马克斯·普朗克社会人类学研究所是世界领先的社会文化人类学研究中心之一，研究所所有项目的共同点是对社会变革的比较分析，其研究人员在这一领域为人类学理论做出了贡献，实地考察是所有项目的重要组成部分。

研究所有三个科学部门：经济实验人类学，人类学、政治与治理以及法律与民族学。该研究所的科学家与其他大学和研究机构的同事保持着全球交流。他们一起定期组织有国际参与的讲习班和会议。

The Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology is one of the world's leading research centers for socio-cultural anthropology. What all the Institute's projects have in common is comparative analysis of social change. Its researchers have contributed to anthropological theory in this field, and field trips are an important part of all the projects.

The study has three scientific divisions: Economic experimental Anthropology, Anthropology, Politics and Governance, and Law and Ethnology. Scientists at the Institute maintain global exchanges with colleagues at other universities and research institutions. Together, they organize regular workshops and conferences with international participation.