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Düsseldorf receives 56 million for innovative plant research!
The University of Düsseldorf leads the CEPLAS Cluster of Excellence to promote sustainable plant research against climate change and a lack of resources.
Düsseldorf receives 56 million for innovative plant research!
The German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Science Council (WR) have selected the CEPLAS (“SMART Plants in Dynamic Environments”) Cluster of Excellence for a third funding phase. This was announced by the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), which leads the cluster. The University of Cologne works alongside them as a co-speaking university. Other partners in this pioneering project include renowned institutions such as the Research Center Jülich, the Leibniz Institute for Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) Gatersleben and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne (MPIPZ).
At the beginning of 2026, CEPLAS, the only cluster of excellence for plant sciences in Germany, will receive generous funding of around 56 million euros over seven years. The aim of this cluster is to conduct innovative basic research in order to meet the challenges of climate change and limited resources in agriculture. The research focus is on the adaptation of plants and their microorganisms to environmental changes, particularly with regard to water and nutrient deficiencies.
Research and innovation
In the first two funding phases, which ran from 2012 to 2018 and from 2019 to 2025, research focused on the molecular mechanisms of plant growth and on the interactions between plants and microorganisms. In the upcoming third phase, scientists will investigate how environmental factors control certain plant characteristics in order to advance the development of “SMART plants”. These plants should be able to respond more efficiently to the challenges of a growing global population and anthropogenic climate change.
IPK Gatersleben will contribute its extensive gene bank and modern phenotyping platforms to the research work. CEPLAS also plans to create four new professorships at HHU, focusing on the areas of synthetic biology, data science and plant-environment interaction. A new research building, the Plant Environmental Adaptation Center (PEAC), is being built in Düsseldorf to simulate future environmental conditions.
Promoting young talent and social participation
CEPLAS is also committed to promoting young scientists. This is done by establishing programs for bachelor's and doctoral students, postdocs and junior group leaders. In addition, a citizen science project is being planned in collaboration with the Institute of Social Sciences at HHU to strengthen social participation in research.
As part of the Excellence Strategy, which will provide 539 million euros annually from 2026, a total of 98 full applications for clusters of excellence were submitted, of which 70 were approved. The NRW Ministry of Science also makes an important contribution by providing 900,000 euros annually for each cluster of excellence. Clusters like CEPLAS receive 450,000 euros per participating NRW university.
With the selection for a third funding phase, CEPLAS will further consolidate its position as an internationally leading center for plant research botanik.uni-koeln.de emphasized. Spokesperson Dr. Maria von Korff Schmising from the HHU and co-speaker Dr. Bart Thomma from the University of Cologne are confident that the new research approaches will provide crucial insights to overcome the challenges of the future.