18. December 2019

Forschungsbericht 2017/18

Forschungsbericht 2017/18

In unserem aktuellen Forschungsbericht finden Sie eine Übersicht der wissenschaftlichen Arbeit des Instituts in den Jahren 2017 – 2018. Vorgestellt werden die Forschungsprojekte der Abteilungen Sprache und Literatur, Musik und Neurowissenschaften sowie der beiden neuen Forschungsgruppen. Neuigkeiten gibt es außerdem von der Bibliothek, den Laboren, dem ArtLab und den Veranstaltungen des Instituts. 

Der Forschungsberichts des Instituts wird ausschließlich in englischer Sprache veröffentlicht, einen Download-Link finden Sie am Ende dieser Seite. 
 

Vorwort von Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann

The Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics is proud to present its second research report. Founded in 2013, we still consider ourselves rather youthful, as we struggle—like all adolescents—with growing pains, finding our own identity, and a place in the world. Nevertheless, like all researchers, we embrace such challenges with enthusiasm and ambition.

With this attitude, we have achieved a lot in the past two years. We have managed a considerable growth in our staff. Since the Institute’s inception in 2013 with only a handful of people, our team reached a total of 180 employees—including interns and student assistants—across all departments, services, and the administration by the end of 2018. We have also expanded our research facilities (for instance, with the installation of a behavioral lab room with three booths), consolidated research agendas, broadened our scientific network, and welcomed a growing number of guest researchers. We are particularly proud of the fact that we have been able to attract two amazing independent research groups who now enrich the scholarly scope of our Institute with their research. 

###

With all these changes and achievements, one thing hasn’t changed: We still burn with interest in the question who likes what and why, aesthetically speaking, along with its infinite ramifications (and a number of other research fields as well). In this, we are not alone.

Our research topics and public events continuously elicit broad public and media interest—such as our newly established annual “Fechner Lecture” series, which was launched in October 2017 with Anjan Chatterjee from the University of Pennsylvania as the first guest speaker, and our mixed program of talks and music performances to celebrate the nationwide Max Planck Day in September 2018. In addition, our recently introduced series of performances in the ArtLab has met with great interest from the public. Step by step, we are becoming a part of Frankfurt’s bubbling and multifarious cultural life.

By far, however, the largest project that will also keep us busy over the next few years is the construction of our Institute’s new building in Frankfurt-Bockenheim. The architectural competition took place in 2018. The first prize was awarded to the architects Fritsch + Tschaidse (Munich), who designed a building that promises to create an atmosphere that will serve researchers, participants, and public audiences equally well. We are very excited that this building will eventually become a reality.

In view of these past achievements and the challenges that lie ahead, my thanks go to all of those who, with their enthusiasm and untiring commitment, continually contribute to making the Institute and its research a lasting success.
 

Frankfurt, October 2019
For the Board of Directors:
Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann 
Managing Director

Der Forschungsbericht kann hier heruntergeladen werden (PDF in englischer Sprache, 116 Seiten, ca. 19 MB) oder via Mail an presse@ae.mpg.de als Printausgabe bestellt werden.