© MPI-CBG
In 2018, the Max Planck Society has excellent reasons to celebrate: not only will the Max Planck Society turn 70, but it will also be Max Planck’s 160th birthday on April 23rd, and last but not least it will be the 100th anniversary of Max Planck’s Nobel Prize. This is a unique opportunity for the Max Planck Society as a whole to reach out to the public and say: “We are Max Planck!” During the “Max Planck Day”, which took place on 14 September 2018, the three Dresden Max Planck Institutes, the MPI for Chemical Physics of Solids, the MPI for the Physics of Complex Systems, and the MPI of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, as well as the Center for Systems Biology Dresden jointly presented their work in the Dresden Town Hall.
About 300 visitors experienced the diverse and exciting program, featuring information and experimental sections, a Max Planck cinema, twenty-minute lectures, a panel discussion, and a “Science Café” at the end of the day. The panel discussion addressed the importance of basic research for society. The discussion partners included Dr. Eva-Maria Stange, Saxon Minister of State for Science and the Fine Arts, Dr. Peter Plaßmeyer, Director of the Mathematical-Physical Salon, Prof. Dr. Wieland Huttner, Director of the MPI of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Prof. Dr. Jan-Michael Rost, Director of the MPI for the Physics of Complex Systems, Prof. Dr. Juri Grin, Director of the MPI for Chemical Physics of Solids, and Ulrich Bahnsen, Staff Reporter in the Science Department of the ZEIT. The “Science Café” offered visitors the opportunity to discuss with six experts their research.