Boards of Trustees
The Max Planck Society depends on the acceptance of the public and its willingness to support research. The Boards of Trustees of the Max Planck Institutes promote mutual understanding and convey the awareness that science is indispensable and part of our society.
Networking within the scientific community is not everything. Rather, a scientific organization has to reach out and promote the acceptance of its work. People want to know what drives the researchers, how they arrive at their results and what questions are on the agenda for the next stage.
The members of our Boards of Trustees act as liaison between the Max Planck Society with its Institutes and the public – they are advocates for the Institutes and their concerns. Assuming a key role as ambassadors, they foster positive interaction with the scientific and social environment of the Institutes and the Max Planck Society.
Our Trustees are personally committed to the success principle of independent research. Their voluntary work and their role as intermediaries are just as beneficial to the scientific community as they are to the public who wishes to share in the results.
Excellent research requires outstanding commitment: the Max Planck Society is grateful to its Trustees. Only in this way can science be successful.
2025 Discussion Forum of the Trustees
On December 5th 2025, President Cramer and Secretary General Schwanitz welcomed
more than fifty Trustees to the 20th Discussion Forum, this time in the heart of Munich.
Following a science policy update from the Secretary General, the President spoke
with Director Karsten Borgwardt and Project Group Leader Bernadette Stolz from the
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry on the nearby Martinsried campus about
“Mathematics, AI and Medicine of the Future” in keeping with the upcoming Year of Science.
The guests were extremely impressed by the rapid developments and prospects
of this research, and at the same time, current challenges and desirable outcomes
for the Forum's key topic and fundamental issues as well were discussed lively.
Once again, it became clear that our Boards of Trustees
are indispensable for the dialogue with the public: their members
come from a wide variety of areas of our society and, through their office, gain insight
into our work. They engage with research topics, observe developments,
and gain an understanding of the concerns of researchers. In this way, the Trustees
can help to ensure that these issues are understood and discussed by the public.
As ambassadors, they promote awareness that science is indispensable and part of our society.
We owe a debt of gratitude to the members of our Boards of Trustees
for their commitment - it makes a significant difference!
Following the Forum, Director Dietmar Harhoff invited interested participants
to a guided tour of the library at the nearby Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
and also gave a captivating presentation on his highly topical field of research.
Finally, impressions of the day and the previous evening were discussed over lunch.
At the end of the quantum year, the Discussion Forum also included an exclusive tour of the
Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, where Director Immanuel Bloch invited the Trustees
to attend lectures, tours and a networking reception on the evening of December 4th, 2025.
We would like to thank all participants for their time and commitment.