CEPLAS-News

From Academia to Application: CEPLAS ECRs Explore Plant Breeding at BASF | Nunhems 

Next-gen scientists meet cutting-edge innovation in vegetable seed development. [18/06/2025]

ERC Advanced Grant awarded to Miltos Tsiantis 

CEPLAS member and MPI Director Miltos Tsiantis receives prestigious ERC Advanced Grant for his project CLONAL. [17/06/2025]

Laura Merx Podcast

Planter's Punch: How Bacteria can help us feed the world 

In our new Planter's Punch PhD student Laura Merx explains in a podcast how bacteria can help us feed the world. [28/05/2025]

We made it! 

CEPLAS III proposal "SMART Plants in Dynamic Environments" successful in Excellence Strategy. [23/05/2025]

2nd TRANSPLANT Day 

The 2nd TRANSPLANT Day focussing on "Supporting Entrepreneurial Scientists and Science-Based Startups" took place in Cologne [22/05/2025]

Miltos Tsiantis

Miltos Tsiantis honored as Fellow of the Royal Society 

CEPLAS Steering Committee member Miltos Tsiantis is among the over 90 scientists from around the world who have been elected as the newest Fellows of… [20/05/2025]

What effect bacterial communities have on root growth 

CEPLAS members Stanislav Kopriva (UoC) and Tonni Grube Andersen (MPIPZ) identified several plant growth promoting volatiles. [08/05/2025]

Publication on the genetic control of barley architecture 

Coordinated by Rüdiger Simon, researchers discovered the signaling pathway that regulates the control of meristems in barley. [07/05/2025]

CRISPR in plants: CEPLAS members provided insights at Cologne City Hall 

Götz Hensel and Susanne Vollmer presented current developments in the use of molecular gene editing tools in plants. [06/05/2025]

Publication on the genetic diversity of European potato 

Korbinian Schneeberger and Craig Dent (both MPIPZ) pieced together the genetic makeup of European potatoes and published the results in Nature. [24/04/2025]

The paradox of European potato 

CEPLAS postdoctoral researcher Craig Dent (MPIPZ) reveals in a illustrative comic that potato DNA is at the same time diverse and not diverse. [23/04/2025]

New publication in "Science" about gene order 

Martin Lercher’s group (HHU), together with collaborators from Linköping University, has discovered that bacterial genes are positioned by function. [14/04/2025]

Girls' Day: CEPLAS provided insights into science 

CEPLAS PhD Sabrina Egli from Guido Grossmann's lab inspired 8 girls with luminous bacteria. [10/04/2025]

How cells repair their power plants 

Together with other researchers CEPLAS academic expert Parisa Kakanj has uncovered a mechanism to protect and repair mitochondria. [09/04/2025]

CEPLAS brings Crop IB to Germany for the first time 

CEPLAS members participated at the Crop Innovation & Business conference and interacted with experts from the agri-tech and agri-food community. [08/04/2025]

New mathematical models to increase photosynthesis efficiency 

Oliver Ebenhöh and Andreas Weber (both HHU), together with researchers from the University of Groningen, have published a paper in Science Advances. [26/03/2025]

CEPLAS Faces interview with Stanislav Kopriva 

CEPLAS member Stanislav Kopriva (UoC) reveals in an interview which personality he would like to meet. [25/03/2025]

Congratulations to Pia and Daniel! 

CEPLAS Graduate students Pia Saake and Daniel Moser (both UoC) defended their PhD thesis. [25/03/2025]

Natural Gatekeeper: How plants use barriers to maintain healthy relationships 

CEPLAS member Tonni Grube Andersen (MPIPZ) and his team have uncovered an important role of the Casparian strip. [24/03/2025]

TRANSPLANT Day: Bridging Academia and Industry in Plant Sciences  

More than 60 participants followed two inspiring presentations and an interactive panel discussion at the first TRANSPLANT Day. [18/03/2025]

School students in CEPLAS lab won first prize 

Two students won first prize in the Biology section of the Bonn-Köln Jugend Forscht Regionalwettbewerb for their project in Alga Zuccaro's lab. [27/02/2025]

Women in Entrepreneurship program 

Büşra Elkatmış has been selected as one of 100 early-career women researchers for the 2025 DWIH San Franscisco Women in Entrepreneurship program [25/02/2025]

Learning nature’s coding language 

In a new issue of the Planter's Punch, CEPLAS doctoral researcher Amelie Kok (MPIPZ) provides insights into the book of life, the DNA. [25/02/2025]

Marc Somssich received SciComm Award 

The CEPLAS member (MPIPZ) received the prize at the Conference Molecular Biology of Plants 2025 for his outstanding social media contributions. [24/02/2025]