The Institute of Molecular Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznan came into existence on the basis of the Poznan Division of the Physics Institute on April 3, 1975. However, the history of the Institute goes back more than 30 years to 1954, when the Ferromagnetic Laboratory, headed by Professor Szczepan Szczeniowski was founded. In 1956 the laboratory split into two units: the Ferromagnetics Laboratory of the Physics Institute headed by Professor Szczepan Szczeniowski and the Dielectrics Laboratory headed by Professor Arkadiusz Piekara. In 1966, the Dielectric Laboratory formed an independent Radiospectroscopy Laboratory headed by Professor Jan Stankowski.

Successively new research groups have been formed. At present, the Institute is composed of thirteen departments, dealing with the physics of dielectrics, physics of magnetics and radiospectroscopy.