Ernst Strüngmann Institute

Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society

Formation	September 12, 2008
Location	Frankfurt am Main
Website	www.esi-frankfurt.de

The Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society (ESI) is an independent research institute located in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. The ESI is under the scientific governance of the Max Planck Society, an association of German research institutes. The institute's mission is to perform fundamental brain research.

Development and History

In July 2008, a cooperation contract was signed between the Max Planck Society and pharmaceutical entrepreneurs Andreas and Thomas Strüngmann, founding the ESI as an independent brain research institute with the format of a Max Planck Institute. On 12 September 2008, the ESI was formally founded in the legal form of a nonprofit limited liability corporation (gGmbH). To finance the ESI, the Strüngmann brothers founded the Ernst Strüngmann Foundation (ESF).

ESI’s founding directors are Wolf Singer and Pascal Fries, with Singer functioning as acting director until Fries became ESI’s first director in July 2009. On 1 April 2011, when Prof. Singer assumed emeritus status at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, he joined the ESI as Senior Research Group leader.

In 2020, Wolf Singer became the managing director, until 2021, when David Poeppel became the managing director. On 1st of January 2024, research director Pascal Fries left the institute. Late 2024 also David Poeppel left the institute. An emeritus Max Planck plant biologist, Lothar Willmitzer is currently at the institute as interim director.

Research

Research at the ESI is organized in eight research groups, called labs and named after their respective heads:

• Poeppel Lab (Brain basis of language, speech and music)
• Singer Lab (Neuronal processes underlying higher cognitive functions)
• Rademaker Lab (Mechanisms of human perceptual experiences)
• Cuntz Lab (neural circuitry and brain morphology)
• Havenith & Schölvinck Lab (Simultaneous encoding of cognitive processes during natural behaviour)
• Laurens Lab (Electrophysiology and modeling of navigation and vestibular systems)
• Schmidt Lab (Mapping of the entorhinal-hippocampal neuronal network)
• Vinck Lab (Using prediction and timing to encode information in the brain)

Former research groups

Three research groups are no longer active: The Schmid Lab Emmy Noether Group (2012 - 2015) which studied the principles of thalamo-cortical communication for visual perception and attention; the Diester Lab (2011 - 2014) which studied the interactions between the brain areas involved in tactile perception, cognitive processing, and movement generation, and the Fries Lab Department (2009 - 2023), which focused on neuronal synchronization.

Controversy Over Abuse of Power and Sexual Misconduct

The Max Planck Society and the Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) have come under media scrutiny. The ESI, founded by pharmaceutical billionaires Andreas and Thomas Strüngmann, faces allegations of abuse of power, bullying, and sexual misconduct. Several employees of the institute have reported inappropriate behavior, some of which is said to have originated from senior management. Despite internal investigations, no significant consequences were imposed on the accused. The Max Planck Society emphasizes that it takes the allegations seriously but asserts that it is not responsible for the ESI.

External links

• Homepage of the institute
• Page of the MPG about the institute