The International Max Planck Research School on Earth System Modelling (IMPRS-ESM) was established in 2002. The IMPRS-ESM offers the opportunity for multi- and interdisciplinary  doctoral  studies in the comprehensive field of climate research by means of numerical modelling. The main scientific questions addressed are related to the integral Earth system including the human dimension. Questions addressed are for instance:

• How will human activities, as there are economic development, population growth, policy implementation etc., affect climate in the future?

• Will the percentage of additional carbon removed from the atmosphere grow or shrink in the 21st century?

• What physical / chemical / biological mechanism(s) stabilize the greenhouse effect of the atmosphere in the long term?

• Are we approaching a bifurcation in the climate system, will we experience abrupt climate change, and to what would be the consequences for society?

• Is the Earth system manageable at all in terms of long term "climate steering"?

With the growing interest in the global environment and the need to develop complex multi- and interdisciplinary approaches to understand and predict the evolution of the interacting atmosphere, ocean, geosphere and biosphere, it is important to train a number of the most skilled students in the modelling of the Earth system. The IMPRS-ESM has been founded to address these issues. The IMPRS-ESM will involve the participation of a team of professors and students belonging to various institutions and disciplines who will work together towards the development of a hierarchy of integrated earth system models. The students are working from different disciplinary perspectives around a unified concept of integrated Earth system models. The students are requested to integrate their respective work into a coherent educational and scientific framework. This purpose is reached through a close cooperation between all participating partners.

Effort is made to attract a diverse team of highly skilled students from different parts of the world. At least 50 percent of the fellowships will be allocated to foreign applicants. A good balance between genders will also be achieved. The courses are given in English.

Currently around 50 students are working in the IMPRS-ESM at the different locations of its partners. It is intended to run the school with a total number of 40-50 students (includin g project students) on the basis of a commission's recommendation in 2005. The emphasis is put on the quality of the students and of the education rather on the growth of the school.

In 2005 the IMPRS was evaluated. On the basis of the commission's recommendation the School was extended by another six years.