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The county’s decision paved the way for the equally necessary approval by the State of Florida, which intends to boost the sum provided by the county to a total of 190 million dollars. This would facilitate the creation of a Max Planck Institute in the life sciences on the Jupiter Campus of Florida Atlantic University (FAU), in the immediate vicinity of the Scripps Research Institute.
“This decision is a great compliment for the Max Planck Society. We are very pleased that the county commissioners have demonstrated such great faith in us,” said Max Planck President Peter Gruss after the vote. With the recent addition of Scripps, and now perhaps also the Max Planck Society, Florida aims to quickly gain a place in the premier league of the world’s biotechnology hubs. The state hopes to attract yet further internationally renowned research institutes and biotech companies to the emerging center, thus enabling Florida to safeguard its long-term economic success. “The fact that those responsible for this development in Florida have specifically invited a German research organization as their sole partner from abroad represents a triumph for German science as a whole,” President Gruss declared.
The Scripps Research Institute, internationally renowned in the field of biomedicine, opened its doors on the Florida Atlantic University campus just three years ago. The prospect of close cooperation on a shared campus with Scripps is the primary reason for the Max Planck Society’s interest in Palm Beach County. “Scripps and Max Planck are a dream team for innovative basic research in biomedicine,” said Gruss. The offer extended to the Max Planck Society is also supported by the local Florida Atlantic University (FAU). The FAU, the fastest-growing university in the US, will be a key partner in educating junior researchers and will provide the land for the new construction.
The Senate of the Max Planck Society meets in November to discuss founding the new institute. Provided the Senate supports the idea and the State of Florida echoes the positive vote by the county and agrees to provide funding, actual contract negotiations can begin, and the institute could take up its work as early as 2008. The institute would eventually have three departments staffed by around 135 researchers from all over the world. At the same time, the Max Planck Society wants to offer a visiting scientist program and provide lab space for internationally renowned researchers to carry out their work.
“The Max Planck Florida institute would give us an independent foothold in the world’s most important country for science,” says Peter Gruss, who views the negotiations in the US as part of a wider internationalization of the Max Planck Society. “We want to export the Max Planck model for success worldwide and step up our international activities in Europe, the US and Asia.” In this context, forms of cooperation can range from Partner Institutes all the way to full-fledged Max Planck Institutes.
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