AI as an integral part of biomedical research

Data analysis is a central component of biomedical research. Artificial intelligence (AI) opens up new possibilities for systematically evaluating complex data and making it usable. It is therefore particularly promising to closely link both areas and further anchor AI as an integral part of biomedical research.

Professor Karsten Borgwardt, spokesperson for the new school, explains: "The aim of the new school is to establish a graduate program that produces advanced AI methods for basic research in the life sciences and at the same time opens up perspectives for later translational applications. I am very much looking forward to deepening scientific collaborations with experts at other non-university research institutions and universities within the framework of the School and to jointly training promising doctoral students. Our network brings together research institutes and universities from eleven federal states – in line with the motto of the Max Planck Schools, which is to pool scientific excellence across regional and institutional boundaries."

The Fellows are internationally recognized researchers from 24 institutions. The following LMU researchers are among them: Professor Björn Ommer, Head of Computer Vision & Learning Group, Institute of Computer Science, Professor Volker Tresp, Research Group Leader Database Systems, Data Mining and AI, Professor Ralf Jungmann, Chair of Molecular Physics of Life und Professor Veit Hornung, Gene Center and Department of Biochemistry. Die koordinierende Leitung der School liegt bei Professor Karsten Borgwardt, Direktor am Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie in Martinsried bei München und Honorarprofessor der LMU.

The School is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Karsten Borgwardt, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich and Honorary Professor at LMU.

The Fellows come from a wide variety of fields, ranging from image and speech processing to immunology. A central hub for the school will be in Munich, where twelve of the current 32 fellows are based - alongside the Max Planck Society at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the Technical University of Munich, and Helmholtz Munich.

Matthias Tschöp, President of LMU Munich: "This is where real added value is generated: The new Max Planck School fits into our One Munich Strategy and, in turn, benefits from the international appeal of Munich as a center of excellence. With its AI expertise and proven strengths in physics, LMU will be an important part of the School." Thomas Hofmann, President of the Technical University of Munich, adds: "The new Max Planck School creates a first-class environment for young scientists at a global level and enables them to harness the transformative potential of AI in basic biomedical research and its translational applications in a unique way."

The new school will be complemented by researchers from the universities of Bonn, Leipzig, Saarbrücken, and Tübingen, the technical universities in Darmstadt and Berlin, the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, and the Leibniz Institute for Virology in Hamburg.

Deepening understanding of biological systems

The school will focus on deepening understanding of biological systems by combining modern biomedical technologies with innovative approaches to artificial intelligence. The aim is to train a new generation of scientists who will develop algorithms that can learn, explain, and predict the principles of living systems and use these findings for molecular design. Since issues of ethics, data protection, and data security also play a central role in this context, young scientists will be taught additional qualifications in these areas. In the medium term, the School also aims to consistently exploit the enormous translational potential at the interface between biomedicine and AI – a topic of the highest academic, clinical, and industrial relevance.

The school will be administered from the spokesperson's institute, the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried. The plan is to accept the first applications for doctoral positions at the school starting in fall 2026, with the first BMAI cohort beginning their doctoral studies in fall 2027.