The University of Pretoria (UP) recently hosted the Max Planck Society for a multidisciplinary roundtable discussion in a bid to foster international links between German and South African research institutions. The discussion was spearheaded by UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Francis Petersen and Prof Tobias Bonhoeffer, advisor to the president of the Max Planck Society.

The Max Planck Society is a German institution that conducts research in the medical, biological, scientific and social science fields and is largely funded by German taxpayers. It has 109 partner groups around the world and seeks to make science more accessible to everyone.

Also in attendance were the deans of UP’s Faculties of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology; Education; Economic and Management Sciences; Health Sciences; Humanities; Law; and Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

It was the general sentiment that UP and the Max Planck Society could have a fruitful collaborative partnership.

“UP puts a lot of emphasis on research, and on using research to make an impact on society and hopefully impact global knowledge,” Prof Petersen said, adding that UP is on a journey towards becoming a research-intensive university. “There is a massive focus on research in postgraduate studies, and the impact of our research in terms of society.”

However, the discussants pointed out that the ongoing “brain drain” in South Africa takes away from the ability of local researchers to make an impact on South African society, even though their research could contribute to global knowledge.

“What we would like to see instead of the brain drain is “brain circulation” – that is, people who come to Europe to work with us, then go back to their home country,” Prof Bonhoeffer said.

This led to the establishment of Max Planck Partner Groups, which aim to create feasible career paths for international scientists in their home countries. The brain drain has become a particularly prominent issue in South Africa. The partner groups initiative aims to help science as a discipline to flourish in both the Global North and the Global South.

The ever-changing academic world provides researchers with continuous challenges. That is why “insight must precede application”, Prof Bonhoeffer said. “One must first understand something if one wants to apply it later.”

This guiding principle allows for high-risk research and researcher autonomy and provides a foundation for long-term trust in research fields that have not been explored previously, even without a guarantee of success. Simply put, “scientists decide on science”, Prof Bonhoeffer added.