Max Planck Institute for Metals Research 90 Years of Excellence in Materials Science

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1 Max Planck Institute for Metals Research 90 Years of Excellence in Materials Science This issue of International Journal of Materials Research is wholly dedicated to the 90 th anniversary of the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, renamed on March 18 th, 2011, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. This editorial is followed by a sequence of papers highlighting the research activities of the institute over recent years. The Institute for Metals Research is rich in tradition and since its foundation in 1921, in Berlin, it has grown continuously. It is now one of the largest of the 80 institutes of the Max Planck Society, one of the most powerful organisations for fundamental research within Germany. The MPI for Metals Research has changed location during its history and was at times spread over several different sites for a variety of reasons. All that is catalogued in detail together with other significant personnel, organisational and thematic changes during the evolution of the institute in the historical timeline after this editorial, as well as in publications about past milestones of the institute [1, 2] Various sites of the institute The institute s history began in Berlin-Neubabelsberg in 1921 as an Institute of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, itself founded a century ago this year [3]. Despite being very successful scientifically, the institute had to close in 1933 due to a shortage of money. However, thanks to generous financial help from the state of Württemberg, the city of Stuttgart and regional industry, it was re-opened in Stuttgart the following year. The Institute suffered extensive severe damage in the Second World War, and after its subsequent reconstruction, the name was changed in 1949 to Max- Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, MPI-MF (Max Planck Institute for Metals Research) in the course of the foundation of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, MPG (Max Planck Society) after World War II. Since 2003 the institute in its entirety has been located at the Max-Planck-Campus in Stuttgart-Büsnau, ending the long-lasting scattering of the institute over different locations, both in Stuttgart and elsewhere (Schwäbisch Gmünd, Karlsruhe, Dortmund); a situation which in the past greatly hindered the institute s work. In the 1960s, the Seestraße sites in central Stuttgart had become too cramped due to sustained expansion of the scientific work, so the MPG bought the land that is today the site of the Max Planck Stuttgart campus. The Pulvermetallurgische Laboratorium (powder metallurgy laboratory) was the first facility built; opened in 1968, it became the nucleus of today s complex of buildings, Fig. 1. Subsequently, further parts of the institute as well as the Max- Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, MPI-FKF) were located here. The MPI-FKF was founded only shortly before the new buildings were constructed. Fig. 1. The Max Planck Stuttgart campus in Academic and technical teaching close cooperation with Universities An essential feature of the institute has been its close connection with the University of Stuttgart. Since its reopening in 1934, several directors of the Institute have simultaneously held full professorships at the university. These directors are closely involved in developing the study program Werkstoffwissenschaft (materials science) within the faculty of chemistry, belong to the faculty of physics and are tied to the related physics study programs. In recent years a close cooperation with the Biophysical Chemistry department at the University of Heidelberg has evolved. Thus, leading researchers of the Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung and their staff are involved unusually strongly in the education of students. These long-standing co-operations between the MPI-MF and the universities have been very successful in producing many well-trained scientists, graduating with diplomas (MSc) or doctorates (PhD), for the needs of the institute and for leading positions in academia, industry and other enterprises. The cooperation between MPI-MF and Stuttgart University made the establishing of the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Advanced Materials very simple and straightforward at both MPIs in Stuttgart. IMPRS was founded in 2002 in cooperation with several institutes at the University of Stuttgart. The essential aim of this school is to attract excellently trained students from all over the world for a doctorate in Stuttgart. The IMPRS-AM was evaluated successfully after its first five years and will mark its first decade in As well as cooperation with the universities, the institute was also engaged for many years in the education of specia- Int. J. Mat. Res. (formerly Z. Metallkd.) 102 (2011) 7 759

