The International Max Planck Research School for Biology And Computation offers a dual education with supervision from experimental and computational groups and the opportunity to carry out research at the interface of biology, bioinformatics, mathematics and biochemistry.

We are a joint graduate program of the Freie Universität Berlin (FU, departments of biology, chemistry, pharmacy and department of mathematics and computer science) and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG). IMPRS-BAC is a member program of Dahlem Research School (DRS)

As a PhD student of the IMPRS-BAC, your time will mainly be devoted to your PhD thesis work in one of the research groups of the school, but the IMPRS-BAC also offers an exciting and flexible curriculum, allowing you to gain both scientific and transferable skills.

Most of our students come into the program with a master's degree in a relevant subject (e.g. molecular biology, bioinformatics, biochemistry, mathematics, physics, biotechnology). For exceptional students with a bachelor's degree only we offer the preparatory program which allows you to attend lectures for three semesters and start on your PhD research after a qualifying exam, without submitting a master's thesis.

The submission and successful defense of your thesis at the end of the PhD program entitles you to the German doctoral degree "Doctor of Natural Sciences" (Dr. rer. nat.) which is considered to be equivalent to the international academic degree "Doctor of Philosophy" (Ph.D.). The doctoral degree is awarded by one of the participating departments of the Freie Universität Berlin.

Our students come from all over the world and our working language is English. Some knowledge of German may be required for the preparatory program.

Our research groups work in epigenetics, bioinformatics, developmental biology, mathematics, sequence analysis, gene regulation, RNA biology, mechanobiology, protein biochemistry, stem cells and differentiation, statistics, molecular evolution, biophysics and more. Have a look at our website for more detailed and up-to-date information.