Humboldt-Rankings 2012 – Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces among the top three best

Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces numbers among the non-university research institutions as one of the three best addresses for foreign scientists in Germany

According to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPIKG) is one of the high-end addresses for foreign junior scientists and Humboldt awardees in Germany. The foundation informed that from 2007-2011 the institute became third place (weighted rankings) and second place (absolute rankings) among the non-university research institutions. In total 50 research stays of foreign laureates and scholarship holders were counted for the rankings.

The excellent standing of the institute is particularly remarkable because it was founded only 20 years ago in the new eastern states of Germany. Therefore the international visibility and networking had to be established in a rather short period which was obviously successful.

Humboldt Rankings 2012
From 2007 to 2011, Humboldtians spent 6,082 research stays in Germany. 75% of these stays were undertaken at universities and 25% at non-university research institutions. Every stay is the result of a decision to select a host and research partner in Germany and makes a statement about the disciplines in which German research is so good that it wins the international contest for the best minds; and about which German scientists and scholars foster particularly intensive international contacts. Humboldtians do, after all, choose their own hosts and make their own decisions based on the hosts’ academic performance and international visibility. So, being near the top of the Humboldt Rankings is an important indicator for international contacts and reputation.

The Humboldt Rankings comprise weighted rankings for both universities and non-university research institutions. However, as each institution has its own particular strengths and weaknesses in the various disciplines, the Humboldt Rankings also differentiate according to four major academic areas: Humanities and Social Sciences; Life Sciences; Natural Sciences and Engineering Sciences. In the case of stays at non-university research institutions this differentiation is only applied to the absolute figures.

 http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/humboldt-ranking-2012.html