We are delighted to announce that Professor Uta Paszkowski has been appointed to the Russell R. Geiger Chair in Crop Science, a prestigious academic chair within the Department of Plant Sciences that serves as a cornerstone for cutting-edge agricultural research, sustainability and global food security.
As part of this role, Professor Paszkowski formally becomes Director of the Crop Science Centre (CSC) where she has been acting Director since September 2024.
The appointment comes at a pivotal time for the Department following the successful growth of CSC, which was established in 2020 as an alliance with Niab to translate discovery science into real world agriculture. It offers an important opportunity to build on this momentum at a time when research in this area is critical for the future of our planet.
Professor Julian Hibberd, Head of the Department of Plant Sciences, said: “This is wonderful news for the Department of Plant Sciences and the Crop Science Centre. I would like to congratulate Uta on her appointment and sincerely thank her for stepping up to be Director of the Crop Science Centre since Giles Oldroyd’s departure.”
Pioneering research in cereal symbiosis
Uta Paszkowski is Professor of Plant Molecular Genetics at the Department of Plant Sciences and Head of the Cereal Symbiosis group at CSC. She is also team leader at the Centre for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) at RIKEN Yokohama, where she directs the RIKEN-Cambridge Joint Crop Symbiosis research team.
Her research investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses in rice and maize, focusing on how these cereal crops form beneficial relationships with soil fungi. This natural partnership allows fungi to live inside plant cells. The plant provides carbon to the fungus in exchange for essential soil minerals, which can significantly improve crop nutrition.
By uncovering the genetic signals and communication rules that control this exchange, her group aims to help farmers harness this natural partnership to build sustainable agriculture systems worldwide.
A distinguished academic career
Professor Paszkowski completed her undergraduate studies at the University Cologne and went on to do a Master’s in phytopathology at the Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding, followed by a PhD in Plant Biotechnology from ETH-Zurich.
She began working on AM symbiosis as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Basel and then as a staff scientist at the Syngenta Torrey Mesa Research Institute in San Diego.
Before joining the University of Cambridge in 2012, she led research groups at the Universities of Geneva and Lausanne.
Professor Paszkowski’s contributions to the field have earned her international recognition, including memberships in the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina). Most recently, she was elected as an International Member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA in 2025 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2026.
About the Russell R. Geiger Chair
Established in October 2020, the professorship aims to develop translational crop science programmes focused on finding alternatives to chemical fertilisers, minimising crop losses sustainably, and improving photosynthesis to maximise grain quality and yield.
Image: Professor Uta Paszkowski, Crop Science Centre Director and Russell R. Geiger Professor of Crop Science. Credit: Nathan Pitt. © University of Cambridge.