New Head of Administration at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research
Dr. Johanna Jobst has joined the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research as Head of Administration with effect from March 1st 2026.
Johanna Jobst’s principal responsibility at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Medical Research will be to organize and maintain the infrastructure needed for scientific work.
Johanna Jobst brings to this task many years of experience in management in academic settings.
Most recently she led the University Development Unit at Hildesheim University.
Since March 1st, Johanna Jobst has led the Administration at the MPI for Medical Research. In this position she will be responsible to the Central Administration of the Max Planck Society in Munich for ensuring that the entire Institute Administration, from Financial Planning to Personnel Affairs, is structured and led so that the institute’s scientific work is ideally supported. The MPI for Medical Research currently has around 380 staff, including 45 in the administration.
The Managing Director of the Institute, Joachim Spatz, welcomes Johanna Jobst to the Institute. “We are delighted that Dr. Jobst will from now on be leading our administration. I wish her a good start in her new role and look forward to working with her.“
Johanna Jobst can call upon extensive experience in the management of scientific institutions. She studied Administration at the universities in Konstanz and in Warwick (GB), with a focus on Management and Administration. She was then on the academic staff of the Chair of Management, particularly Strategy and Leadership, at Konstanz University. In 2020 she took her doctorate there in Social Science. She then moved to Hildesheim University, where she was Personal Assistant to the President. Johanna Jobst subsequently led the Office of University Development there, including the areas of Controlling, Quality Management, Green Office and New Work. In March 2026 she moved to Heidelberg as the Head of Administration at the MPI for Medical Research.