The Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) and the Saudi Arabian research institute King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) started an intensive scientific exchange in 2013. The cooperation program will run until the year 2016 and has a capacity of around 2 Mio Euros in total. In the coming years researchers from the desert kingdom will often be working in the laboratories of the MPI-P.
KACST – with its ca. 3000 employees - orientates itself mainly to the direct economic needs of Saudi Arabia. Besides oil production and petrochemical industry its future direction will be increasingly in technological development as an economic main pillar.
The MPI-P profits as a countermove from knowledge transfer and personnel exchange of views as an enrichment for its basic research.
"The advancement of solar cells to the use of the solar energy almost inexhaustible in this region and the synthesis of new membranes for the processing of so important water in the desert are for us quite special challenges in this project to which we would like to position ourselves together with the Saudi-Arabian scientists," says institute director Professor Katharina Landfester about the aims of the cooperation.
Together with director Klaus Müllen she is responsible for the institute in the cooperation. Both have already travelled to Riad, to discuss the frame plans of the cooperation with prince Turki bin Saud, to a representative of the Saudi royal family and vice president of the KACST. This applies initially to four scientific projects, and should be further extended.
There is teamwork with Riad and Mainz now on new procedures to the production of the plastics polyethylene and polypropylene. The second research field in which the MPI-P appears as a competent partner is the polymer electronics which is still in the experimental stage, but promises varied application possibilities in the future. Mainly the ecologically friendly, resource-careful and cost-efficient balance of electronic components from organic materials let the research intensity rise worldwide. In general the development of intelligent materials with precisely adjustable qualities will be the key to future challenges. The common researches of MPI-P and KACST in nanoparticles for coatings as well as foils of high-capacity plastics for the application as membranes underline these efforts.
Positive voices already come from the Saudi-Arabian scientists involved in the exchange who work currently on the MPI-P. "I like the academic way in research here in Germany and I am impressed by the research facilities and enjoy the learning of new techniques. I like the working environment in particular the very helpful and friendly team.", reports Mohammed H. Almusawa coming from Riad.
KACST was opened in 1977 in Riad and combines a multitude of fields of research from informatics to space research consolidated.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Katharina Landfester
Managing Director
MPI für Polymerforschung
Ackermannweg 10
D-55128 Mainz
Phone: +49 (0)6131-379.130
E-Mail: landfester(at)mpip-mainz.mpg.de
Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
The Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, which was founded in 1984, ranks among the world-wide leading research centers in the field of polymer research. The focus on so-called soft materials and macro-molecular materials has resulted in the worldwide unique position of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and its research focus. Coworkers from Germany and abroad are conducting fundamental research on both production and characterization of polymers as well as analyzing their physical and chemical properties. In the beginning of 2013 a total of 551 people were working at the MPI-P. The work force was made up of 112 scientists, 173 doctoral and diploma students, 71 visiting scientists, and 195 technical, administrative and auxiliary staff.
