The Institute supports post-doctoral habilitation projects primarily with academic staff appointments that provide individuals an opportunity to prepare a habilitation while serving as an Institute research fellow. Additionally, in some instances a habilitation project may be undertaken pursuant to an independently financed research project or be funded by a third-party grant.
In addition to the long-term financial support, the Institute's biennial Habilitandenkolloquium has established itself as a forum which fosters an exchange among internationally positioned post-doctoral scholars and thus further supports the preparation of habilitation projects. With the Max Planck Postdoctoral Conference, first held in 2006, the Institute has recently established a forum that will regularly allow junior researchers from across Europe - beyond German-speaking regions - to present their research work.