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Max Planck Institute for Informatics

Coordinates: 49°15′28″N 7°2′44″E / 49.25778°N 7.04556°E / 49.25778; 7.04556
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Max Planck Institute for Informatics
AbbreviationMPI-INF
FormationNovember 1988; 36 years ago (1988-11)
Typeresearch institute
HeadquartersSaarbrücken, Saarland, Germany
Websitewww.mpi-inf.mpg.de
Max Planck Institute for Informatics

The Max Planck Institute for Informatics (German: Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik, abbreviated MPI-INF) is an institute of the Max Planck Society. Founded November 1988 by the Max Planck Society, the Max Planck Institute for Informatics is located on the campus of Saarland University. The institute started its work under the founding director Kurt Mehlhorn in December 1990.[1] The following year, Harald Ganzinger was recruited as the second director.

The Max-Planck-Institute for Informatics was the first institute of the Max-Planck-Society with a core focus on informatics.[2] It was later followed by the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, and the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy.

The institute focuses on the research of algorithms and their application in the broadest sense. The research ranges from the foundations (Algorithms and Complexity, Automation of Logic) to the practical areas (Computer Vision and Machine Learning, Internet Architecture, Computer Graphics, Databases and Information Systems, Visual Computing and AI). The institute’s goal is to achieve impact equally through scientific publications, software systems, as well as training the next generation of scientists.

Since the founding, the institute has received countless awards, including: The Leibniz Prize awarded to Kurt Mehlhorn (1987), Hans-Peter Seidel (2003), Anja Feldmann (2011); the Konrad Zuse Medal granted to Kurt Mehlhorn (1995), Thomas Lengauer (2003), Gerhard Weikum (2021); and the Karl Heinz Beckurts-Preis given to Kurt Mehlhorn (1994), Christian Theobalt (2017); as well as ACM Fellowships given to Kurt Mehlhorn (1999), Gerhard Weikum (2006), Thomas Lengauer (2021), Bernt Schiele (2021).

Research departments

The institute consists of 6 departments and 2 independent research groups.

  • The department Algorithms & Complexity (D1) was founded in 1988 by Kurt Mehlhorn and is now being run by Danupon Nanongkai. This group works on efficiency of algorithms, the correctness of software, and releases these findings as a software library. This group is recognized for developing the software library LEDA (Library of Efficient Data types and Algorithms), CGAL (Computational Geometry Algorithms Library) and SILVIA (Simulation Library for Virtual Reality and Interactive Applications.
  • The department Computer Vision and Machine Learning (D2) was founded in 2010 and is run by Bernt Schiele. This department works on computer vision with the focus on the identification of objects and 3D descriptions of scenes, for example the area of multi-sensor-based context recognition in the area of ubiquitous and wearable computing.
  • The department Internet Architecture (D3) was founded in 2018 and is run by Anja Feldmann. This department studies the architecture of the internet. This group works with the continual analysis of data and infrastructures, recognition of current bottlenecks, exploration of new possibilities for integration of the infrastructure, creation of new network management and security mechanisms, as well as examination of the infrastructure and how it’s dependencies can be more resiliently designed.
  • The department Computer Graphics (D4) was founded in 1999 under the direction of Hans-Peter Seidel. This group works with the analysis and synthesis of three-dimensional images, as well as the creation of models and tools, that can be used to capture and process large volumes of image data. Moreover, this group develops and tests algorithms.
  • The department Databases and Information Systems (D5) was founded in October 2003 by Gerhard Weikum. This department is concerned with the quality of internet-based information systems, with the goal of establishing methods of knowledge discovery. To this end concepts, models, and algorithms of different subject areas, e.g. computational linguistics and machine learning are combined. Different projects from this group have been published, showing the results of this research. Furthermore, this department has been the coordinator of the EU-Project Longitudinal Analytics of Web Archive Data since 2013.[3]
  • The research group Automation of Logic (RG1) was founded September 2005, and is run by Christoph Weidenbach. This group works with automatic reasoning in logic.
  • The research group Network and Cloud Systems (RG2) was founded in 2020 by Yiting Xia. Their research focus is the creation of high-performing and cost-efficient networks and systems for cloud computing, with the help of new hardware, network protocols, and applications.

Former Departments

  • The former department Logic of Programming (AG1) was founded in 1991 under Harald Ganzinger. This group worked in automatic theorem proving and deductive methods for programming. They took part in the project Verisoft, which verified security relevant software, and AVACS, which created holistic strategies for software verification. After Ganzinger’s death on June 3, 2004, Thomas Lengauer took over as acting director.
  • The former department Bioinformatics and Applied Algorithmics (AG3) was founded in 2001 under Thomas Lengauer. This group engaged in the uses of informatics in the field of biology. A result of this group’s work is Geno2pheno, which compiles individual lists for AIDS patients, of active ingredients, considering the resistances of the virus variants, by means of mathematical models.[4]
  • The research group Machine Learning was founded January 2007 at the MPI-INF but since 2008 has been continued at the University Potsdam by Tobias Scheffer.

International Max Planck Research School on Trustworthy Computing

The International Max Planck Research School on Trustworthy Computing (IMPRS-TRUST) is a graduate program provided by the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (MPI-SWS), the informatics department of the Saarland University, and the informatics department at TU Kaiserslautern. This program promotes next generation scientists in an international research environment and leads them to a doctorate.

The IMPRS-TRUST is the successor of the International Max Planck Research School for Computer Science (IMPRS-CS),[5] a cooperation with Saarland University and the MPI-SWS, founded in 2000. This cooperation was led by Gerhard Weikum, and was active from 2001 to 2019.[6]

Scope of Research

The Saarland Informatics Campus (SIC), comprised of the Max Planck Institute for Informatics (MPI-INF), the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (MPI-SWS), the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum for Informatics (LZI), the Center for Bioinformatics (ZBI), and the department of informatics at Saarland University, is one of the leading computer science research locations in Germany. This allows for many opportunities for further scientific qualifications.

Additionally, the Institute is affiliated with Computer Science Research at Max Planck Institutes (CS@MPI), along with the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), the MPI-SWS, the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP), the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPI-MG). This alliance works with TU Kaiserslautern, the University of Stuttgart, Saarland University, as well as the University of Tübingen, to offer the graduate program CS@max planck.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bei der Grundsteinlegung 1993 zeigte sich Ministerpräsident Oskar...". Saarbrücker Zeitung (in German). 1996-02-10.
  2. ^ Bylda, Peter (1996-06-17). "Den Rechner von übermorgen im Visier / Begehrte Visitenkarte für Informatik-Standort Saar: Max-Planck-Institut wird in dieser Woche offiziell eingeweiht". Saarbrücker Zeitung (in German).
  3. ^ "Longitudinal Analytics of Web Archive data". CORDIS. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  4. ^ Mohr, Thorsten (2011-02-16). "Saarbrücker Bioinformatiker Thomas Lengauer erhält Heinz-Ansmann-Preis für AIDS-Forschung". Informationsdienst Wissenschaft. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  5. ^ "International Max Planck Research School for Computer Science". International Max Planck Research School for Computer Science. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  6. ^ "IMPRS-CS Staff". International Max Planck Research School for Computer Science. Retrieved 2023-04-06.

49°15′28″N 7°2′44″E / 49.25778°N 7.04556°E / 49.25778; 7.04556

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