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Department of Plant Sciences

 
Read more at: Thesis by famous Bloomsbury artist uncovered in Plant Sciences archives
Illustrations of bladderworts from Roger Fry’s thesis on 'The hair structures of the bladders of Utricularia vulgaris'. Photo credit: University of Cambridge. 

Thesis by famous Bloomsbury artist uncovered in Plant Sciences archives

10 June 2025

University of Cambridge Library and Archives staff have brought to light a handwritten and illustrated thesis by the famous Bloomsbury artist Roger Fry in the Department of Plant Sciences archives. Roger Fry graduated from King’s College Cambridge with a degree in Natural Sciences in 1888 before travelling to Italy and...


Read more at: Alumni stories: Greg Reeves
Greg Reeves in the kiwifruit orchard at the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre, Te Puke, New Zealand

Alumni stories: Greg Reeves

10 June 2025

Studying Plant Sciences at Cambridge can open up a wealth of career opportunities. In this series, we hear from Plant Sciences alumni about their experiences of studying here, how it shaped their careers and what they are doing now. If you would like your alumni story featured, please email us at alumni@plantsci.cam.ac.uk...


Read more at: Cambridge researchers awarded £7.5 million to build programmable plants
Jake Harris, Alison Smith and Paweł Mordaka from Cambridge University's Department of Plant Sciences

Cambridge researchers awarded £7.5 million to build programmable plants

2 June 2025

Imagine a plant with entirely new abilities – more nutritious food, crops that survive heatwaves, or leaves that grow useful materials. Two groups involving researchers from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences are among nine teams to have been awarded funding today from the UK’s Advanced Research +...


Read more at: Professor Julian Hibberd elected as Fellow of the Royal Society
Professor Julian Hibberd

Professor Julian Hibberd elected as Fellow of the Royal Society

20 May 2025

Congratulations to Julian Hibberd , Professor of Photosynthesis and Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, who has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society , the UK’s national academy of sciences. Professor Hibberd’s election is in recognition of his work on C4 photosynthesis. His...


Read more at: Alumni stories: Jenny Mortimer
Jenny Mortimer with the MAPHEUS 15 research rocket at Esrange Space Centre, Sweden

Alumni stories: Jenny Mortimer

13 May 2025

Studying Plant Sciences at Cambridge can open up a wealth of career opportunities. In this series, we hear from Plant Sciences alumni about their experiences of studying here, how it shaped their careers and what they are doing now. If you would like your alumni story featured, please email us at alumni@plantsci.cam.ac.uk...


Read more at: Postdoc Innovation Awards 2024: Unnati Sonawala talks about her pilot project
Tomato root protoplasts close up

Postdoc Innovation Awards 2024: Unnati Sonawala talks about her pilot project

7 May 2025

The Postdoc Innovation Awards were launched in 2024 to fund innovations by Postdoctoral researchers in the Department of Plant Sciences. Two projects were funded as part of the pilot, and here Unnati Sonawala talks about her project 'Optimizing a high-throughput screen for nematode effector genes in tomato root protoplasts...


Read more at: Uta Paszkowski elected to the National Academy of Sciences
Uta Paszkowski elected to National Academy of Sciences

Uta Paszkowski elected to the National Academy of Sciences

6 May 2025

Congratulations to Professor Uta Paszkowski, Acting Director of The Crop Science Centre and head of the Cereal Symbiosis group , who has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), USA. Professor Paszkowski said “I still cannot believe that this is true. I thank the NAS for the recognition of our work, but even...


Read more at: Study uncovers new genetic factors behind photosynthesis in maize
Maize field trials at Niab as part of the CAPITALISE research. Photo credit: John Ferguson.

Study uncovers new genetic factors behind photosynthesis in maize

29 April 2025

Researchers from the University of Cambridge in collaboration with colleagues from the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa and the University of Essex, have identified new genetic factors that can influence the efficiency of photosynthesis in maize. The research offers a valuable new approach to improving productivity in...


Read more at: Disrupting ‘communication’ with plants could limit cyst nematode infections 
Photo of a cyst nematode's head viewed through a high-power microscope

Disrupting ‘communication’ with plants could limit cyst nematode infections 

28 April 2025

Targeting a newly discovered vulnerability in the signals that cyst nematodes use to infect plant roots could be a powerful method for reducing the damage the parasitic worms cause in crops such as soya beans. A new study from the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the John Innes Centre, Iowa State University...


Read more at: Safeguarding Europe’s citrus production: a blueprint in planning for future plant disease outbreaks 
Orange orchard in Alzira, Valencia Provence, Eastern Spain. Getty images. Credit © Allard Schager.

Safeguarding Europe’s citrus production: a blueprint in planning for future plant disease outbreaks 

24 February 2025

A tool predicting how to protect European citrus farms from a deadly epidemic shows how mathematical modelling can help prepare for future plant disease invasions. Citrus greening or huánglóngbìng (HLB) is the most damaging disease of citrus worldwide. Citrus production in Florida has decreased by 80% since 2005, and...