The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is a formally independent non-governmental, non-profit, association of German research institutes founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, and later renamed the Max Planck Society in 1948 in honor of its former president, the theoretical physicist Max Planck. The society has a world-leading reputation as a top-notch science and technology research organization, with 33 Nobel Prizes awarded to their scientists, and is widely regarded as one of the foremost basic research organizations in the world. In terms of total research volume, unweighted by citations or impact, Max Planck Society is ranked 4th in the Times Higher Education institutional rankings. The Thomson Reuters-Science Watch website placed the society as the second leading research organization worldwide, following Harvard University, in terms of impact of the produced research over science fields.
