Max Planck Institute for Chemistry

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
(Otto Hahn Institute)
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Otto Hahn Institute)
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Category: research Institute
Carrier: Max Planck Society
Legal form of the carrier: Registered association
Seat of the wearer: Munich
Facility location: Mainz
Type of research: Basic research
Subjects: Chemistry , biology, physics, geology, atmospheric chemistry
Areas of expertise: Atmospheric chemistry , climatic geochemistry , multiphase chemistry , particle chemistry
Basic funding: Federal government (50%), states (50%)
Management: Gerald Haug (Managing Director)
Employee: around 320
Homepage: www.mpic.de

The Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPI C; nickname Otto Hahn Institute ) is a non-university research facility sponsored by the Max Planck Society (MPG) and is based in Mainz . The institute primarily conducts basic scientific research in chemistry in the fields of atmospheric chemistry , climatic geochemistry , multiphase chemistry and particle chemistry . Current research at the MPI for Chemistry aims at an integral understanding of the chemical processes in the earth system, especially in the atmosphere and the biosphere. Diverse interactions between air, water, soil, life and climate are investigated in the course of the earth's history up to the present human-shaped age, the Anthropocene .

history

The history of the institute goes back to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry , which was founded in Berlin-Dahlem in 1911 and was one of the institutes of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society . Here about seemed Julius Hirsch 1919-1923 as an employee of Carl Neuberg and August von Wassermann . The teamwork of Otto Hahn (1879–1968) and Lise Meitner (1878–1968) in the search for transuranic elements from 1934 to 1938 led Otto Hahn and his assistant Fritz Straßmann (1902–1980) to the discovery of nuclear fission there on December 17, 1938 . Otto Hahn was director of the institute from 1928 to 1946. He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1944.

The institute building was badly damaged by bombs in 1944. After a provisional move to Tailfingen , the company moved to Mainz on the grounds of the Johannes Gutenberg University in 1949 and integrated into the Max Planck Society as the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry. Since 1959, the institute has also been called the "Otto Hahn Institute".

In order to adapt to changing scientific requirements, the research focus of the institute has changed several times in the course of its history. While classical chemistry was practiced in the early years , interest later turned mainly to radiochemistry , cosmochemistry , nuclear physics and mass spectrometry . Today the institute is dedicated to understanding the origins, development and future of our planet and its neighbors.

Institute Nobel Prize Winner

The Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to three scientific members of the KWI / MPI for Chemistry:

  • Richard Willstätter , Director 1912 to 1916, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1915 for research on plant dyes, especially chlorophyll;
  • Otto Hahn , Director of the Radiochemistry Department from 1912 to 1948, Director of the Institute as a whole from 1928 to 1946, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1944 for the discovery of nuclear fission ;
  • Paul J. Crutzen , Director of the Air Chemistry Department 1980–2000, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995 for research into the formation and destruction of ozone in the atmosphere.

research

The institute conducts basic research in the field of earth system science. In the four departments of the institute, around 300 scientists study the chemical processes in the atmosphere and the interactions between air, water, earth and humans. Above all, they observe how these have changed or have already changed due to human influences.

Scientists carry out laboratory experiments, collect samples and data on research trips with the help of airplanes, ships and measuring vehicles. The practical work is supplemented by mathematical models that simulate chemical, physical and biological processes and changes from the molecular to the global level. One of the main goals is to find out how air pollution, including reactive trace gases and aerosols, affects the atmosphere, biosphere, climate and health.

The institute has four departments and other research groups. In close cooperation with the University of Mainz, the institute also participates in scientific training, in particular with the “Max Planck Graduate School (MPGS)” and through teaching at the university. The biogeochemistry department headed by Meinrat O. Andreae was closed in 2017 and the scientific working groups were integrated into the climatic geochemistry department . The department dealt with the exchange and interactions of trace gases and aerosols between the biosphere , hydrosphere and earth's atmosphere . These processes were investigated through experiments in the laboratory, field measurements and model calculations.

Atmospheric Chemistry Department

The Department of Jos Lelieveld studied chemical reactions and global track material cycles of ozone and other reactive trace gases in the atmosphere. These processes are examined through experiments in the laboratory and measurements in the atmosphere from ground stations, ships, aircraft and satellites. These field measurements are supported and analyzed with the help of computer models to simulate meteorological and chemical interactions and their influence on the climate.

Climate Geochemistry Department

The Department of Gerald H. Haug deals with the processes and interactions of climate, ocean and atmosphere system of geological to annual time scales. The climate system is characterized by numerous feedback processes and threshold values. These internal feedbacks include changes in ocean-atmosphere interactions, ocean heat transport, oceanic nutrient reservoirs, and biological productivity, which has a major impact on atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Of particular interest is the Cenozoic, i.e. the last 65 million years, including the Pliocene Warm Period around three million years ago.

The working group has been operating the ocean research yacht Eugen Seibold , named after Eugen Seibold (1918–2013), since 2018 in order to investigate the interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere .

Multiphase Chemistry Department

In Ulrich Pöschl's department , biological and organic aerosols, aerosol-cloud interactions and atmosphere-surface exchange processes are investigated. Research is also being carried out into how protein macromolecules change due to air pollutants and their effects on allergic reactions and diseases.

Particle Chemistry Department

Stephan Borrmann's Particle Chemistry Department is a joint facility of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the University of Mainz. The physical properties and chemical composition of atmospheric aerosol and cloud particles are examined. For this purpose, laboratory experiments, measurements at ground and mountain stations and on mobile measurement carriers (e.g. airplanes) are carried out, and methods are developed to record the aerosol using mass spectrometry.

