Facts & Figures

International cooperations

Max Planck institutes operate as a worldwide network based on international cooperations and projects. The Max Planck Society has over 2,500 international projects with more than 6,000 partners in 123 countries. International cooperations promote scientific performance and productivity; they create a scientific added value, and in many research fields make it possible to actually achieve a critical mass.

Foreign personnel in the Max Planck Society

• 28 per cent of all employees come from abroad.
• In terms of scientists, individuals from abroad account for 33.1 per cent.
• 29.8 per cent of the Max Planck directors are foreign citizens.
• The post docs are the most international with a foreign contingent of 90,6 per cent, followed by visiting scientists at 53,5 per cent.
• In terms of doctoral students, 43.7 per cent come from abroad.

Junior and visiting scientists in the Max Planck Society

About 6000 post docs, junior and visiting scientists from all over the world work at the Max Planck institutes. They are not only a valuable addition for the scientific work undertaken at the institutes, they also make it possible to build an international network. For the post docs, junior and visiting scientists themselves, a period spent at a Max Planck institute is invariably a valuable step in individual qualification and career development – a win-win situation for both sides.

(Reference date is always January 1, 2011.)