Consolidation of research partnership with Italy

Presidents sign agreement to intensify joint research

Max Planck President Peter Gruss will travel to Italian-German meeting centre Villa Vigoni on the banks of Lake Como to attend an event marking the 90th anniversary of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). CNR President Luigi Nicolais and Gruss will sign a bilateral agreement to step up the scientific collaboration between the two organisations. "The CNR is one of the Max Planck Society's most important partner organisations," notes Peter Gruss. The framework agreement will not only recognise the importance of their collaboration, he continues, but also lay the groundwork for extending the partnership in various different research fields.

During the inaugural session of the event on 15 June 2013, the two Presidents will also discuss the internationalisation strategies of their respective research organisations and how the new EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, "Horizon 2020", will impact international cooperation in the future. Representatives of the Italian government are expected to attend this inaugural session.

After the framework agreement has been signed, two symposia attended by top scientists from the CNR and the Max Planck Society will take place. The participants will discuss current and future projects in the fields of "biosphere-atmosphere interactions" and "quantum sciences and technologies". A further objective is to identify new opportunities for collaboration.

The Max Planck Society has worked closely with Italian researchers for many years. In addition to the 300 or so collaborative ventures between Max Planck researchers and their Italian counterparts, exchange visits for scientists play a key role. In 2012, for example, more than 500 guest scientists and young scientists from Italy visited one or other of the Max Planck institutes, making Italians the largest group of guest researchers from within the European Union. And last but not least, two of the Max Planck Society's five international institutes are in Italy, namely the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome and the Institute of Art History in Florence.