Half a century in the service of science

Volker Geiß stands out. Through his cheerful and open personality and his elegant appearance. He has a hairdresser's appointment once a month. He wears fashionable glasses, a casual scarf and bright shoes that make him look younger than his age. One might think that he wants to attract attention - but in his more than 50-year career in science administration, he has successfully followed a different maxim: "As an administrator, you don't want to attract attention; the scientists are clearly in the focus. I have always worked in the background and tried to make things possible," says Geiß, opening the conversation in the Computer Science Café on the Saarbrücken university campus, with a view of his former workplaces.

Born in St. Wendel, he began his career with a secondary school leaving certificate. He then took evening classes to complete his A-levels and went on to graduate with a degree in public administration. Inspired by his uncle, who worked at the university and always spoke highly of the 'liberal and cosmopolitan atmosphere', Volker Geiß took up his first post at Saarland University on 1 August 1972. "I liked working there, especially because I could identify very well with the scientific work. I had the feeling that I was doing something useful," says Volker Geiß. So he stayed at Saarland University for 18 years. His last position was deputy budget officer.

At the end of the 1980s, he heard about plans to establish a Max Planck Institute on the university campus - an opportunity he could not pass up. "The reputation of the Max Planck Society (MPG) was very exciting for me. The MPG is one of the most successful scientific organisations in the world, and the prospect of working in such an elite institution appealed to me even then. I had the feeling that I could make a real contribution there," says Geiß. He eventually applied to founding director Kurt Mehlhorn for the position as head of administration and was hired.

Geiß's work at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics presented him with new challenges. "MPI Informatics was the first Max Planck Institute to focus on computer science. It established a new scientific field within the Max Planck Society, and we had to rethink and establish all processes and resource planning from scratch," recalls Geiß. "At the time, it was difficult to see where things were going in terms of computing capacity and the like. But we had to take all that into account," he says.

After the successful establishment of the MPI for Informatics, the next big challenge came in 2004. "By that time, the Saarbrücken campus had already reached a critical mass of expertise in computer science. The idea was to underpin this by establishing another Max Planck Institute," recalls Geiß. As a result, the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems was founded, but with two locations: in Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern. Volker Geiß was instrumental in establishing both. He oversaw the planning and construction of both buildings as the institute's liaison, he built up the administrative departments in both locations, and he worked closely with the university administrations at both sites to get both institute sites off the ground. With the founding of the MPI for Software Systems, his responsibilities expanded and he became the technical and administrative director of the joint administration of both institutes. "I have always seen myself as a service provider. The aim was to create the best possible conditions for scientists to do their research," he says. He particularly remembers the close exchange with the founding director of the MPI for Software Systems, Peter Druschel, in the early days of the institute. "Although Druschel was working at Rice University in Texas at the time, and his enquiries reached us at night because of the time difference, I always replied immediately. I think that showed him that we were serious about this," says Geiß with a smile.

Another project close to Volker Geiß' heart, which now has its own building on the Saarbrücken campus, is the Campus Library for Mathematics and Computer Science - a unique collaboration between Saarland University, the two Max Planck Institutes and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). For him, the library is a symbol of the partnership on campus. "The close integration of our institutes with the university is something special and not common in the German scientific landscape. In my opinion, a research site can only function if all those involved pull together and pursue a common goal. That is why I have always attached great importance to the institutes working closely with the university in organisational matters as well," he says.

Until 2022, Volker Geiß was head of the joint administration of the Max Planck Institutes for Informatics and Software Systems. Looking back, he describes his more than 30 years at the institutes as a 'vocation'. "Science and research are important cornerstones of our society. Without them, there can be no societal progress. That is why it has always been an honour for me to work for the Max Planck Society and to support science through administrative work," he says.

And it is easy to believe that he is passionate about his work: in the course of his career, Geiß has been involved in the founding of a total of four Max Planck Institutes: in addition to the MPI for Informatics in Saarbrücken and the MPI for Software Systems in Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern, he was also involved in the founding of a law-related MPI that has since been integrated into the University of Luxembourg, as well as the MPI for Security and Privacy in Bochum. He also acted as an advisor during the founding phase of the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security. And although Geiß has already reached retirement age, he is still involved in science: as CEO, he is currently working on the development of the ELLIS Institute in Tübingen which has a basic funding of around 125 million euros. The late call from Tübingen, he says, was a great honour and showed him once again that his work is recognised and appreciated beyond the borders of the Saarland. But he does not want to turn his back on his home region. 'When my contract in Tübingen expires next year and a suitable successor has been found, I will be happy to return to the Saarland.'