A EUROPEAN HEAVYWEIGHT a Rich Research Network Has Secured Munich’S Position As a Centre of Science in Europe

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Florian Röhrbein (centre) is managing director of the Neurorobotics project under the Human Brain Project at Technical University of Munich, which is developing simulated and real systems to reconstruct the human brain. A EUROPEAN HEAVYWEIGHT A rich research network has secured Munich’s position as a centre of science in Europe.

HRISTIO BOYTCHEV With 17 higher-education institutes, Munich is (DFG). In 2016, computer scientist Daniel second only to Berlin as the largest university Cremers from TUM received the award for enturies-old competition between centre in Germany. Standing out among them advances in computer vision and reconstruc- esteemed universities for the best are two public universities, Ludwig Maximil- tion of three-dimensional objects from 2D ideas and talent has driven continually ians University (LMU), with an FC in 2017 of images. A year later, biologist Karl-Peter Hop- Crising standards in Munich, while their close 179.41, and TUM, with an FC of 128.79. fner from LMU won the prize for his work on links have fuelled a collaborative culture. Founded in 1472, LMU supports more DNA repair and decoding the mechanism of a Bavaria’s capital, Munich is the second lead- than 6,000 researchers covering the breadth of DNA damage sensor. And in 2018, Veit Hor- ing science city in Germany after Berlin, social and natural sciences. TUM, its counter- nung, an immunologist at the same university, ANDREAS HEDDERGOTT / TUM ANDREAS HEDDERGOTT when measured on its contribution to the part in size, was established several centuries was recognized for his work on clarifying how authorship of articles in the 82 high-quality later in 1868 and specifically focusses on the cells detect and combat viruses. research journals in the Nature Index, a met- natural, life and applied sciences. LMU and TUM were two of only three uni- ric known as fractional count (FC). It places versities to be awarded additional grants in the sixth in Europe, behind bigger metropolises, HEALTHY RIVALRY first round of the German Universities Excel- Paris and London. Georg Kääb, managing director of the Bavar- lence Initiative, launched in 2006. The initia- Strong institutional networks are a core ian biotech cluster, BioM, a consortium for tive is an effort by the German government strength of Munich, says Gerhard Müller, the biotechnology sector in the region, says to strengthen research universities and create a structural mechanics engineer, and a vice Munich maintains its standing because of the internationally competitive centres. Over the president at Technical University of Munich constant competition for the best ideas and tal- past decade, LMU and TUM have received €21 (TUM). But this tight-knit community has ent between the two universities. million (US$24.4 million) annually through recently been rocked by a series of scandals Their rivalry plays out in the annual Leib- the programme. Sigmund Stintzing, a physicist that could herald major institutional change niz prizes, Germany’s premier research awards and vice president at LMU, says the success of in the long term. bestowed by the German Research Foundation the excellence initiative has strengthened the

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university’s commitment to the natural sci- and genetics, and evolutionary anthropology. ences, with plans to build a new campus that But the rise of the populist right in the east MUNICH will feature a nanotechnology institute, sched- has made it more difficult for them to attract SHARE OF COUNTRY’S uled to open in 2019. foreign students and researchers. “Compared FRACTIONAL COUNT (FC) 2017: 10.7% to Dresden, Munich is definitely a much nicer TOP 3 INSTITUTIONS (FC 2017): RESEARCH CIRCUIT and safer place for people who do not look 1. Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich: 179.41 The universities ensure a constant supply of and speak German,” says Schwille. More than 2. Technical University of Munich: 128.79 well-trained students for the community of 15,000 foreign students are based in Munich, 3. Helmholtz Zentrum München - German research institutes in the city — an important with some 20% of PhDs at TUM awarded to Research Center for Environmental resource for principal investigators, says bio- international students. Health: 28.80 physicist, Petra Schwille. On the downside, the city is growing rap- Schwille is director for cellular and molecu- idly, and with it comes traffic and higher costs TOP GERMAN CITIES lar biophysics at the Max Planck Institute of of living. Rent is especially a problem, being Munich is the second leading science city in Biochemistry in Martinsried, a suburb of roughly 50% higher than in Berlin and twice Germany based on fractional count (FC). Munich. She is part of a team of astronomers, as high as in Dresden. Munich Berlin metro area Heidelberg biologists, chemists and geoscientists from five Dresden Göttingen research centres in Munich, including TUM TRIALLING TIMES 600 and LMU, testing theories on the emergence A number of high-profile research institu- of life on Earth. The group is funded by an ini- tions in Germany have recently been shaken 400

tial four-year grant from the DFG through its by scandals, including in Munich. Allegations 200

