Jiří Friml's lecture started a new phase of plant research at the Biology Centre
Renowned plant biologist Jiří Friml presented his latest findings on the role of the plant hormone auxin in plant life in his welcome lecture at the Biology Centre CAS (BC). Jiří Friml is a leading figure of the project MOLIPEC: Molecular Life of Plants ERA Chair that started at BC at the beginning of January 2023. Thanks to the MOLIPEC project, the ERA Chair in plant molecular biology funded by the European program Horizon Europe was established at BC for the next five years. In January 2023, BC Director Libor Grubhoffer appointed Jiří Friml the chair of the International Advisory Board in plant molecular biology. Under his leadership, plant research at BC will be strengthened to promote scientific excellence.
Plant biology is one of the cornerstones of the natural sciences and provides, among others, essential knowledge about mechanisms underlying plant development and adaptation, which is critical for efficient and sustainable agriculture. At present, when society is facing unprecedented challenges such as climate change and environmental pollution, as well as the rapid growth of the human population, the importance of plant research is growing significantly.
The European grant in amount of 2.5 million Euro will allow Biology Centre CAS to (i) establish International Advisory Board in plant molecular biology; (ii) to recruit two new group leaders and thus establish two new research groups focusing on modern approaches for answering current questions in the plant molecular biology; (iii) to strenghten services and core facilities for plant research; (iv) to support mentorship and professional growth at all stages of research career; and (v) to communicate and disemminate new discoveries to research community, students, and public.
Jiří Friml's welcome lecture was the first talk in a newly launched series of Plant Sciences Seminars. Joint seminars of the Biology Centre CAS and the Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice are held on Thursdays at 13:30 in lecture hall B1, building B. Other eight foreign plant scientists (Angélique Deleris, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Paris-Saclay, France; Lennart Wirthmüller, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Halle, Germany; Ivan Kulich, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg; Laura Crassini, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany; Elwira Smakowska-Luzan, Wageningen University, Netherlands; Sandra Cortijo, Institute for Plant Sciences of Montpellier, CNRS, France; Sébastien Thomine, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Paris-Saclay, France; Kenichi Tsuda, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China) are going to visit BC in spring 2023. Updated schedule of the seminars is available here: https://www.umbr.cas.cz/en/seminars/
Photo: Jakub Hardt, BC CAS
