Max Planck Florida Corp

Max Planck Florida Corp, doing business as Max Planck Florida Institute For Neuroscience, operates as a non-profit research institution and prime recipient of federal neuroscience research grants, with a secondary presence as a sub-recipient on collaborative multi-institutional neuroscience awards. The institute is a child entity of Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften E.V., a Germany-based non-profit research organization headquartered in Jupiter, Florida.

The institute's federal footprint centers entirely on NIH-funded fundamental neuroscience research. Recent prime awardees include a $1.737 million three-year Project Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (CFDA 93.242) beginning September 2024 to investigate mitochondrial energy logistics underpinning synaptic plasticity and learning and memory; a $518,582 five-year Project Grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (CFDA 93.853) awarded in May 2026 studying sensory-motor transformations in fruit fly neural circuits for object-directed walking; a $147,676 two-year Project Grant from the National Eye Institute (CFDA 93.867) beginning July 2026 examining the development of modular cortical networks in the visual system using tree shrew models; and a $3.399 million Project Grant from the NIH Office of the Director (CFDA 93.310) supporting development of a novel molecular profiling technique called SNAP-TRAP to identify interoception-encoding neuronal ensembles. The institute also participates in a Cooperative Agreement with NIMH (awarded July 2024, ultimate completion January 2029) focused on optimization of genetically encoded voltage and neurotransmitter indicators for multiwavelength in vivo analysis of brain circuits.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted to NIH institutes and centers. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke leads with 17 awards, followed by the National Eye Institute (10 awards), the National Institute of Mental Health (8 awards), and the NIH Office of the Director and broader NIH organization (4 awards each), accounting for 91% of recent awards. All funding agencies fall under the Department of Health and Human Services.

The institute acts as a sub-recipient on collaborative grants anchored by major research universities and institutions. Sub-award partners include Northwestern University (multiple sub-awards on multiplex imaging of brain activity and plasticity using FRET/FLIM-based sensors), the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (multiple sub-awards on astrocyte modulation of neural circuit function), the University of Pennsylvania (neuropeptide signaling in neural circuits), the University of California at Berkeley and San Diego (magnetogenetic techniques and astrocyte modulation), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (signal transduction and primary cilia imaging), the California Institute of Technology (engineered AAV identification and validation), Virginia Tech (astrocyte signaling computational modeling), and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (neurotransmitter imaging optimization). Recent sub-awards span 2022 through 2026.

Prime awards total 32 (68% of the institute's footprint) against 15 sub-awards (32%), with 47 total federal awards recorded. Activity accelerated sharply in 2024 (11 awards) after slower years in 2022–2023 (3 awards each), with 2025 and 2026 showing 4 and 3 awards respectively. Five awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. Combined potential value across all recorded awards stands at $104.6 million. The institute has received over $20 million in prior NIH funding as both prime awardee and sub-recipient. All recent awards are competitively awarded project and cooperative agreements with no set-aside designation; the institute competes on merit in the full-and-open federal research grant space.