2 lised technical staff. Besides vocational education requiring an apprenticeship, there was also a school, the Berufskolleg für Metallographie (college for metallography), where a state-recognised certificate in metallography could be obtained. Following the new research direction of the Institute in which traditional metallographic activities were no longer part of the core research, in 2005/2006 the decision was taken to close down the college of metallography in the summer of Moreover, the Institute considered this an opportune time to transfer the vocational training of metallographic technical assistants to other institutions. Research topics over the years Since its inauguration (in 1921), the MPI-MF has been a leading research institute in the field of materials science. Its research targets are the theoretical and experimental investigations of the synthesis, structure and properties of materials. Particular emphasis has always been placed on structure property relationships. The aim of the studies is to obtain fundamental knowledge about the state of the materials and their behaviour under surrounding influences in the widest sense of the meaning by using combined physical, chemical and engineering approaches. The results of this interdisciplinary basic research are, therefore, often the basis for an immediate solution to questions arising from their application, so that co-operation with industry is of especial interest to the institute. From the outset, metals and their alloys were investigated with according to the Institute s statutes non-ferrous metals standing at the centre of interest, complementing the research into iron and steel at the sister institute for iron research in Düsseldorf. Thus, over the decades, the Institute has made important contributions to plasticity, electron conductivity, superconductivity, phase studies, and other phenomena and transport mechanisms in metallic systems. From the 1970s, non-metallic and especially ceramic materials increasingly became the focus of investigation. The institute pioneered in materials science by transferring knowledge and research techniques known from physical metallurgy to ceramics, which until then had been treated in a very empirical way. In recent times, further expansion of the activities has followed into the areas of special material states, such as amorphous materials, thin films, interface areas and nanostructures. It was a very substantial decision with far reaching consequences for the Institute s board of directors to widen the research activities to the field of biomaterials and the challenging problems arising from interactions between living cells and materials. These new aspects have had an increasing influence on the research work of the institute and have paved the way to its future. From Materials Research to Intelligent Systems Besides broadening into new material classes, which also included functional materials (metals and ceramics), a widening to materials systems began slowly over recent years within the MPI-MF, predominantly with biomaterials. This is indeed a logical consequence of expanding the scope of the Institute. A combination of sensors and actuators may allow a system to adapt to changes collected by Fig. 2. Hierarchy of different Classes of Materials and Materials Systems (after Newnham et al. [4]). sensors (see Fig. 2), such a system is often called a smart system [4]. If smart systems are to graduate to intelligent systems, a provision for learning and decision making has to be provided [5]. This requires substantial input from computational sciences for putting together at least a crude equivalent of an animal (or ultimately human) brain. There exists a deep connection between life processes and information processing [5]. The step from Smart Materials to Intelligent Materials is important, but at the same time very challenging. The new institute will have two sites, one in Tübingen and the other in Stuttgart. The Tübingen branch will concentrate on the computational aspects, while in Stuttgart work will focus on the materials aspects of the new topics. Three pre-existing departments (Dietrich, Mittemeijer, Schütz) will continue to work