The University of British Columbia, in Canada, and the Max Planck Society, in Munich, agreed Monday to establish a Max Planck-UBC Centre for Quantum Materials to facilitate joint research projects and increase academic exchanges. The Max Planck Society also has a center for computer science in India, a research unit in Spain that studies European culture and religion, and an institute being built in Florida. “Europeans have worked hard at establishing linkages within Europe, and they are now looking outside Europe to strengthen collaborative research,” said John Hepburn, the University of British Columbia’s vice president of research.