Max Planck Institute for Computer Science

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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 by 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 departments and two research groups:

The Algorithms and Complexity Department is headed by Prof. Dr. Kurt Mehlhorn,
The Programming Logics Department was headed by Prof. Dr. Harald Ganzinger († June 3, 2004)
The Department Computational Biology and Applied Algorithmics is headed by Prof. Dr. Thomas Lengauer, Ph.D.
The Computer Graphics Department is headed by Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Seidel
The Databases and Information Systems Department is headed by Prof. Dr. Gerhard Weikum
Research Group Automation of Logic is headed by Dr. Christoph Weidenbach
Research Group Machine Learning is headed by Prof. Dr. Tobias Scheffer

Among other things, numerous awards indicate the success of the institute since it was founded. 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 Software Systems, the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and the entire Computer Science 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.