Names of four preferred fellows from the Max Planck School of Cognition for your lab rotations during the orientation year (1st year). You may also choose (ONE) faculty from our Associate Fellows
• Names of three potential supervisors from the Max Planck School of Cognition Fellows for your doctoral phase (2nd - 4th years; please do not contact the potential supervisors ahead of admission to the program; only necessary to identify 3 names of interest in the application)
• Contact of two referees for recommendation letters (see FAQs 3.5-3.6). Note, the deadline of the application call also applies to the referees
• Non-native English-speaking applicants must provide evidence of their English language proficiency (see FAQs 1.11-1.12)
• Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are voluntary and not a requirement

We offer regular online Q&A sessions to answer any questions you may have about the application process or the program in general. Please register here for the next Q&A session.

Your complete application needs to be submitted through our online application portal. Deadline for Application is December 01, 2025.

CALL FOR APPLICATION