The dynamics of recent global economic and ecologic changes necessitate both the development of sustainable production processes and the establishment of future-oriented technologies. This applies particularly to the more efficient production of chemicals and (bio)pharmaceuticals as well as to the transformation and storage of renewable energies.

The main goal of the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg (MPI) is to contribute to the establishment and design of processes with ever-increasing complexity and to their economic, safe and efficient operation.

MPI scientists from different disciplines such as process engineering, chemistry, biology, biotechnology, mathematics and computer sciences develop mathematical models and computer-aided methods to simulate dynamic processes and describe their complex behavior in detail. Based on an analysis of the respective system properties, innovative approaches are developed and comprehensively evaluated. Model validation and testing of new concepts are supported by extensive experimental studies both at the laboratory and at the pilot scale level.

The MPI, founded as the first engineering institute of the Max Planck Society, started its scientific work in Magdeburg in 1998 and currently employs about 230 people. The current research focus of the institute is on the areas of chemical process engineering, bioprocess engineering, systems biology and synthetic biology, numerical mathematics, energy und process systems engineering as well as systems and control theory.

The International Max Planck Research School Magdeburg, a cooperation of the Max Planck Institute and the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, provides an excellent training and research program for Ph.D. students.