Call for nominations for the position of Director (f/m/d) at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research

While the specific research area is not predetermined, the future director’s innovative and cutting-edge research program should preferably focus on one or more of the following topics: solar atmosphere, heliosphere, solar-stellar relations. The research program of this department should be distinct, yet complementary, to those of the other two departments “Solar and Stellar Interiors” and “Planetary Science”. Directors enjoy academic freedom and benefit from a diverse, international, excellent research environment, outstanding infrastructure, and long-term scientific funding.

Max Planck Directors are international leaders in their respective field, pursue an ambitious research agenda within their groups, and lead the institute jointly with their director colleagues. Directors enjoy academic freedom and benefit from a diverse, international, excellent research environment, and long-term scientific funding. The nominations of young candidates will receive full consideration.

Research at the MPI for Solar System Research is focused on studies of all objects of the solar system including the Sun (see www.mps.mpg.de/en). The Institute offers outstanding technical infrastructure, including clean rooms, workshops, test facilities, and also access to world-class computational facilities. The Institute has a long history of developing space instrumentation for ESA and other space programs. The working language is English.

The Institute is located in the historical university town of Goettingen, Germany, and has close collaborative links with the University of Goettingen. The Institute is part of the Max Planck Society, an independent non-governmental association dedicated to fundamental research in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The Max Planck Society (see www.mpg.de/en) is an equal opportunity employer and is particularly committed to increasing the number of women among its scientific leadership. Therefore, we strongly encourage nominations of qualified female researchers, including young talents with high potential.

Nominations should be sent to the managing director at nominations@mps.mpg.de. A nomination should include: 1) name and current affiliation of the potential candidate and 2) a brief motivational statement justifying the nomination (200 words max). All nominations will be treated in confidence. This call is not part of the formal appointment procedure – its purpose is to inform the Institute leadership about potential candidates. To receive full consideration, the nominations should be submitted before 1 July 2024.