Max Planck Institute for Chemistry

Team Leaders

Team Staff

About MPI-C

The Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC) in Mainz is a non-university research institute under the auspices of the Max Planck Society. Current research at MPIC aims at an integral understanding of chemical processes in the Earth system, particularly in the atmosphere and biosphere. Research activities address a wide range of interactions between air, water, soil, life and climate in the course of Earth’s history up to today´s human-driven epoch, the Anthropocene.

The Multiphase Chemistry department (Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pöschl) aims to elucidate multiphase processes in Earth system science, climate research, as well as life, health, and materials sciences. Multiphase processes are investigated at the molecular level and regarding their impact at macroscopic and global scales.

The Chemical Kinetics & Reaction Mechanisms group (Dr. Thomas Berkemeier) in the Multiphase Chemistry department focuses on the multiphase chemistry governing the health effects of air pollutants. For this purpose, the group develops a multiphase chemical kinetics model, KM-SUB-ELF, which quantifies the production of reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress biomarkers by air pollutants in the respiratory tract. Within the framework of MARKOPOLO, this model will be extended to estimate the impact of ultrafine particulate matter exposure on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. The optimized model will be used as diagnostic tool and will be used to identify exposure studies that have the highest chance of reducing model uncertainty. In addition, we aim to estimate the oxidative potential based on the chemical composition and emission sources of particulate matter.