Further research groups

In December 2016 there were four other scientific working groups at the institute: Yafang Cheng's Minerva group studies the interactions between aerosols and regional air quality. Mikhail Eremets analyzes matter under extremely high pressure and discovered new hydrogen-containing superconductors with a new record for the transition temperature to superconductivity for lanthanum hydride in 2019. The satellite remote sensing group headed by Thomas Wagner analyzes satellite spectra in order to infer tropospheric and stratospheric trace gases. Kathryn Fitzsimmons' group "Terrestrial Paleoclimates" uses loess soils in Eurasia as a climate archive to make statements about the climate of the past.

Paul Crutzen Graduate School

The Paul Crutzen Graduate School (PCGS) (formerly: Max Planck Graduate School (MPGS)) at the MPI for Chemistry is a doctoral program in the fields of atmospheric chemistry, physics, environmental physics and geophysics. However, doctoral students studying biology or geosciences also take part in this interdisciplinary program. The aim of the program is to offer the doctoral student comprehensive supervision beyond his own work group and the topic of the doctoral thesis. In addition, the graduate school enables individually structured advanced training in order to expand one's own knowledge and qualifications beyond the specific research project of the doctoral thesis. The offers include lectures, workshops, soft skills courses, an annual doctoral symposium and summer schools.

The graduate school works in close cooperation with the technical institutes of the universities of Mainz, Heidelberg and Frankfurt.

Infrastructure

The board of directors consists of Stephan Borrmann , Gerald H. Haug , Johannes Lelieveld and Ulrich Pöschl .

At the beginning of 2014 there were around 300 employees at the institute, including 77 scientists and 122 young scientists. There are also 3 visiting scholars. In 2014 the institute employed 11 trainees in the field of precision mechanics and electronics.

The institute provides two geochemical databases that contain information on reference materials of geological and environmentally relevant interest ( GeoReM ) and on volcanic and mantle xenolites ( Georoc ).

Also available is "The MPI-Mainz UV / VIS Spectral Atlas of Gaseous Molecules of Atmospheric Interest", an extensive database with absorption cross-sections and quantum yields in the ultraviolet and visible spectral range for gaseous molecules and radicals.

Cooperations

Earth System Research Partnership (ESRP)

The Max Planck Institute for Chemistry is a member of the Earthsystem Research Partnership (ERSP; German: Partnership Earth System Research , also Partnership Earth and Solar System Research ). The Earth System Research Partnership bundles the scientific excellence of various research directions in order to better understand the functioning of the complex Earth system and the consequences of human actions on the Earth system. The ESRP consists of the three Max Planck Institutes for Biogeochemistry in Jena, for Chemistry in Mainz and for Meteorology in Hamburg. During the last century, the climate, air quality, biodiversity and water availability changed noticeably. To find solutions to the problems that cause these changes, the ESRP studies the complex interactions and feedbacks of land, ocean, atmosphere, biosphere and humans in the field, in the laboratory and through models.

Atto tower

Under the name “ATTO”, the Amazonian Tall Tower Observatory , a German-Brazilian joint project began in 2009, coordinated by the MPI for Chemistry, which aims to provide groundbreaking knowledge and the basis for improved climate models. At a height of 300 meters, the tower will protrude above the boundary layer close to the ground and provide information from around 100 square kilometers from the largest contiguous forest area in the world.

High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft

"High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft" is a German research aircraft for the scientific investigation of the earth's atmosphere. It enables measurements in the high layers of the atmosphere, which are so important for life on earth, in an unprecedented quality. The investigations thus make a significant contribution to understanding ozone chemistry and the exchange of air pollutants. HALO mainly carries out measurements in the troposphere and the lower stratosphere and is also used for earth observation.

Interdisciplinary Biomass Burning Initiative

Interdisciplinary Biomass Burning Initiative (IBBI)

Civil Aircraft for the regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container (CARIBIC)

The core of CARIBIC is a fully automated analysis laboratory in the form of a container. The container flies monthly on board a Lufthansa Airbus A340-600 on long-haul flights, making regular measurements of important air parameters. Since October 2015 the CARIBIC project has been continued by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe (KIT) and the local Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research - Atmospheric Trace Gases and Remote Sensing.

literature

  • 100 years of the Kaiser Wilhelm / Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Otto Hahn Institute) - facets of its history , On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, edited by Horst Kant and Carsten Reinhardt , Archive of the Max Planck Society, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-927579-26-2 , online, PDF
  • Kaiser Wilhelm / Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Otto Hahn Institute), (Max Planck Institute for Chemistry) (CPTS) , in: Eckart Henning , Marion Kazemi : Handbuch zur Institutgeschichte der Kaiser-Wilhelm- / Max- Planck Society for the Advancement of Science 1911–2011 - Data and Sources , Berlin 2016, 2 volumes, volume 1: Institutes and research centers A – L ( online, PDF, 75 MB ) Pages 321–356 (chronology of both institutes)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Organization of the institute , accessed on January 8, 2019.
  2. ↑ Ali Vicdani Doyum: Alfred Kantorowicz with special reference to his work in İstanbul (A contribution to the history of modern dentistry). Medical dissertation, Würzburg 1985, p. 86.
  3. ↑ The ship Eugen Seibold . Website of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  4. ^ Max Planck Institute for Chemistry: MPGS - Graduate School. In: www.mpic.de. February 5, 2016, accessed December 14, 2016 .
  5. ↑ The MPI-Mainz UV / VIS Spectral Atlas of Gaseous Molecules of Atmospheric Interest
  6. ↑ Earth System Research Partnership on mpic.de
  7. ↑ ATTO
  8. ↑ HALO
  9. ↑ IBBI
  10. ↑ CARIBIC

Coordinates: 49 ° 59 ′ 37 "  N , 8 ° 14 ′ 35"  E