Dependence of the slope of the IGIMF in the high-mass end on the SFR. Upper subpanel: slope of the IGIMF in the mass range [1, 10] M_⊙ as a function of the SFR for three values of the IMF variation parameter a. Lower subpanel: slope of the IGIMF in the mass range [1−60] M_⊙ as a function of the SFR and similarly for the values of a = 0, 0.5 and 1. These calculations are based on the models displayed in Fig. 3 which have an implemented M_cl, max–SFR relation, but without the M_ch–SFR dependence.