International

Alban Mariette from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam is researching how plants construct their cell walls. He went to Australia as part of the Melbourne-Potsdam PhD Program (MelPoPP). Here, he shares details of his experiences during the lockdown period and about his work-life balance as a PhD student. more

Researcher Eduardo Sampaio of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Constance sailed around the Cape Verde coast aboard the Captain Darwin. He talks about a diverse but endangered underwater world, the mating behavior of octopuses, and how it is also possible to play a game of cat and mouse with fish. more

Andrea Müller from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has been studying plants that live symbiotically with ants in Peru. Below, she shares her enthusiasm for the rainforest and how, in addition to the coronavirus, protesting coca farmers can jeopardize scientific field work. more

Shambhavi Priyam of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods is coordinating an information campaign in northeast India in order to protect people from arsenic-contaminated well water. She reports on culinary delights, the slow wheels of the Indian bureaucracy, and celebrating her birthday in the midst of a pandemic. more

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has informed the Max Planck Society that it wishes to transfer the Max Planck Institute for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law, which is fully financed by the Grand Duchy, to the University of Luxembourg over a transitional period of three to four years, i.e. until the retirement of the two directors currently in office. more