Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology

For two thirds of the Earths history, microorganisms were the rulers of our planet. They developed an impressive diversity of species and metabolic pathways. Even today, microorganisms play a key role in shaping the Earth and its climate. At the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (MPIMM), we study microorganisms in the sea and other bodies of water. What role do they play, what are their properties and how great is their biodiversity? What contribution do microorganisms make to the global element cycles of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and iron? What does this mean for our environment and our climate? Researchers from all over the world, engineers, technicians and many others want to answer these and many other questions at the MPIMM. Their areas of expertise range from microbiology to microsensor technology, geochemistry to genome analysis and molecular ecology to modeling. The MPIMM was founded in 1992 and is part of the Max Planck Society (MPG). Since 2002, the MPIMM has ...