Max Planck Society

The Max Planck Society was founded in 1948 as a non-profit organisation and originally began life as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, which was created in 1911. The name comes from the German Physicist and Nobel Prize winner Max Planck, who was among the scientists who created quantum theory. Under the roof of the Max Planck Society are 78 Max Planck Institutes (MPI) which employ around 23,400 people. Among these are approximately 4,300 scientists and 10,900 student assistants, fellows of the International Max Planck Research Schools, doctoral students, postdoctoral students, research fellows and visiting scientists. Around 82 percent of Max Planck Society expenditure is met by public funding from the Federal Government and the German States. The remaining 18 percent  comes from donations, members’ contributions and from projects that are funded by other resources. The budget for 2006 was 1,38 billion euros.

The research institutes of the Max Planck Society perform basic research in the interest of the general public in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. In particular, the Max Planck Society takes up new and innovative research in areas that German universities are not in a position to accommodate. These interdisciplinary research areas often fail to suit the standard university organization, or they require greater funds for personnel and equipment than are available at the universities. The variety of topics in the natural sciences and the humanities at MPIs complement the work done at universities and other research facilities in important research fields. Regarding biotechnological research, around 25 MPIs conduct relevant research projects, among others the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich, the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics – both located in Berlin, the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt as well as the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden.

A list of all MPIs undertaking biotechnology-relevant research can be found here.

More Information: www.mpg.de