Max Planck Society

The Max Planck Society conducts basic research in the natural sciences, life sciences, and humanities. It was founded in 1948 as a successor organisation to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society and has 31 Nobel laureates in its ranks. With its 85 Max Planck Institutes and facilities, it is the international flagship for German science: in addition to four institutes outside of Germany, it operates another 23 Max Planck Centers with research institutions such as Princeton University in the USA, the University College London in the UK, and the University of Tokyo in Japan. Equally funded by federal and state governments, the Max Planck Society had an annual budget of 2.2 billion Euros in 2026.