Structure
The Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung (MPIE) is organized in four departments which are each headed by one director. The directors and the head of the administration form the management of the institute. Each department in turn has several research groups which are led by research group leaders who are responsible for the ongoing research and the mentoring of mainly master and doctoral students.
Besides the research groups, the institute also offers six apprenticed professions where trainees work in a close relation with the scientific staff (descriptions only in German):
Chemical Laboratory Assistance (m/f/div)
IT System Specialist (m/f/div)
Businessman for office management (m/f/div)
Scientific Programmer /m/f/div)
In many of these areas the MPIE holds a position of international scientific leadership, particularly in multiscale materials modelling, surface science, metallurgical alloy design and advanced structure characterization of complex engineering and functional materials.
While the institute is divided up into different departments, the cooperation of the departments in the design, analysis and processing of materials guarantees a strong interdepartmental link between the different departments and research groups. This form of organization encourages a high level of individual scientific work within the departmental framework as well as the development of new materials with complex properties combining the expertise of all departments. The cross-disciplinary research activities lead to an efficient use of the scientific equipment and a homogeneous research profile.
Moreover, a number of very well trained scientific as well as technical service groups complement this setting. These service groups comprise a mechanical workshop, a group for the chemical analysis of metallic substrates, a metallography and materials testing group, a group for the building off scientific equipment and sample preparation, an electronic workshop, a network center, a library and a research coordination office including the international doctoral programme IMPRS-SurMat, an International Office and Public Relations.