Patrick Cramer takes over as Max Planck President

75 years of the Max Planck Society and a change of president - how fortunate that Göttingen was wisely chosen as the venue for the 2023 Annual Meeting. For one thing, the Max Planck Society in its current form was founded in Göttingen. Secondly, Gättingen, or more precisely the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, was previously the home of Patrick Cramer, the ninth President of the Max Planck Society.

Excellent research needs room for creativity - at all career levels. Young researchers are particularly important to Cramer. „We have to work even harder to attract talent. In addition to the doctoral programmes, I therefore propose an interdisciplinary postdoc programme. In this way, we can attract the best, open up career paths at an early stage and promote synergies between institutes.“ With regard to the discussions about the law on temporary academic contracts, he said: „We need a legal framework that creates flexibility and enables academic careers.“ By promoting people, Cramer also means recognising and acknowledging their diversity: „It is important to me to say: ALL are welcome who share our values.“

Renewing processes and strategies

The focus here is on the further development of the Max Planck Society's international strategy under difficult conditions, such as the consequences of Brexit, restricted scientific freedom in parts of Eastern Europe, or ideological tensions in the USA and China. The aim is to win new partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America and to meet them at eye level, without a Eurocentric view, says Cramer. In order for Max Planck to remain competitive in the global market, development strategies for locations, administrations and centres are also required. „We should create larger units in the science-supporting area. This promotes the attractiveness, scientific autonomy and thematic development of our institutes," emphasises the new professor.

Taking social responsibility

On the one hand, Cramer sees high ethical standards for research, which should also be as environmentally friendly as possible. On the other hand, it is important to publish the results obtained in a freely accessible manner and to identify the opportunities and risks arising from the research. In addition, he would like to develop a sustainability concept to make the MPG climate-neutral by 2035 at the latest. And he wants to make the voice of science heard in the social discourse and facilitate the transfer of knowledge and technologies.

Cramer takes over from Martin Stratmann, who has led the renowned research organisation for the past nine years, in turbulent times. Brexit and two years of pandemic were followed by the ongoing Russian war of aggression in Eastern Europe, which caused energy prices to skyrocket and led to the cancellation of important scientific projects. „Together with the General Administration and the institutes, you have guided us well through the pandemic and the energy crisis to this point“, Patrick Cramer thanked his predecessor.

Six Nobel Prizes in nine years

Scientifically speaking, however, these were particularly successful years for the MPG: during Stratmann's term of office, six Nobel Prizes alone went to Max Planck scientists - five of them in the last three consecutive years. „It is of course the successes of the individual prizewinners“, said the outgoing President, „but at least I was able to promote them.“ Improving the framework conditions for young scientists with a standardised funding agreement and binding guidelines was a central concern for Stratmann. The MPG has invested 50 million euros in this endeavour.

Another matter close to his heart was networking at national and international level. With Dioscuri, Stratmann launched a programme to strengthen science in Eastern and Central Europe. He established a networking programme with Africa together with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. And with Cyber Valley, he created a centre for AI research that is visible throughout Europe and a starting point for networking science and business. By founding the MPI for Security and Privacy, he helped to further expand the research field of computer sciences in the Max Planck Society.

Attractors for the next generation of international researchers

With the Max Planck Schools, Stratmann developed a pilot project to bundle and make visible what he called "distributed excellence" in Germany. This also gave rise to new innovative approaches such as lab rotations, which enable young researchers to try out different stations before finally deciding on a dissertation project.

The agency for leap innovations was also based on a proposal by Stratmann, who also wanted to promote a new start-up culture in the Max Planck Society with MAX Entrepreneur. At the same time, he succeeded in making the Max Planck Society at least a little more female with clear guidelines for more gender equality. The goal of having at least one female director at every Max Planck Institute will continue to apply beyond his term of office.