Max Planck Institutes

The Max Planck Society (MPG) is the basic science pillar of the German extra-university research system. It currently maintains 76 institutes that are all devoted to basic science in a special scientific subject in the natural sciences and in the humanities. At least 27 of the 76 institutes are involved in nanotechnology research. Together with the Helmholtz Research Centres and the Leibniz Institutes, the Max Planck Institutes are among the most published research facilities in nanotechnology. The mission statement of the Max Planck Institutes is to achieve excellence in science research, and are regarded internationally as centers of excellence.

[Page 411]Concerning patent output in nanotechnology, the Max Planck Institutes is just after the application-oriented Fraunhofer Society. The core funding, 82 percent, of the total budget of 1,433 billion euros (2007) of the Max Planck Society is equally provided by the state and the federal states.

The German chemist Otto Hahn founded the MPG in 1948 as the successor organization to the Prussian Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft, which dates back to 1911. The MPG is formally a registered association with the registered base in Berlin, and administrative headquarters in Munich. Since 2002, the German developmental biologist Peter Gruss has been the president of the MPG. Although the Institutes are dependent on the society, the institute directors have a strong influence on their respective research programs. As of 2009, the Max Planck Institutes had more than 13,000 employees, and 4,700 of those are scientists. The MPG is part of the traditionally large German extra-university public research sector. Although the university research sector is large in terms of personnel, the extra-university research sector has a higher total budget.

The budget per researcher is the highest for the Max Planck Institutes (in the extra-university research sector). The extra-university research sector is functionally differentiated in Germany. The Fraunhofer Institutes are specialized in application-oriented research, the Helmholtz Research Centres operate large scale research facilities and do mission oriented research. The Leibniz Institutes connect basic and application-oriented science, although their profile is less clear. The researchers at MPG are strongly oriented toward competing for a well-regarded reputation in the scientific community. The well-funded researchers in the Max Planck Institutes have the highest average publication rates of all extra-university institutes in natural sciences and engineering, and have published the most papers in the journals Science and Nature. Their patent output is in comparison rather low: the Fraunhofer Institutes and the Helmholtz Research Centres lead in this respect.