€164 million Collaborative Research Centres of bullying against a director of the Max Planck Adjusted FC programme to pursue long-term and innova- Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, a town 0 tive projects. on the northern edge of Munich, surfaced this 2012 2017 Schwille’s institute is one of 11 located in the year. And in 2017, the Max Planck Institute SOURCE: NATURE INDEX; SOURCE FOR ‘TOP FIELDS’: NATURE INDEX/DIMENSIONS FROM DIGITAL SCIENCE INDEX/DIMENSIONS FROM DIGITAL FIELDS’: NATURE ‘TOP INDEX; SOURCE FOR SOURCE: NATURE larger metropolitan area of Munich, which are for Psychiatry in Munich faced charges of SCIENCE SECTORS part of the prestigious basic science organisa- financial fraud, plagiarism, and bullying. It is Non-governmental organisations such as the tion Max Planck Society, headquartered in the unclear whether the cases will affect Munich’s Max Planck Society are the second largest city. Also based in Munich is the Fraunhofer good science name. contributors to Munich’s index output, Society. With 72 research institutes across Ger- Fabian Schmidt, a cosmologist at the Max measured by fractional count 2012–2017. many and 25,000 employees, Fraunhofer is the Planck Institute for Astrophysics, says that GOVERNMENT CORPORATE largest applied science organisation in Europe. he was concerned that the allegations would 65.01 36.90

The German Research Center for Environ- taint the institute’s reputation, but it is too early ACADEMIC mental Health, and to determine their 1,693.29 the German Aero- impact on doctoral

space Center are also student recruitment. NON-GOVERNMENTAL in Munich. Both are “MUNICH IS A NICER AND SAFER In response to the ORGANISATION part of the Helm- revelations, Max 1,006.42 holtz Association, PLACE FOR PEOPLE WHO DO NOT Planck Society com- yet another national missioned an anon- TOP FIELDS research network, LOOK AND SPEAK GERMAN.” ymous employee Below are the top 6 elds that researchers in Munich contribute to in the index, measured which specializes in survey, and has hired by fractional count (FC) 2015–2017. infrastructure-inten- a law firm to which sive projects such as aeronautics and ocean- scientists can anonymously bring allegations, Other physical sciences 37.48 ography, and boasts almost 40,000 employees. which the firm will investigate independently. 93.97 68.27 Biochemistry Physical chemistry 29.79 The institute has also released a new code of and cell biology (incl. structural) Genetics ALL WELCOME conduct for professional interactions, which is Munich is the third-most-populous city in a step in the right direction, says Schmidt. He Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg. But its acknowledges, though, that while it applies to Atomic, molecular, nuclear, 39.38 23.79 national research prominence is partly due to all personnel, including directors, it is poten- particle and plasma physics Neurosciences wealth rather than size. The southern state of tially not an adequate mechanism for enforce- Bavaria has the highest GDP per capita of the ment in the event that another director is CHOICE JOURNALS 13 area-states. As such, Bavaria can afford to suspected of abusive conduct. Munich-based researchers contribute more articles (AC) to Physical Review Letters than grant its universities a budget of €7 billion a Many scientists point to the entrenched to any other journal in the index. In this journal, year, more than twice the amount provided by hierarchical structures in Germany’s research they account for 38% of the authorship (FC) of the capital, Berlin. institution as the underlying issue. The papers to which they contribute. Schwille also appreciates the general quality dependency between the majority of scien- of life in the city. “The nature around Munich tists with fixed-term contracts and the few FC 2012–2017 AC 2012–2017 is fantastic and the city culture very inspiring,” permanent professorships is an ideal breeding she says. Munich regularly ranks among the ground for abuse, says Jule Specht, a psycholo- Physical Review Letters top ten cities in the world for quality of life. In gist at Humboldt University of Berlin, who has Journal of High the Mercer Quality of Living Survey 2018, for been campaigning for department structures Energy Physics example, it holds third place. that give scientists more independence. Pro- Nature Communications The city also welcomes diversity, which fessorships in Germany are typically the only Proceedings of the National gives it an edge over emerging science states. long-term positions available in academia but Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Eastern German cities, Dresden and Leipzig, they are relatively scarce. “The unattractive Angewandte Chemie for example, have recently founded the Max hierarchical structure makes Germany lose International Edition Planck institutes of molecular cell biology young scientists,” she adds. ■ 0 200 400 600