Our Mission

The Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg is a centre for the development of systems theoretical and systems engineering methods and their application to innovative production processes in the areas of biotechnology, chemical production, as well as energy conversion and storage.
The Institute's research approach is focused on the development of validated mathematical models that underlie the complex dynamic systems studied and describe their behavior. The development and validation of these models is made possible by the close integration of (i) advanced mathematical theories and methods and (ii) extensive experimental and computational facilities. This particularly close connection between theoretical and experimental research, both within and between the various research groups, is a particular strength of the Magdeburg Max Planck Institute in comparison to its competitors worldwide.

The research pursued at the Institute supports the UN Sustainability Goals, that are related to climate change, affordable and clean energy, responsible production, innovation in industry, and good health & well-being. The Institute sees the eminent tasks for its basic research activities in the development of sustainable breakthrough production technologies, identification of fundamentally new process concepts, control of technical processes and systems of increasing complexity, and intensification of existing and exploration of new interdisciplinary collaborations.

This forms the background for the Institute’s mission that comprises four main elements:

identifying new processes in biotechnology, chemical production and energy storage & conversion,

understanding the underlying process fundamentals by mechanistic bio-chemo-physical modeling, data-driven methods (AI/ML), and hybrid approaches,

developing systems-oriented methods for process synthesis, analysis and control,

harvesting experimental data for the validation of new process technologies.