Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) is a biology research institute located in Dresden, Germany. It was founded in 1998 and was fully operational in 2000. 24 research groups work in molecular biology, cell biology, and developmental biology, supported by various facilities.
Research
The research in the institute encompasses many topics from molecular, cellular, and developmental biology as well as from biophysics. An incomplete list of individual topics follows: molecular motors, neural development, cell division, lipid rafts, endocytosis, embryogenesis, regeneration.
Organisation
The MPI-CBG is headed by 6 tenured directors/group leaders - Jonathon Howard (Australia), Wieland Huttner (Germany), Anthony Hyman (UK) as Managing Director, Elizabeth Knust (Germany), Marino Zerial (Italy), Eugene Myers (USA), - and a chief operating officer (Ivan Baines). Together with the directors' groups, 19 independent research groups led by untenured principal investigators and about 16 facilities make up the work force of the institute. In total, the institute employs around 560 people of whom about half are not German. The flat organisation and the absence of department divisions fosters direct communication and a slim administration.
Networking
The MPI-CBG is located next to research centers of the Technische Universität Dresden, the University Clinic C.G. Carus, the Medical Theoretical Centre (MTZ) and the Biotechnological Centre (BIOZ). The MPI-CBG has collaborations with all 4 research institutions in Dresden and with other centres in the city like the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, and abroad. In addition, it operates an international PhD programme together with the aforementioned neighbours.