Max Planck Institutes abroad
Foreign institutes are nothing new: the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome, Italy, for example, was founded back in 1913 – at that time, as part of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. The Art History Institute in Florence is in fact one of the oldest institutions for research into the history of art and architecture in Italy. Founded in 1897 as a private initiative by a group of independent scholars, it has been part of the Max Planck Society since 2002. The Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, on the other hand, was established in 1980 as the result of a project group set up four years previously. The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience was initiated in 2008. In June 2012 the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law in Luxemburg was founded. From 1st January 2024 transferred back to Luxembourg as the Luxembourg Center for European Law (LCIL).
Setting up Max Planck institutes and Member Institutes abroad enables the Max Planck Society to increase its research portfolio, optimize cooperation opportunities for their institutes in other countries, and attract top male and female scientists in the relevant countries to work at a MPI, but who are not looking to do so in Germany.
It is particularly important for financing to be provided by the home country to guarantee the ongoing and comprehensive viability of the institute. The foreign institutes are also responsible for all the autonomous decision-making procedures and processes of the Max Planck Society, in particular in the selection of research subjects and management staff. This gives them all the features of a Max Planck institute.