Topping-Out Ceremony for the MPI-SP’s New Building
The new building on the “Mark 51°7” campus provides space for interdisciplinary research in the field of security and privacy.
The Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP) celebrated the topping-out ceremony for its new building in Bochum. Representatives from the Max Planck Society, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the city of Bochum, and the architectural team celebrated the project’s progress together with the construction workers and the institute’s staff. “Bochum has become one of Europe’s leading centers for cybersecurity,” said Gonca Türkeli-Dehnert, State Secretary at the Ministry for Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. “At the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy, an international team of top researchers is working on one of the major issues of the future that directly affects everyone’s lives. With this new building, we are creating excellent working conditions for the scientists who are working to detect hacker attacks early on,” she added in her welcome address.
The building is located in the “Mark 51°7” development area on the former Opel factory grounds and will become a center for interdisciplinary research in the fields of data protection and security. “Where cars once rolled off the assembly line, research will soon be conducted on how to make our digital world safer. First coal, then cars, now knowledge: there’s hardly a better way to describe the transformation of our city. As a city, we’re proud that Bochum is now home to many leading companies in the field of IT security, and the Max Planck Institute, of course, fits right in”, said Bochum’s Mayor, Dr. Sascha Dewender.
Founded in 2019, the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy is currently located on the campus of Ruhr University. “After our employees were spread out across various buildings on the RUB campus for several years, it’s wonderful to see our new home taking shape. Bringing our staff together under one roof will create a new sense of belonging that will surely lead to even more collaboration and outstanding research results. We are very grateful for the support the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has provided to help us achieve this goal,” said Prof. Peter Schwabe, Managing Director of MPI-SP.
Planning for the MPI-SP’s own building began in June 2021, and construction started in June 2023. Upon completion, the new building will bring 350 employees together under one roof in an energy-efficient, state-of-the-art workplace that fosters scientific excellence. Eller + Eller Architects designed a space that combines research, interdisciplinary exchange, and interaction. With a gross floor area of approximately 14,000 square meters, it was designed to foster both focused, topic-oriented work and communication and spontaneous encounters. The ground floor will house laboratories, common areas, a cafeteria, seminar rooms, and a lecture hall. The institute is scheduled to move to the new location by the end of 2027.