The Cyprus Institute and the German Research Foundation Max Planck Society will sign a Memorandum of Understanding here on Monday.
An official press release said the Memorandum of Understanding will promote joint research and educational programmes. The scientific areas of focus, in the initial phase, will be climate change and the assessment of the associated implications, as well as the development of water resources in the Mediterranean and Middle-East region. Expansion into other scientific fields of common interest will follow.
The MoU coincides with the official visit of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Cyprus. According to the press release ''the agreement is of tremendous significance for the Cyprus Institute, as well for all of Cyprus, given the leading position that Germany has in world research and innovation and the important role that it plays in the wider European research scene.''
Titos Christofides, Under Secretary to the President, will address the signing ceremony.
The Memorandum will be signed on behalf of The Cyprus Institute by Professor Costas N. Papanicolas, the President of the Institute, and on behalf of the Max Planck Society by Professor Jos Lelieveld, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.
The Max Planck Society in Germany is a foundation that coordinates and supervises 80 research centers of excellence, the world famous Max Planck Institutes, with over 14,000 personnel and with a wide range of international activities. It is considered one of the top research foundations in the world with more than half a century tradition in carrying out outstanding basic research in the life sciences, the natural sciences and the humanities. Some of the world’s most significant scientific achievements originated from its researchers. Since it was founded, scientists from the Max Planck Society claimed 32 Nobel Prizes in various scientific fields.
The Cyprus Institute, through its engagement in strategic agreements with renowned international institutions and its adherence to high standards and objectives, is developing into one of the leading institutions in the region with excellent prospects for further growth and international accomplishment. A small country like Cyprus, with limited financial resources for research, can distinguish itself and establish its role in the highly competitive world of knowledge and research only through scientific programs of excellence. The strategic objective of transforming Cyprus into a regional center for research and education is fostered by undertaking such high-profile partnerships like the one being established with the Max Planck Society.
