On 12 September 2008, Dr. Andreas and Dr. Thomas Strüngmann founded the Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience. The ESI has the legal form of a “gemeinnützige Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (gGmbH)”, i.e. a non-profit corporation, with the Strüngmann brothers as “Gesellschafter” (partners). To finance the ESI, Dr. Andreas and Dr. Thomas Strüngmann founded the Ernst Strüngmann Foundation (ESF).

The ESI’s founding directors are Prof. Wolf Singer and Prof. Pascal Fries. In July 2009, Prof. Fries became the ESI’s first director and managing director. On 1 April 2011, when Prof. Singer assumed emeritus status at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, he joined the ESI as Senior Research Group leader. In October 2011, Dr. Ilka Diester joined the ESI as a Research Group leader. Three years later, she followed an appointment as a Professor at the University of Freiburg. In May 2012, Dr. Michael Schmid started his Emmy Noether group at the ESI. In April 2021, Prof. David Poeppel took on the position of managing director. In September 2024, Prof. Lothar Willmitzer took on the position of managing director.

Currently, the ESI comprises the department of Prof. David Poeppel, the Senior Research Group of Prof. Wolf Singer as well as the Research Groups of Dr. Hermann Cuntz, Jean Laurens, Dr. Martin Vinck, Dr. Helene Schmidt, Dr. Rosanne Rademaker, and the Research Group jointly led by Dr. Martha Havenith und Dr. Marieke Schölvinck.