At the invitation of EPSO, leading European scientists have met and formulated a vision and the needs of the European plant science community for the coming 10 years. The basic concept was that research and teaching in modern agriculture should profit from closer integration with new developments in basic research in the physiology, biochemistry and development of plants, and gene technology. Contacts between basic research in modern plant biology and applied research on crop plants should open up new, attractive and many-sided possibilities for the application of research results in practice. This is extraordinary exciting science with potentially huge payoffs. Through our teaching programs, we offer a diverse group of courses that emphasize understanding how complex organisms such as plants function, how plant communities are organized and managed, how plants can be used in a sustainable framework for food production, and how biotechnology is used.
Research programs seek to understand basic cellular processes as well as field-oriented problems.
Our field research facilities are unique in the range of ecosystems that are covered. The multidisciplinary nature of this program allows students to experience many facets of plant science and affords them the flexibility to seek employment in a variety of settings in the plant sciences. They range from applied programs in plant breeding and rangeland management to basic research on regulatory mechanisms using model plant systems.