primarily in their established fields. The goal of the Institute will be to investigate and understand the organising principles of existing autonomous systems that successfully interact with complex environments. Suitable systems for such study are primarily biological and by understanding them it is hoped to contribute to the future design of synthetic and biohybrid systems. With physical systems ranging from nano to macro scales, as well as theoretical and algorithmic work, the Institute will deal with issues in (i) perception, (ii) action, and (iii) learning. The concept is inspired by the observation that biological systems have developed sophisticated abilities through interaction, evolution and learning in order to act successfully in a complex environment, and that a similar approach although poorly understood so far should be taken towards the study of synthesising autonomous learning systems. The computer science work at the Tübingen branch starts with two newly created departments. The Department for Perceiving Systems is led by Prof. Michael Black, who joined the institute in 2011, while the Department for Empirical Inference is headed by Prof. Bernhard Schölkopf, who was previously a director of the MPI for Biological Cybernetics. On the Stuttgart Campus, Joachim Spatz is involved in new activities on Intelligent Materials in his exist- 760 Int. J. Mat. Res. (formerly Z. Metallkd.) 102 (2011) 7

3 ing department of New Materials and Biosystems. Three new departments will be established in Stuttgart in the foreseeable future. The activities of the directors currently at the institute is summarised in Table 1. At present, the institute consists of seven departments, each of them led by a Scientific Member (Table 1). The Members form a Board of Directors which decides on all aspects relevant to the whole institute and from the board they elect a Managing Director to lead the Institute, serving for two years. Bernhard Schölkopf (Tübingen) took over as Managing Director of the Institute on May 1 st, 2011, with Joachim Spatz (Stuttgart) as the Deputy Managing Director. We all hope that the challenging tasks accompanying the Institute s move into new scientific activities will be successfully fulfilled, as can be expected from a Max Planck Institute. References [1] M. Rühle: Z. Metallkd. 87 (1986) [2] F. Aldinger: Z. Metallkd. 93 ((2002) [3] P. Gruss, R. Rürup (Eds): Denkorte, Sandstein Verlag Leipzig (2011) [4] R.E. Newnham, G.R. Ruschau: J. Am. Cer. Soc. 74 (1991) 463 [5] V.K. Wadhawan: Smart Structures, Oxford University Press (2007) Table 1. Current Main Research Fields of the Institute. Theory of Inhomogeneous Condensed Matter Prof. Siegfried Dietrich Nanofluidics, Wetting and Capillary Forces, Entropic Forces, Soft Matter at Interfaces, Critical Phenomena, Collective Dynamics Phase Transformations Prof. Eric J. Mittemeijer Phase Transformation Kinetics, Reactions and Phase Transformations at Surfaces and Interfaces, Metal-Gas Reactions: Nitriding and Oxidizing, Computer Simulation of Kinetics and Microstructures, Nanomaterials, Thin Film Systems Modern Magnetic Systems Prof. Gisela Schütz Advanced X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, Scattering and Microscopy, Dynamics of Magnetization, Nanoscale Magnetic Phenomena, Magnetic Nanostructures, Thin Layers and Interfaces, Hydrogen Storage, Micromagnetic Simulations, Electron Theory Low-Dimensional and Metastable Materials Prof. Manfred Rühle Advancement of microscopic understanding of materials in confinement, in reduced dimensions, and in metastable state. Synchrotron radiation, fluctuation microscopy, scattering and spectroscopy techniques in non-conventional schemes Perceiving Systems Prof. Michael J. Black Computer vision, Image motion estimation, Human pose and shape estimation, Computational neuroscience, Motor cortical decoding, Brain-machine interfaces Empirical Inference Prof. Bernhard Schölkopf Statistical Learning Theory, Kernel Algorithms, Causal and Probabilistic Inference, Vision and Image Processing, Robot Learning, Machine Learning in Neuroscience, Bioinformatics New Materials and Biosystems Prof. Joachim P. Spatz Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces, Biomaterials, Biointerfaces, Biophysics, Cell Mechanics and Adhesion, Synthetic Biology Int. J. Mat. Res. (formerly Z. Metallkd.) 102 (2011) 7 761

