International Max Planck Research School for Molecular Plant Science (IMPRS MolPlant)

The International Max Planck Research School for Molecular Plant Science (IMPRS MolPlant) is a joint doctoral programme between the University of Potsdam (UP) and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP). We provide a unique opportunity for PhD research and training in modern plant science. Understanding the fundamental processes of how plants grow, reproduce and interact with the abiotic and biotic environment is at the focus of the IMPRS. We conduct curiosity-driven, basic research centring around the following questions: How do primary physiological processes such as photosynthesis, central metabolism and respiration function, and how are their activities regulated? How do plants form their organs, tissues, cells and sub-cellular structures, and how is the formation of different organs and structures coordinated? How is epigenetic information established and transmitted and how do epigenetic processes impact on plant development? How do plants and soil fungi interact to establish arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) symbiosis, and how are the accommodation of AM fungi inside root cells and the  physiological and developmental state of the plant interconnected? How do environmental abiotic factors such as light, temperature, availability of water and nutrients influence plant physiology, development, and the interaction with microorganisms? What happens during viral infection of plant cells? How does the virus hijack molecular machinery to replicate? How do plants sense viral infection, protect themselves from excessive harm, and block transmission of the virus to the next generation? How are exogenous and endogenous signals perceived, and how is information transmitted and integrated to ensure plant health, survival, biomass acquisition and seed formation? How can we manage, analyse and integrate complex, large-scale genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, translatomic, proteomic and metabolomic datasets to answer biological questions and generate new hypotheses? To answer these questions, we use an interdisciplinary approach combining molecular biology, genetics, genomics, epigenomics, metabolomics, biochemistry, biophysics and microscopy with bioinformatics and modelling. We work with Arabidopsis thaliana, tobacco, tomato, Lotus japonicus, rice and other model plants, and make use of genetic diversity by studying natural accessions, closely related species, and introgression populations. Research is at the core of the doctoral programme. We provide excellent research and training conditions, with English as a working language. Our faculty includes professors and group leaders from the MPI of Molecular Plant Physiology, the Institute of Biochemistry and Biology at UP, and the MPI of Colloids and Interfaces. The doctoral researchers in our IMPRS come from a variety of backgrounds in the life and natural sciences – biology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, chemistry, and related fields – and share a strong passion for plant science.