Max Planck pushes frontiers around globe

Germany’s prestigious Max Planck Society (MPG) is working to increase its international presence through the formation of virtual centers around the world. The latest, formalized on 29 March, is the Max Planck Princeton Research Center for Plasma Physics, with Princeton University, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), and three Max Planck institutes as partners.

The new center will focus on fusion plasma physics and plasma astrophysics. The main topics of collaborative research will be magnetic reconnection, plasma turbulence, energetic particles in plasmas, and rotating plasmas. “In each of the four topics,” says PPPL director Stewart Prager, “there are major physics conundrums. We are in the process of planning which questions will be the most fruitful to attack.”

In addition to the plasma physics center, a collaboration with researchers in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, focuses on quantum materials, and two centers in Pohang, South Korea, address the areas of attosecond science and complex materials. Among the centers outside of physics either under way or planned are those in computer science (India), lipid research (India), systems chemical biology (Japan), anthropology and archaeology (Israel), and instabilities in market societies (France). After a fast ramping up that began in 2010, the plan is to create a maximum of two new centers a year, says Berthold Neizert, MPG head of research policy and international relations.

Funding for each center is $600 000–$1 million a year for five years, split evenly between the MPG and its partners. The money mostly funds postdocs, workshops and schools, and visits to partner institutions. The centers provide an opportunity for young people “to learn about an international facility without losing their home affiliation,” Neizert says.

The MPG has some 82 brick-and-mortar research institutes, including a handful outside of Germany. “Science is international, and it’s teamwork,” says Neizert. “We think this model [of virtual centers] has the potential to increase the attractiveness of both partners. We want to increase the international visibility for students and postdocs—so more come to Max Planck institutes in Germany and vice versa.”

Virtual centers, Prager says, “can be a huge home run. You can get to places you never would have gotten to. Or they can be duds. It all depends on having a core of dedicated people who want to seize the opportunity and run with it.”