By Wendy Anders

The Max Planck Society of Germany (MPG), the National Council of Rectors (CONARE), and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT) signed an agreement in January to strengthen scientific collaboration on joint research projects and research-based training.

The agreement is result of the visit of a high-level delegation headed by the German Federal Minister of Education and Research, Dr. Johanna Wanka, who visited Costa Rica in February 2016.

Then, last May representatives and researchers of the Max Planck Society of Germany met with scientists and authorities from the University of Costa Rica (UCR), the Costa Rican Technological Institute (ITCR), the National University (UNA) and the National High Technology Center (CeNAT) to learn more about Costa Rica’s scientific research.

University of Costa Rica researchers Adrián Alberto Pinto Tomas, of the Center for Research in Microscopic Structures (CIEMIC), and Mario Alberto Blanco Coto, of the Lankester Botanical Garden Experimental Station (JBL) recently traveled to Germany to learn more about the Max Planck Institutes. The UCR has proposed several joint research projects with their German counterparts, said the UCR.

Dr. Fernando García Santamaría, Vice Chancellor of Research of the UCR, said the agreement links Costa Rican students and researchers with the prestigious Max Planck Society’s 83 research centers and Max Planck International Research Schools (IMPRS). Max Planck carries out basic research in the biomedical, chemical, physical and technological disciplines, as well as in social and human sciences, and produces an average of 15,000 scientific publications per year.

García explained that another aspect of the agreement “is for Max Planck researchers to serve as advisors to our research centers and institutes, to conduct evaluations, and to serve as an external partner in our evaluation processes to raise the standards and quality research in Costa Rica.”