The Albert Einstein Institute

The Albert Einstein Institute (AEI) is part of the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, which in turn is part of the Max Planck Institute system. We're located at the Max Planck campus in Golm, a village outside of Potsdam, southwest of Berlin. The campus houses three or four institutes, including a botany institute and a celluloid institute. Here's a map of campus - don't ask me why it's sideways.
AEI is indicated by a red dot. The guesthouse, where I'm living right now, is the yellow rectangle at the south end of campus.

The whole affair is very modern - glass & steel buildings with keyless entry, etc. Here's the atrium of the institute.


And here's me in my office, which I share with two other postdocs.
For those not fluent in academic lingo, a "postdoc" is a post-doctoral research position, typically lasting 2-3 years. These are considered the best way to start off a career doing research, as the positions typically have little or no teaching responsibilities. The institute here as a dozen or more postdocs, in addition to a number of permanent scientists and many shorter-term visitors.

Finally, here's the view out my office window.

The institute is right on the edge of development, the land beyond here to the northwest (the direction the picture is taken) is parkland and farmland. Quite nice - I obtained a bike map yesterday and look forward to some nice riding in the countryside.