New Max Planck institute

New Max Planck institute. In November Germany’s Max Planck Society announced the founding of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPISD). Research at the Hamburg institute will focus on understanding matter on the smallest size and time scales.

Ultrafast chemical reactions, phase transitions, and noncrystal biological complexes will be analyzed with a new generation of experimental tools—from laboratory-scale lasers and electron beams to the European X-Ray Free Electron Laser under construction in Hamburg. “These tools enable measurements of the microscopic structure of matter as it evolves on femtosecond, or even attosecond, time scales,” says Andrea Cavalleri, one of two MPISD founding directors.

The institute will grow to up to 120 permanent positions, and will encompass experimental and theoretical research in physics, chemistry, and life sciences.