Max Planck Society names new head of Max Planck Digital Library

The President of the Max Planck Society has appointed Dr. Frank Sander as new head of the Max Planck Digital Library. Sander assumed his office on November 15, 2010, taking over the helm from the interim board of directors at the MDPL, which had been in charge since October 2008.

"In our modern world, the everyday work of many researchers would be unthinkable without innovative, digital research environments", says Sander. "The effectiveness of such instruments will also be decisive in determining what results researchers can produce in the future, and at what pace. I am delighted to be able to use the experience and skills I gained in industry and as a researcher in support of top-class research at the Max Planck Society".

Sander, born in 1969, studied physics in Cologne and Munich and obtained his PhD from the MPI of Quantum Optics under the supervision of Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Theodor W. Hänsch. Further stages in his career included, among others, assignments with an IT Service Partner in Munich and the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Together with three partners, Sander subsequently set up a strategic consulting company specialising in the provision of IT-strategic consulting services to DAX-listed companies. During his six-year stint at this firm, Sander, in his function as a member of the Management Board, was in charge of the areas of IT, law, and finances.

"In the past few years, the Max Planck Digital Library has demonstrated its importance for research in the Max Planck Society many times over," explains Vice President Wolfgang Schön. "I am convinced that Mr Sander, drawing on his many years of know-how and experience, will make a significant contribution to this institution."