The Max Planck Society (MPG) is an equal opportunity employer that strives to foster an inclusive workplace. As an institute of the MPG, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science supports a working community for all free from discrimination and harassment. We explicitly encourage applications from qualified individuals who belong to groups that are often underrepresented in the workplace due to age, disability, ethnicity, family status, gender, nationality, race, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background or religion.

To find out more about the MPIWG and its policies on gender equality and hiring practices for persons with disabilities, as well as Germany’s anti-discrimination laws as outlined in the General Equal Treatment Act, visit these pages:

• Gender equality: https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/gender-equality
• Disabilities: https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/page/disability
• General Equal Treatment Act: https://www.antidiskriminierungsstelle.de/SharedDocs/downloads/EN/publikationen/agg_wegweiser_engl_guide_to_the_general_equal_treatment_act.pdf?__blob=publicationFile

The MPIWG has been certified by the Beruf und Familie organization’s “work and family audit” since 2006 for its family-friendly personnel policies.

The Max Planck Society is a non-profit research institution that is organized as a registered association under German law. Employees of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science are paid according to the German collective salary agreement for the public sector, federal level (TVöD-Bund).

The federal-level TVöD agreement includes 15 salary grades (Gruppen: based on the job description), each of which has six levels (Stufen: based on your own individual profile and proven professional experience). Further information can be found here (in German); for tables showing monthly earnings, see here.

Student assistants and graduate assistants are paid according to the public sector collective salary agreement, state level (TV-L). The current rates of payments for student and graduate assistants at the MPIWG can be found at the calls for applications. 

The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science offers its employees the option of mobile working in consultation with their superiors.

The MPIWG pays its employees a monthly subsidy for public transportation in Berlin, through the “Job Ticket” scheme. To receive the subsidy, you must buy an S-Bahn Berlin season ticket valid for at least 12 months, and have at least 12 months remaining on your employment contract with the Institute.

Six to three months before you begin work at the MPIWG, you will receive access to our Welcome Page, a platform with information about your stay at the Institute and in Berlin. The topics include accommodation, visas, registering your address, childcare, health insurance, checklists for arrival and departure, and many more. You will also find notes on other people’s experiences and practical tips about the area around the Institute.

The MPIWG is a hub for academic dialogue, with abundant workshops, conferences, lectures, and reading groups both within the individual research groups and departments and across the Institute. Examples of our regular event series are the Institute’s Colloquium with its changing umbrella themes, the Brown Bag Lunch introducing digital humanities, and the Tacit Knowledge series, a forum offering practical help on career development. In addition, members of the Institute organize a barbecue several times a year, and small groups meet up to visit the city center for exhibitions and events.