News

In our ‘Science to solutions’ series we talk to Cambridge scientists working with industry, business, NGO and other partners to help solve real-world problems using cutting-edge research.Lauren Eddie is a final-year PhD student at the Cereal Symbiosis group at the Crop Science Centre, part of the Department of Plant Sciences. She is collaborating w…

Researchers, plant breeders, funders and farmers from across Africa, Cambridge, and the wider world will gather in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 12-14 October 2026 for the Africa Crop Forum 2026. The Forum will focus on accelerating collaborative solutions to some of the continent’s most pressing agricultural challenges, including crop disease, clim…

Cambridge researchers used Tessera, a geospatial foundation model, to map tree species across the mountainous Trentino region in Italy, outperforming traditional satellite methods and opening the door to low-cost, continent-scale forest mapping.Forests are increasingly under threat from drought, storms, disease and logging. Mapping tree species hel…

A new study involving Professor David Coomes from the Department of Plant Sciences has found that cutting lianas increases canopy height in regenerating logged forests three times faster than tree planting alone, as reported on 13 July by Mongabay: As the world faces the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, researchers are trying to…

The University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford will lead a major new partnership to digitise over 1.1 million natural history specimens, creating a step-change in how researchers and conservationists access vital biodiversity data.The project is part of DiSSCo UK (Distributed System of Scientific Collections UK) – a £155 million national …

Botanicon is an early career researcher community event supported by Plants @ Cambridge – a body that co-ordinates plant science activities across the University of Cambridge.This one-day event brings together members of the Cambridge plant biology community to explore the future of research in the field. The goal is to encourage meaningful dialogu…

The world’s tallest tropical trees have no trouble pumping water to their topmost branches, new research reveals.  Conventional scientific theory suggests that as trees grow, it becomes harder to transport water from roots to leaves – limiting growth and making trees more vulnerable to drought.  But the new study – involving Professor David Coomes,…

Dr Jennifer McGaley explains how her 56-hour marathon at the microscope has opened up the mysterious life of fungi with the first-ever time-lapse of the symbiosis between plants and beneficial soil fungi.What if one organism could copy itself, merge with others, and weave vast living networks through its environment? These abilities may seem alien,…

Plants must carefully strike a balance between harvesting sunlight to fuel photosynthesis and protecting themselves from light damage. Part of this balancing act is performed by antenna proteins that are bound to light-harvesting molecules inside plant chloroplasts. Mostly known for harvesting energy from sunlight, some antenna proteins can dissipa…

Candidates who are considering applying for the 2027 Royal Society Fellowship schemes and would like to host their Fellowships in the Department of Plant Sciences are asked to submit their CV, draft research outline and covering letter to researchfellows@plantsci.cam.ac.uk by 10 July 2026. We aim to support those candidates that have exceptional tr…

After a forty-year hiatus, the Department of Plant Sciences is delighted to announce the official relaunch of the Tea Phytologist, our historic student-led satirical spoof journal.Originally founded in 1908, the Tea Phytologist was a fun and subversive counterpoint to the more serious botanical publications of the time. The name is a parody of alum…

Breakthrough imaging and genomic mapping in rice roots show that the vital structures of nutrient exchange in plant-fungi interactions are far more dynamic and diverse than previously believed – challenging 50 years of agricultural assumptions.Researchers at the Crop Science Centre (CSC), part of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University o…

Professor Uta Paszkowski, Director of the Crop Science Centre and Head of the Cereal Symbiosis group at the Department of Plant Sciences, has been named as a 2026 Top Agri-food Pioneer by the World Food Prize Foundation.The Top Agri-food Pioneers (TAP) initiative recognises global innovators who are advancing agriculture and food systems through sc…

A systematic global analysis has revealed that more than half of the world’s tree species – some 26,096 distinct types – have been introduced to regions outside their natural habitats. The research, published in the journal Current Biology today, provides the first comprehensive checklist and mapping of global tree flows, drawing on a massive datas…

We are delighted to share that His Majesty King Charles III has confirmed Professor Sir David Baulcombe as the next Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. Professor Baulcombe will succeed Professor Dame Sally Davies when she steps down later this year.Professor Baulcombe is the Regius Professor of Botany Emeritus at the Department of Plant Sciences,…