4 Timeline Years of the KWI/MPI for Metals Research (now Intelligent Systems) Inauguration of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Metallforschung (Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Metals Research) in Neubabelsberg, Berlin. First Director and Scientific Member: Emil Heyn After the death of Emil Heyn ( ) Victor Tafel becomes Acting Director of the Institute The institute moves to Berlin-Dahlem. Oswald Bauer and Wichard von Moellendorf-Wilamowitz are appointed as Scientific Members. Wichard von Moellendorf-Wilamowitz becomes Director of both the Institute and the Staatliches Materialprüfungsamt After the retirement of Wichard von Moellendorf-Wilamowitz, Oswald Bauer becomes Acting Director of the Institute Closure of the Institute because of financial constraints Refounding of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Metallforschung in Stuttgart. Richard Glocker, Georg Grube and Werner Köster are appointed as Scientific Members. The institute is subdivided into three parts: Institut für Physikalische Chemie der Metalle (Institute for Physical Chemistry of Metals) Director: Georg Grube, Institut für Röntgenmetallkunde (Institute for X-ray Metallurgy) Director: Richard Glocker, and Institut für Angewandte Metallkunde (Institute for Applied Metallurgy) Director: Werner Köster Werner Köster becomes Managing Director Opening of the new building Seestraße 75 for the Institut für Angewandte Metallkunde Ulrich Dehlinger, Erich Scheil and Wolfgang Seith are appointed as Scientific Members Establishment of an independent department, directed by Ulrich Dehlinger. Summer 1943 Parts of the Institute are evacuated to cities in the surroundings of Stuttgart. August/September 1944 The buildings of the Institut für Röntgenmetallkunde and the Institut für Angewandte Metallkunde are destroyed by air raids during World War II. September 1945 Beginning of the reconstruction of the Institut für Angewandte Metallkunde under the direction of Erich Gebhardt. Winter 1945/1946 Resumption of research projects in the Institute. The Institute is renamed as the Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung (Max Planck Institute for Metals Research) Georg Grube receives Emeritus Status. The Institut für Physikalische Chemie der Metalle is affiliated to the Institut für Angewandte Metallkunde Appointment of Erich Gebhardt as a Scientific Member and Head of an independent department for Less-Common- Metals (Selbständige Abteilung für Sondermetalle) Appointment of Alfred Seeger as a Scientific Member and Head of an independent department Opening of the new building Seestraße 92 for the Selbständige Abteilung für Sondermetalle Establishment of a satellite department under Jörg Diehl at the Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe Richard Glocker receives Emeritus Status. The Institut für Metallphysik (Institute for Metal Physics, previously called Institut für Röntgenmetallkunde) and the Institut für Angewandte Metallkunde are merged to form the Institut für Metallkunde (Institute for Metallurgy) under the leadership of Werner Köster Erich Scheil passes away Werner Köster receives Emeritus Status. Hans Jürgen Engell is appointed as a Scientific Member. The Institute is reorganised into three independent institutes: Institut für Metallkunde (Institute for Metallurgy) Director: Hans-Jürgen Engell, Institut für Sondermetalle (Institute for Less-Common-Metals) Director: Erich Gebhardt, and Institut für Physik (Institute for Physics) Director: Alfred Seeger. The whole Institute is headed jointly by the three Directors; they elect the Managing Director (Geschäftsführender Direktor) for three years. First Managing Director: Erich Gebhardt. 762 Int. J. Mat. Res. (formerly Z. Metallkd.) 102 (2011) 7

5 1966 Volkmar Gerold (Institut für Metallkunde) and Jörg Diehl (Institut für Sondermetalle) are appointed as Scientific Members Managing Director: Hans-Jürgen Engell Opening of the Pulvermetallurgisches Laboratorium (Powdermetallurgy Laboratory) Head: Günter Petzow, part of the Institut für Sondermetalle in Stuttgart-Büsnau. Summer 1968 Construction of a second annex to the building Seestraße 75. (Seestraße 77, VW Building) Günther Tölg (Institut für Sondermetalle), Helmut Kronmüller and Manfred Wilkens (both Institut für Physik) are appointed as Scientific Members. Hans-Jürgen Engell leaves the institute; he becomes Director of the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung (Max Planck Institute for Iron Research) in Düsseldorf. Managing Director: Alfred Seeger. The Institut für Metallkunde and the Institut für Sondermetalle are amalgamated to form the Institut für Metallkunde under the leadership of Erich Gebhardt Günter Petzow and Bruno Predel are appointed as Scientific Members. The Institute headed by Erich