Max Planck Institute for Computer Science

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Max Planck Institute for Informatics at Saarbrücken

The Max Planck Institute for Computer Science is devoted to cutting-edge research in computer science with a focus on algorithms and their applications in a broad sense. The research ranges from foundations (algorithms and complexity, programming logics) to a variety of application domains (computer graphics, geometric computation, constraint solving, computational biology). It is part of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Germany's largest society for fundamental research. The objective of the institute is to achieve an effect equally through scientific publications, software systems and training the next academic generation. The research institutes of the Max Planck Society have a national and international reputation as “Centres of Excellence” for pure research.

The institute consists of five research units:

Algorithms and Complexity Group is headed by Prof. Dr. Kurt Mehlhorn,
Programming Logics Group was headed by Prof. Dr. Harald Ganzinger († June 3, 2004)
Computational Biology and Applied Algorithmics is headed by Prof. Dr. Thomas Lengauer, Ph.D.
Computer Graphics is headed by Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Seidel
Databases and Information Systems Group is headed by Prof. Dr. Gerhard Weikum

Numerous awards are indicative of the institute's success since it was founded — among others. Professor Kurt Mehlhorn in 1986 and Professor Hans-Peter Seidel in 2003 received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, and in 2003 Professor Thomas Lengauer received the Konrad-Zuse-Medal.

In the context of cutting edge research in Germany, the institute joins the Max Planck Institute for Softwaresystems, the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and the entire computerscience department at the University of the Saarland in being involved in the Internationales Begegnungs- und Forschungszentrum für Informatik castle. This also offers many possibilities for obtaining further scientific qualifications.