The group is established between PMO and Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy (MPA), with Dr. KANG Xi at PMO and Prof. Andrea Maccio at MPA as group leaders. Dr. KANG, who has spent three years as a post-doctoral in MPA, is engaged in the research of galaxy formation and distribution, while Prof. Andrea Maccio in the research of numerical simulation and galaxy formation. The group is initially scheduled to run for three years starting from 2012. Then the evaluation will be given by the international experts. Provided the evaluation is positive, such a program can be extended to five years.

The group will carry out research on a range of topics, including constructing the multi-band formation model of galaxy formation, investigating our Galaxy and the formation of its satellites, and understanding different cosmological models, their structure evolution with dark matter models, as well as the gravitational lensing effect. The research results are expected to shed light on the optical, infrared, and sub-millimeter astronomy research in the Antarctic,  and make contributions to the national major scientific projects: Antarctic Observatory and LAMOST.

The “Max Planck Partner Groups” were created by MPG for the purpose of strengthening connections between Max Planck Institutes (MPI) and foreign research institutes. It will support the scientists，who once made their research at MPI, to carry out further research in their home country on a subject that is also of interest of the MPI. There are currently 41 Partner Groups worldwide.