Gebhardt is renamed the Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaft (Institute for Materials Science) Managing Director: Erich Gebhardt Opening of the Laboratorium für Reinststoffe (Laboratory for Ultra High Purity Materials) in Schwäbisch Gmünd (Head: Günther Tölg) of the Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaft. Summer 1975 The lnstitut für Physik moves, together with the Max- Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research), into the new institute building at Stuttgart-Büsnau Managing Director: Alfred Seeger After the death of Erich Gebhardt ( ) Jörg Diehl is appointed as Acting Director of the Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaft. Opening of the School of Metallography (Berufskolleg für Metallographie) Head: Günter Petzow Managing Director: Jörg Diehl Hellmut Fischmeister is appointed as a Scientific Member and becomes Director of the Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaft Managing Director: Hellmut Fischmeister. The satellite department at the Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe is closed after the shutdown of the research reactor FR The Laboratorium für Reinststoffe is moved from Schwäbisch Gmünd to Dortmund and is renamed Laboratorium für Reinststoffanalytik (Laboratory for the Analysis of Ultra High Purity Materials). An accelerator laboratory is built in Stuttgart-Büsnau Managing Director: Manfred Wilkens Appointment of Richard Brook as a Scientific Member. Appointment of Richard Brook, Jörg Diehl, Volkmar Gerold, Helmut Kronmüller, Günter Petzow, Bruno Predel, Günther Tölg and Manfred Wilkens as Directors at the Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung Opening of a new building for ceramics research at the Pulvermetallurgisches Laboratorium in Stuttgart-Büsnau (Head: Günter Petzow) Manfred Rühle is appointed as a Scientific Member and Director 1989 Managing Director: Günter Petzow Eduard Arzt is appointed as a Scientific Member and Director Volkmar Gerold receives Emeritus Status Richard Brook accepts position as Head of the department of Materials Science at the University of Oxford, UK. Fritz Aldinger is appointed as a Scientific Member and Director Manfred Wilkens receives Emeritus Status. The Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaft initiates and mentors the research group Mechanik heterogener Festkörper (Mechanics of Heterogeneous Solids) in Dresden for a period of 5 years. The group is headed by Wolfgang Pompe. This is the first Max Planck Forschungsgruppe in the new states of the Federal Republic of Germany after the reunification. Partnership of the Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaft and the first Max Planck Institute in the new federal states, the Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik (Institute for Microstructure Physics) in Halle/S. Hellmut Fischmeister and Manfred Rühle become interim Directors of the new institute. Int. J. Mat. Res. (formerly Z. Metallkd.) 102 (2011) 7 763

6 1992 The MPI for Microstructure Physics in Halle/S. opens on January 1, Managing Director of the Institute: Helmut Kronmüller. July 1992 Founding of a commission for the evaluation and planning of the future direction of the Institute Manfred Rühle becomes Director of the Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaft Symposium for the Opening of the Atomic Resolution Microscope. July 1994 Günter Petzow receives Emeritus Status. December 1994 Günther Tölg receives Emeritus Status. Closure of the laboratory in Dortmund Managing Director: Manfred Rühle. May 1995 Hellmut Fischmeister receives Emeritus Status. August 1995 Alfred Seeger receives Emeritus Status. September 1995 Helmut Kronmüller becomes Director of the Institut für Physik. January 1996 Jörg Diehl receives Emeritus Status. August 1996 Bruno Predel receives Emeritus Status Helmut Dosch is appointed as a Scientific Member and Director Eric J. Mittemeijer is appointed as a Scientific Member and Director The former subdivision of the Institute in Institut für Physik and Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaft is abandoned. The institute is headed by the Board of Directors (Direktorenkollegium). Managing Director: Manfred Rühle Start of the construction of the second building complex in Büsnau Siegfried Dietrich is appointed as a Scientific Member and Director Managing Director: Fritz Aldinger Huajian Gao is appointed as a Scientific Member and Director Gisela Schütz is appointed as a Scientific Member and Director Start of the International Max Planck Research School of Advanced Materials (IMPRS-AM) in