Our Mission

Algorithms and their applications are and have always been the main focus of the Institute. They are the core of what makes computer systems useful and productive. They influence every aspect of our daily lives and are the basis for industrial change. Throughout the last decade, major parts of our research effort have focused on multimodal computing. The grand challenge is to understand, search, and organize large, distributed, noisy, incomplete, and diverse information in a robust, efficient, and intelligent manner. Our research ranges from foundations (algorithms and complexity, automation of logic) to a variety of multimodal domains (computer graphics and vision, geometric computation, intelligent information systems, adaptive networks). In recent years, research on foundations of machine learning, as well as the investigation of machine learning and artificial intelligence methods at the intersection to the aforementioned research domains, has become an important part of the research of our institute. The overarching mission of the Institute is to be one of the world’s top players and strategic trend-setters on these topics. Most of the major advances in computer science have come through the combination of new theoretical insights and application-oriented experimental validation, all driven by outstanding researchers. Our goal is, thus, to have impact through publications, software, services, and data resources enabled by our research, and people alike.

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Latest News

Volker Maria Geiß

Half a century in the service of science

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VIA Center Recognized for Excellent Research in First Scientific Evaluation

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Art Exhibition Showcases New Laser-Based Production Method

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Paul Strohmeier / vibration actuator

Kinesthetic Displays – how vibrotactile feedback creates and changes how we experience the moving body

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Departments

D1

Algorithms and Complexity

Prof. Danupon Nanongkai, Ph.D.
D2

Computer Vision and Machine Learning

Prof. Dr. Bernt Schiele
D3

Internet Architecture

Prof. Anja Feldmann, Ph.D.
D4

Computer Graphics

Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Seidel
D5

Databases and Information Systems

Prof. Dr. Gerhard Weikum
D6

Visual Computing and Artificial Intelligence

Prof. Dr. Christian Theobalt
RG1

Automation of Logic

Prof. Dr. Christoph Weidenbach
RG2

Network and Cloud Systems

Dr. Yiting Xia
RG3

Multimodal Language Processing

Prof. Dr. Vera Demberg

Did you know...

VIA Research Center Saarbrücken

In 2022 the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Informatics in Saarbrücken (Germany) and Google established  a strategic partnership: the Saarbrücken Research Center for Visual Computing, Interaction and Artificial Intelligence (VIA) at the MPI for Informatics. The center investigates basic frontier research challenges in computer graphics, computer vision, and human machine interaction, at the intersection to artificial intelligence and machine learning.

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Doctoral Research Program

The International Max Planck Research School on Trustworthy Computing (IMPRS-TRUST) is a graduate program jointly run by the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, the Computer Science Department at Saarland University, and the Computer Science Department at TU Kaiserslautern.

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