Max Planck Society Yearbook Highlights
Each year, the Max Planck Society submits a scientific research report in the form of a yearbook to render account of the scientific research performed at its Institutes to the public and its funding providers. The central questions addressed are: where do we stand, and where do we want to go? The Max Planck Institutes are asked to select a work or project from their scientific activities that is suitable for presentation in the yearbook, as far as these have reached a certain degree of completion. The yearbook contributions of all Max Planck Institutes are published on the website.
For this printed collection, 15 articles were selected and edited in a journalistic manner, which seemed particularly suited for publication from a science communication perspective and especially interesting also for non-experts. The highlights of the 2021 Yearbook shine a spotlight, amongst others, on the extent to which computer technologies have found their way into research, swarming phagocytes, contacts in the liver, virtual fusion plants and the surprising history of our oral bacteria – just to name a few.