Board of Directors

MPIA, as any other Max Planck Institute, is managed by its directors. Each director is a scientific member of the Max Planck Society e.V. and the head of one of the institute's scientific departments. The directors alternately act as managing directors.

Planet and Star Formation Department

Prof. Dr. Thomas Henning

Phone: (+49|0) 6221 – 528 200

Atmospheric Physics of Exoplanets Department

Dr. Laura Kreidberg

Galaxies and Cosmology Department

Prof. Dr. Hans-Walter Rix (managing director)

Phone: (+49|0) 6221 – 528 210

Where institute management task are concerned, the directors are supported by the Scientific Coordinator and the Head of Administration; in their external communications, by the head of public outreach.

Former Directors

Prof. Dr. Immo Appenzeller

Prof. Dr. Steven V.W. Beckwith 

Prof. Dr. Hans Elsässer (†)

Prof. Dr. Guido Münch

Former External Scientific Members

Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Böhm (†)

Prof. Dr. Walter Fricke (†)

Prof. Dr. George H. Herbig (†)

External Scientific Members

By appointing eminent German and international scientists as external scientific members, Max Planck Institutes bolster international scientific cooperation.

Prof. Dr. Conny Aerts (Universität Leuven/Radbound Universität Nijmegen)

Prof. Dr. Immo Appenzeller (Emeritus, University of Heidelberg)

Prof. Dr. Steven V.W. Beckwith (University of California, Berkeley)

Prof. Dr. Willy Benz (Universität Bern)

Prof. Dr. Rafael Rebolo (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias)

Prof. Dr. Volker Springel (Heidelberger Institut für Theoretische Studien)

Max-Planck-Fellow

Prof. Dr. Oliver Trapp (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)