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Welcome to the IPB Alumni Network

Because of its research topics, especially in natural product chemistry, the institute has had a strong international orientation since its foundation in 1958 and it still maintains close contact to scientists from all over the world. Without these manifold connections to researchers from Asia, Africa and South America, the sharing of local expertise and plant resources would be unthinkable.

In return, the IPB has an impact on the scientific work of the countries of origin, above all by facilitating research stays and doctoral theses of the visiting scientists at the institute and, through research stays of German scientists in the host countries. With about 30 percent of the scientific staff the IPB has a high proportion of foreigners. In Latin America alone, more than ten former IPB doctoral students are now professors, mainly at Brazilian and Cuban universities. The same applies to Southeast Asia. In regard to content and organization, contacts are often continued until well after the doctorate or post-doctorate of the visiting scientist. This results in joint projects and publications, so that some host countries benefit greatly from this support in content, ideas, and finances in the long term.

Our goals and activities

The historically grown, very good starting position at IPB forms the basis for our research alumni program with the following goals:

  • Best brains: Attracting the world's best cooperation partners, doctoral students and postdocs for selected research projects.
  • Strategic cooperations: Continuing to guarantee work on biodiversity and natural products in an increasingly difficult legal environment by sharing local expertise and resources, developing trust-based access and benefit sharing.
  • Young careers: Arranging contacts and positions for young IPB researchers in the host countries and vice versa.
  • Established contacts: Cementation and perpetuation of existing contacts and promotion of established alumni by facilitating contact with young scientists and preferential access to selected resources of IPB.
  • International positioning: Increasing the international visibility of the institute as a top international address in plant biochemistry through local contacts.

IPB international: We speak many languages

Origin of foreign employees at IPB (30.9.2019).

On 30.9.2019, 42 foreign persons from a total of 28 nations were employed at IPB. This represents 22% of the total and 38% of the scientific staff.

The IPB is a center of academic education.

From 2007 to 2019, 440 young people were guided to an academic degree at the institute. During this period, our scientists supervised a total of 88 bachelor theses, 209 master and diploma theses and 104 doctorates. A number of group leaders and junior scientists gained the necessary momentum for the next stage of their careers at the IPB. They are now professors at universities and other higher education institutes. Further information about the IPB as a career launching pad can be found here.

From 2007 to 2019, a total of 525 guest researchers and scholarship holders worked at the institute. Among others, the scholarships were granted by: AvH (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation), CAPES (Capes Humboldt Research Fellowship), CSC (China Scholarship Council), CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development in Brazil), DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), Erasmus (EuRopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students), FNF (Friedrich Naumann Foundation), DFG-funded Research Training Groups, KAS (Konrad Adenauer Foundation) Saxony-Anhalt State Graduate Funding, MOET (Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training), RLS (Rosa Luxemburg Foundation), Russian Research Foundation, ANID (Chilean National Agency for Research and Development) and SERB (Indian Science and Technology Committee).

This page was last modified on 01.08.2022.

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