Center Activities

The scope of activities of the Center include:

  • Promoting joint research projects in the areas of our nine central research topics.
  • Operating the CLS doctoral training program.
  • Providing visiting opportunities in research and education for scientists, PhD students and Postdocs in areas such as machine learning, robotics, micro-robotics, computer vision, as well as learning systems, self­organization and control.
  • Organising and co-organising events in order to advance the education of Master and PhD students.
  • Seeking synergies with network partners in Southwest Germany and Switzerland.
  • Strengthening possibilities regarding industrial interactions and co-sponsorships.
     
With its focus on fundamental research, the Center follows an open source philosophy.

Network Partners

CLS is part of a strong AI community in the adjacent regions of Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany and Switzerland, with connections including:

  • The ELLIS Institute Tübingen, launched in July 2023 and set to become a world-renowned center for pioneering basic research in the field of artificial intelligence, aiming to attract the world's best machine learning talent. Since 2025, it is an Associate Partner of CLS.
  • The ETH AI Center, the ETH-wide centre for AI research, providing ETH Zurich with the space and resources to intensify AI research in terms of foundations, applications and implications. Since 2025, the activities of CLS on the ETH side are integrated within the ETH AI Center.
  • The Cyber Valley initiative based in Stuttgart/Tübingen, Europe’s largest research consortium in the field of artificial intelligence with partners from science and industry.
  • The International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems (IMPRS-IS), the doctoral program of Cyber Valley.
  • The European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems, the Europe-wide (ELLIS) network.

Faculty affiliations

Academic exchange within CLS at the senior researcher level is deepened by mutual affiliations:

  • Bernhard Schölkopf, Director at the MPI-IS in Tübingen, was appointed as an Affiliated Professor of Empirical Inference at the Department of Computer Science (D-INFK) at ETH Zurich, starting on January 1st, 2019.
  • Andreas Krause, Professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich was appointed as a Max Planck Fellow in 2021. He leads the Max Planck Fellowship group on Interactive Learning at the MPI for Intelligent Systems.

Cooperation Agreement

The activities of the Center for Learning Systems are underpinned by an official Cooperation Agreement between the two parties, the Max Planck Society and ETH, and signed off by the respective Presidents and their deputies.  The initial agreement, drawn up in 2015, has been extended twice and is valid until April 30, 2030.  The Cooperation Agreement regulates the following areas:

  • Organisation
  • Collaborative Activities
  • Evaluation
  • Funding
  • Personnel
  • Facilities
  • Center Results and Intellectual Property Rights
  • Confidentiality
  • Publications
  • Liability
  • Duration of the Agreement
  • Disputes
  • Compliance with Laws and Regulations

Center participants with questions about any of these topics should contact the CLS Coordinator for further information.