Welcome to the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
We investigate how organisms interact with chemical signals.
We do research in the lab to better understand interactions at a molecular level.
Photo: Anna Schroll
We do research in the glasshouse and in the field to better understand interactions and signals in their natural environment.
Photo: Anna Schroll
We support the Initiative “Weltoffenes Thüringen”.
We are committed to ensuring that people from different backgrounds live and work together in a respectful manner.
Training and international collaborations are key features of our work.
We believe diversity and inclusion leads to the best science.
Research News
Current News and Announcements
Molecular basis of the explosive defence response in the bombardier beetle Brachinus crepitans. Royal Society Open Science 12 (5), 241823 (2025)
Flowers with bad breath: How an old gene acquired a new function to exploit an insect’s sense of smell. Science 388 (6747), pp. 586 - 587 (2025)
Organic metabolite uptake by diazotrophs in the North Pacific Ocean. ISME Communications 5 (1), ycaf061 (2025)
Iulia Barutia, Eduardo Briceño, Dongik Chang and Fortesa Rama received the IMPRS presentation awards
Marianna Boccia received the Beutenberg Campus Prize for the best doctoral thesis
The natural product chemist and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena has been elected a member of the German National Academy of Sciences.