In 2016 research at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz aims at an integral understanding of chemical processes in the Earth system, particularly in the atmosphere and biosphere.

Investigations address a wide range of interactions between air, water, soil, life and climate in the course of Earth history up to today's human-driven epoch, the Anthropocene.

The teamwork of Otto Hahn (1879-1968), Lise Meitner (1878-1968) and Fritz Straßmann (1902-1980) led to the discovery of nuclear fission in December 1938.

[2] Everything that hadn't been destroyed was then stored in a closed textile factory in Tailfingen, Württemberg (present-day Albstadt), where the institute continued the work it had started in Berlin for a time.

These days the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry focusses on an integral scientific understanding of chemical processes in the Earth System from molecular to global scales.

The institute provides four databases which give information about 1) reference materials of geological and environmental interest (GeoReM),[4] 2) volcanic rocks and mantle xenoliths (GEOROC),[5] 3) UV/VIS absorption cross sections,[6] and 4) Henry's law constants.