Ruhr Area to Host New Max Planck Institute for Cyber Security and Privacy
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The most crucial step towards the foundation of the Max Planck Institute for Cyber Security and Privacy in North Rhine-Westphalia has been accomplished: On 3 May 2019, the Joint Science Conference (GWK) agreed to plans to locate the institute in Bochum.
RUB (Ruhr University Bochum) and TU Dortmund University joined forces to bring the institute to the region: TU Dortmund has extensive expertise in the field of information technology. Its Faculty of Computer Science was one of Germany’s first university computer science facilities and today numbers among the largest nationwide, covering a broad spectrum of computer science topics that scarcely any other in Germany can match. “The field of IT security complements perfectly our research strengths in the areas of artificial intelligence and big data,” says Professor Ursula Gather, President of TU Dortmund University. RUB hosts the Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security with the Cluster of Excellence “Cyber Security in the Age of Large-Scale Adversaries” (in short CASA).
The new Max Planck Institute (MPI) will concentrate on basic research at top international level in the fields of cyber security, cryptography, IT system security as well as the legal, economic and social aspects of security and privacy. It plans to cover the entire spectrum from theory to data-driven studies to empirical research and to network closely with external researchers engaged in computer science, physics, mathematics, social sciences, economics and law.
Cutting-edge research “Made in North Rhine-Westphalia”
“With the Horst Görtz Institute, the universities of Bochum and Dortmund, a large number of innovative IT companies and a lively start-up community, the region has developed into a well-known hotspot for IT security. The new institute currently in the planning with its research work on central topics of future importance will profit from this,” said Armin Laschet, Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia. “Bochum and Metropolis Ruhr provide an ideal environment for investigating key technologies in the field of cyber security. We want to further expand and network innovative cutting-edge research ‘Made in North Rhine-Westphalia’”.
Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Culture and Science, praised the excellent possibilities for collaboration in leading-edge research at the new Max Planck Institute. “The state government is committed to creating a solid foundation for the new institute. Our objective is to establish a center of excellence for basic research and the training of young researchers in the field of cyber security and privacy,” she announced.
When completed, the Max Planck Institute will have six departments, twelve Max Planck Research Groups and an annual operating budget of around € 20 million.