The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 28th that it held the inauguration ceremony of the 'Max Planck-Yonsei IBS Center,' a joint research center with the Max Planck Society of Germany, Yonsei University, and the Institute for Basic Science on the 28th.
The Max Planck Society (MPG), established in 1948 for the purpose of conducting top-level basic research for humanity, is known to have produced 39 Nobel Prize winners to date. In particular, the Max Planck Society operates 18 'Max Planck International Centers' as research cooperation hubs that select and support international joint research in 10 countries around the world.
The Max Planck-Yonsei IBS Center, which is launching as the second one in Asia after Japan, aims to develop next-generation nanomedicine fundamental technologies that can non-invasively and precisely control deep tissues or cells, and it is a research center where the representative basic science research institutions of Korea and Germany collaborate equally.
For the joint research, the Max Planck Society and IBS plan to support up to €500,000 (about 800 million won) each year for a maximum of 10 years (5+5 years), and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Germany and the IBS Nanomedicine Research Team in Korea will jointly operate the center. Yonsei University Medical Center will contribute to and collaborate on the research for clinical applications.
Through this cooperative system, multidisciplinary joint research will be promoted, linked to the development of nanocarriers and precision control technologies, neuroscientific validation, clinical application review, and disease model provision. Additionally, Joachim Spatz, director of the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, and Jinwoo Chun, Director General of the IBS Nanomedicine Research Team, will serve as co-directors to jointly manage the center.
At the inauguration ceremony, Yonsei University President Dong-seob Yoon said, 'Although this is a newly launched center, we will spare no support for it to leap to a top-level convergence research center,' while Do-young Noh, president of IBS, noted, 'We will further expand the research collaboration foundation that allows our researchers to grow on the world stage.'
Additionally, Jeong Taek-ryeol, acting director of the Research and Development Office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, 'I hope the official launch of the Max Planck-IBS Center becomes a model for advanced international cooperation in basic science,' and expressed a desire for it to lay the groundwork for generating global research results, enhancing friendship between the two countries, and contributing to the welfare of humanity.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and ICT plans to strengthen support that meets global standards, including attracting excellent overseas personnel and allowing autonomous operation of research teams to aid the development of IBS.