Max Planck Society

The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (German: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V.; abbreviated MPG) is a non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes publicly funded by the federal and the 16 state governments of Germany. It is named in honor of its former president, theoretical physicist Max Planck. The 82 research institutes of the Max Planck Society (as 2013) conduct basic research in the interest of the general public in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities. They have a total staff of approximately 17,000 permanent employees, including 5,470 scientists, plus around 4,500 non-tenured scientists and guests. The Max Planck Society has a world-leading reputation as a science & technology research organization, with 32 Nobel Prizes awarded to their scientists, and are generally regarded as the foremost basic research organization in Europe and the world.