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EXC 2048:  CEPLAS - Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences

Subject Area Plant Sciences
Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
Microbiology, Virology and Immunology
Term since 2019
Website Homepage
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 390686111
 
Plants enable life on Earth through the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy. Beginning with the Neolithic Revolution, the domestication of plants provided the basis for human population growth and, subsequently, the evolution of highly developed civilizations. However, the growing food demands imposed by an increasing population and the effects of anthropogenic climate change pose huge challenges for sustainable food production and ecosystem maintenance. The Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences CEPLAS addresses these grand challenges through world-class fundamental research on complex plant traits of agronomic relevance that impact on yield and adaptation to limited resources. Hence this knowledge is essential for designing and breeding plants that react in a predictable way to future challenges (SMART plants). CEPLAS is organized into 4 complementary research areas. RA1 aims to understand how metabolism, life history, and development are integrated to optimize plant performance in order to establish predictive links between developmental processes and their physiological relevance at each stage of the plant’s life cycle. RA2 addresses the contribution of microbiota to plant performance and adaptation to different soils. RA3 employs synthetic biology to reconstruct plant pathways in orthogonal systems to obtain a quantitative understanding of pathway architectures and to explain quantitative effects of naturally occurring variation in the underlying genetic networks. It will thereby accelerate scientific progress by overcoming the complexity of highly interconnected signaling and metabolic networks through reconstruction in heterologous systems. Finally, RA 4 takes a theoretical approach aiming at the development of computational and mathematical frameworks that will allow interpretation and integration of the wealth of experimental data generated by the other research areas. As a hub for collecting, curating, and integrating heterogeneous data, RA4 will drive the rational design of novel experiments.CEPLAS integrates the resources of the Universities of Cologne and Düsseldorf, the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, and the Forschungszentrum Jülich into an internationally leading plant science center that attracts world-class faculty and junior researchers.Beyond its research mission, we aim for the Cologne/Düsseldorf area to become the location of choice for talented young researchers wishing to develop their careers. To support this aim, CEPLAS provides novel forms of training for undergraduate and graduate researchers and postdoctoral scientists at the interface of plant and microbial biology, systems and synthetic biology, and theoretical biology. CEPLAS reaches out to the public as well as philanthropists and organizations focusing on sustainable food security, and intends to be perceived as the best partner to contact for consultation and evidence-based recommendations to decision makers.
DFG Programme Clusters of Excellence (ExStra)
Co-Applicant Institution Universität zu Köln
 
 

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