collaboration with the Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung and the Universität Stuttgart Manfred Wilkens passes away Start of operation of the Heavy-Load Six-Circle Diffractometer at the Synchrotron Facility ANKA, Research Center Karlsruhe. First Paul-Peter Ewald Colloquium takes place (formerly named Ulrich Dehlinger Colloquium ). February 2002 All departments from the Seestraße site move to the new building at the campus in Stuttgart-Büsnau First Max Planck Lecture takes place; thereafter two Max Planck Lectures every year, alternating between both Max Planck Institutes in Stuttgart Managing Director: Eduard Arzt Joachim Spatz is appointed as a Scientific Member and Director August 2004 New Research Group at the Institute: Magnetism of Nanostructured Hard and Soft Magnetic Materials (Head: Dagmar Goll) Manfred Rühle receives Emeritus Status (re-appointed as Acting Director in 2009). High Energy Micro Diffraction Beamline (HEMD) at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble, is put into operation Managing Director: Helmut Dosch. November 2005 New Max Planck Research Group at the Institute: Spectroscopy of Bio-Interfaces (Head: Sylvie Roke). International Max Planck Research School for Advanced Materials (IMPRS-AM): Successful evaluation of the school funding for six more years accepted. Inauguration of the Neutron-X-ray-Reflectometer (N-Rex + ) at the Research Reactor FRM-II in Garching. 764 Int. J. Mat. Res. (formerly Z. Metallkd.) 102 (2011) 7

7 2006 Huajian Gao leaves the Institute. May 2006 Peter A. van Aken becomes the new Head of the Center for Transmission Electron Microscopy (later renamed: Stuttgart Center for Electron Microscopy, StEM) July 2006 First Günter Petzow Prize for Young Outstanding Materials Scientists of the Institute: Dr. Andreas Stierle (Dept. Dosch) New Research Group at the Institute: Biomedicinal Applications; Initiative GO-Bio of the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF); (Head: Raquel Martin). New Research Group at the Institute; Protein Mechanics and Evolution (Head: Frauke Gräter). Establishment of SESAM (Sub-Electronvolt-Sub-Angström-Microscope) Inauguration in December Dismantling of the Pelletron Accelerator starts; the instrumentation was donated to the National Academy of Sciences of the Ukraine, Sumy. Transportation was completed in Managing Director: Siegfried Dietrich Bruno Predel passes away Siegfried Dietrich resigns as Managing Director Joachim Spatz becomes Acting Director of the Institute. July 2007 Second Günter Petzow Prize for Young Outstanding Materials Scientists of the Institute: Dr. Dagmar Goll (Dept. Schütz). September 2007 Fritz Aldinger receives Emeritus Status. Eduard Arzt leaves the Institute Max Planck Fellow Clemens Bechinger, Soft Matter. February 2008 New Research Group; Model Systems of Glycan-Rich Cellular Coats (Head: Ralf Richter). July 2008 Third Günter Petzow Prize for Young Outstanding Materials Scientists of the Institute: Dr. Udo Welzel (Dept. Mittemeijer). School of Metallography closed down (after the last graduations of students) Helmut Dosch leaves the Institute. Manfred Rühle is re-appointed as Acting Director of the department. Research Group of Frauke Gräter is terminated January 2009 Symposium Autonomous Systems in Tübingen. July 2009 Fourth Günter Petzow Prize for Young Outstanding Materials Scientists of the Institute: Dr. Christoph Koch (StEM). November 2009 Inauguration of the MAgnetic X-raY Micro- and UHV Spectroscope (MAXYMUS) = Scanning UHV magnetic X- Ray Micro-Spectroscope at the Helmholtz Center for Materials and Energy, Berlin Research Group of Dagmar Goll is terminated January 2010 New Research Group at the Institute: Membrane Biophysics (Head: Ana Garcia-Saez). July 2010 Fifth Günter Petzow Prize for Young Outstanding Materials Scientists of the Institute: Dr. Claudia Pacholski (Dept. Prof. Spatz) Two new Directors are appointed at the institute: Prof. Dr. Michael J. Black (Brown University), and Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schölkopf (MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen) The Senate of the Max Planck Society decides to rename the Institute into the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, formerly Max Planck Institute for Metals Research Prof. Dr. Stefan Schaal (University of Southern California) appointed as a Scientific Member. July 2011 Sixth Günter Petzow Prize for Young Outstanding Materials Scientists of the Institute: Dr. Markus Rauscher (Dept. Prof. Dietrich). Int. J. Mat. Res. (formerly Z. Metallkd.) 102 (2011) 7 765