Former departments & research groups

Professor Martin Heimann was director of the Biogeochemical Systems Department from 2001 until his retirement in March 2017.  In 2020 the department was transferred to the new "Biogeochemical Signals" department headed by Sönke Zaehle.
Martin Heimann continues his research as Emeritus Director on the joint ERC synergy project Q-Arctic, together with Mathias Göckede's group .
Here you learn more about the former department. more

Founding Director Professor Ernst-Detlef Schulze headed the Department of Biogeochemical Processes since the founding of the institute in 1997 until his retirement in 2009. The department was taken over by Professor Susan Trumbore in 2010.
Ernst-Detlef Schulze is still active as Emeritus Director in the field of "Carbon Balance, Ecosystem Research and Forest Management".
Find out more about his current research here. more

Professor Colin Prentice was Director of the Department of Integration of Biogeochemical Cycles from its founding in 1997 until 2003, when he returned to the UK. He now holds the Chair of Biosphere and Climate Impacts in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences at the Imperial College London.

Professor Dave Schimel was Director of the Biogeochemical Systems Department from the founding of the Institute in 1997 until 2001. Martin Heimann took over the Department. Schimel returned to the USA, where he is now Group Supervisor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Dr. René Orth headed the research group from 2018 to 2023, based on his Emmy-Noether project. He then accepted a position at the University of Freiburg, where he is now Professor of Biogeochemical Systems Modelling at the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources. Click here for the website of his former research group. more

The research group Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology was an independent group from 2015 to 2022 led by Dr. Carlos Sierra, based on his Emmy Noether project. The group then became part of the Department of Biogeochemical Processes,
Click here for the group's website. more

The research group Extreme Events led by Huw Grouwcutt was an intersectional group with a focus on the definition, recognition and the impact of extreme events. The group formally belonged to and worked together with all three Max Planck Institutes in Jena (Biogeochemistry, Chemical Ecology and the former MPI for the Science of Human History, now Geoanthropology). He is now at the University of Malta.

Dr. Christian Hallmann was Max Planck Research Group Leader from 2012 to 2021, when he accepted an appointment at the University of Potsdam. There he is Professor of Organic Geochemistry (Institute of Geosciences & Institute of Chemistry), and Head of the Organic Geochemistry Section at the Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam (GFZ).

The research group Terrestrial Biosphere Modelling was an independent group from 2015 to 2020 led by Dr. Sönke Zaehle, based on his ERC starting grant QUINCY. Since he was appointed Director of the Department of Biogeochemical Signals, the group became part of the new department.
Click here for the group's website. more

Dr. Markus Reichstein was head of the Max Planck Research Group (MPRG) Biogeochemical Model-Data Integration from 2006 to 2012. He was then appointed Director of the Biogeochemical Integration Department in 2012, which he still leads today. Click here for the website of his department. more

Christian Wirth was head of the Independent Research Group Organismic Biogeochemistry from 2005 to 2009. He then accepted a call from the University of Leipzig, where he is Professor of Functional Botany, Director of the Leipzig Botanical Garden and founding director of the DFG Center iDiv.