The science potential of MeerKAT is enormous. In order
to complement existing instrumentation and with the aim to help
exploiting the new instrument in an optimal way,
the MPIfR is providing a complete receiving system at
"S-band", i.e. 1.75-3.50 GHz..
The Max-Plank S-Band System (MP-SbS) will especially enable
science that falls into the core interests of the MPIfR. These
include fundamental physics with tests of theories of gravity
and gravitational wave detection, the exploration of the
dynamic radio sky (e.g. by detecting fast cosmological radio
bursts), highly sensitive molecular spectroscopy of the
interstellar medium, polarisation continuum studies, and
high-resolution imaging of radio sources using very-long-baseline-interferometry (VLBI).

In addition to providing the frontend, the MP-SbS includes a
state-of-the-art digital backend system that consists of a
beamformer, a storage facility and a powerful compute cluster
that allows turning MeerKAT into a discovery machine for
pulsars and other time-domain phenomena. The system will be
designed and constructed by the MPIfR in close collaboration
with colleagues from the Universities of Manchester and Oxford.
A major important contribution comes from the ERC Advanced
Grant project MeerTRAP (PI Stappers) that will allow to
double the initially planned beam former capabilities to 400
beams, although the final implementation may allow many more
beams than that. Descriptions of MeerTRAP and the related MeerKAT
projects TRAPUM and MeerTime can be found elsewhere in these
proceedings