Board of Trustees of the Max Planck Institute Magdeburg

The aim of the Board of Trustees is to bring to public the scientific work of the institute and to support the Max Planck Institute in its concerns in Magdeburg and the State of Saxony-Anhalt.

In addition to the Scientific Advisory Board, which is responsible for the permanent scientific advise, the Board of Trustees is another body of experts to advise the directors of the institute in social, political or economical issues. The Board of Trustees consists of high ranking representatives of government, the science community, business, and the media.

The President of the Max Planck Society appoints the members of a Board of Trustees for a period of six years. The Board of Trustees of the Max Planck Institute Magdeburg first met  September 7th, 2006.

The Board of Trustees is currently composed as follows:

Chairman

Prof. Dr. Jens Strackeljan
Rector of the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

Members

Simone Borris
Mayor of the State Capital Magdeburg

Dr. Kai Ehrhardt
Vice President Reaction Engineering, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen

Prof. Dr. Dirk Hartmann
Head of Simcenter Technology, Siemens, and Professor of Digital Twins, TU Darmstadt

Dr. Guido Herrmann
Head of Global Industry, Partner and Academic Relations, Wiley-VCH Publishing, Weinheim

Christina Herßebroick
Head of the main editorial department, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk mdr, Leipzig

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sabine Kunst
Chair of the Joachim Herz Foundation, Hamburg

Hon.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mirko Peglow
Management Board, IPT Pergande GmbH, Südliches Anhalt OT Weißandt-Gölzau

Dr. Gerd Unkelbach
Director of Molecular Bioproducts R&D, UPM, Leuna

Thomas Wünsch
State Secretary, Ministry of Science, Energy, Climate Protection and Environment of the State of Saxony-Anhalt

(As of July 2025)