Chemistry is a central science that is ubiquitous in everyday life, for example in energy, medical care, or nutrition. Fundamental research in chemistry is of high importance. In Germany, the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (Max Planck Society, MPG) supports more than 80 institutes that cover the natural, life, and social sciences, as well as the humanities.

In his Editorial in Angewandte Chemie, Martin Stratmann, President of the MPG and a chemist interested in interface chemistry and surface engineering, discusses the role of chemistry in the MPG, beginning more than one hundred years ago. The Max Planck Society offers creative scientists, who are often working between disciplines, the opportunity to build an independent scientific career. The institutes undergo continuous thematic evolution, and the retirement of one or several director(s) can result in a scientific reorientation, such as the Max Planck Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry changing to the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion.

Interdisciplinary topics that are of interest to the MPG and involve chemistry include the origin of life and synthetic biology. In conclusion, the outlook for German chemistry is good and the MPG is committed to supporting the subject as a key scientific area.

• Chemistry and the Max Planck Society: A Stable Bond Resonating into the Future, 
  Christoph Ettl, Martin Stratmann,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015.
  DOI: 10.1002/anie.201502721