History and Heritage

The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is a 60-year-old independent, non-profit scientific research organization — one of the strongest worldwide — founded in Germany in 1948. With an annual operating budget of $1.8 billion, 81 institutes located mainly in Germany and now in the United States, and a staff of 13,000, including scientists, doctoral students, student assistants, research fellows and visiting scientists, plus an additional 12,000 visiting scientists each year, the Max Planck Society pioneers research at the frontiers of human knowledge in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.

Max Planck scientists make groundbreaking discoveries with worldwide impact; create new medical applications: unearth the basic materials of the future, and advise politics, business and society on urgent questions concerning the development of the world. The interdisciplinary research areas provide many opportunities to work with universities and other research organizations.

In addition to having 17 Nobel Laureates since its inception in 1948, the organization's scientists and researchers have won numerous scientific and academic awards, including the Fields Medal (the Nobel Prize for Mathematics); The Japan Prize (the Japanese version of the Nobel Prize); and Germany's Leibniz Prize. Scientists in Germany were also part of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Team recently honored with the 2009 Swigert Award for Space Exploration in recognition of the technical developments that led to one of the most startling and meaningful discoveries of the new millennium.

At present, the Max Planck Society has nearly 1,000 inventions in its inventory, and 120 to 150 new patents are typically added each year. Besides supplying the fundamentals for new technologies, the Max Planck Institutes are making significant value-added contributions by training junior scientists. Each year, between 800 and 900 doctoral students at Max Planck Institutes successfully complete their Ph.D. dissertations at a university.