East German Institutes Stand Tall

Abstract

The News Focus story “Aufbau Ost: Max Planck's East German experiment” (G. Vogel, 6 November 2009, p. [788][1]) claims that “Aufbau Ost” (building up the East) is a project of Max Planck Society. In fact, the term “Aufbau Ost” refers to all government-funded projects to rebuild infrastructure in the former German Democratic Republic. Moreover, our scientific system consists of more than one organization: Others include the Fraunhofer Society, Helmholtz Association, and Leibniz Association. All of these organizations contributed to the scientific “Aufbau Ost.” In fact, in the early years the Max Planck Society indicated that it would not interfere. The complex process of evaluation and restructuring the East German institutes resulted in more than 40 institutes of the Leibniz Association in the eastern part of Germany employing nearly 7000 people, several large-scale research facilities of the Helmholtz Association, and more than 20 institutes of Fraunhofer Society. None of these was mentioned in the story. In nearly all of these institutes, researchers who received their training in East Germany are still working today. These “inherited researchers” have proven to be a crucial support and an important source of innovative ideas for our institutes. They were in no way a burden, as insinuated in the story. Hans-Peter Hiepe, who administers the German science ministry's programs for the former East, says in the News Focus story that “[s]cience is really successful when researchers can see their research reflected in the regional economy.” This has already materialized in cases such as Greifswald, Potsdam, Jena, and Berlin-Adlershof. More astonishing is the quote of Hiepe that the foundation of the research landscape in East Germany “is made of matchsticks.” After nearly 20 years of highly successful work and a number of follow-up evaluations by internationally renowned experts—many with outstanding results—my experience is that we have built our excellent scientific institutions and research infrastructure on a sound basis. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.326_788