International Max Planck Research School
for Molecular Plant Science
The IMPRS for Molecular Plant Science (IMPRS MolPlant) is a joint initiative of the University of Potsdam (UP) and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP). All PhD student researchers at the MPI-MP pursue their doctoral research in the frame of the IMPRS MolPlant. The group of IMPRS MolPlant PhD student researchers includes members at UP and further participating institutions. You can join us via our annual IMPRS application call or via application calls for individual PhD projects. For more information, read on and explore the links on the left hand side.
Research Focus
Plants and their seeds, for example rice, wheat, maize and pulses, are vital for human nutrition. Understanding the fundamental processes of how plants grow, reproduce and interact with the abiotic and biotic environment is of great scientific interest and, ultimately, has societal and economic implications.
We conduct curiosity-driven, basic research centering around the following questions:
- How do primary physiological processes such as photosynthesis, central metabolism and respiration function, and how are their activities regulated?
- How do plants form their organs, tissues, cells and sub-cellular structures, and how is the formation of different organs and structures coordinated?
- How is epigenetic information established and transmitted and how do epigenetic processes impact on plant development?
- How do plants and soil fungi interact to establish arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) symbiosis, and how are the accommodation of AM fungi inside root cells and the plant’s physiological and developmental state interconnected?
- How do environmental abiotic factors such as light, temperature, and availability of water and nutrients influence plant physiology, development, and the interaction with microorganisms?
- What happens during viral infection of plant cells? How does the virus hijack molecular machinery to replicate? How do plants sense viral infection, protect themselves from excessive harm, and block transmission of the virus to the next generation?
- How are exogenous and endogenous signals perceived, and how is information transmitted and integrated to ensure plant health, survival, biomass acquisition and seed formation?
- How can we manage, analyse and integrate complex, large-scale genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, translatomic, proteomic and metabolomic datasets to answer biological questions and generate new hypotheses?
To answer these questions, we use an interdisciplinary approach combining molecular biology, genetics and genomics, epigenetics and epigenomics, metabolomics, biochemistry, structural biology, biophysics and microscopy with bioinformatics and modelling. We work with Arabidopsis thaliana, tobacco, tomato, Lotus japonicus, rice and other model plants, and make use of genetic diversity by studying natural accessions, introgression populations and closely related species.
Research is at the core of the doctoral programme. IMPRS graduate researchers conduct their projects under the supervision of our faculty members, within their groups and departments. All PhD student researchers at the MPI-MP are members of the IMPRS MolPlant. In addition, some junior researchers in the IMPRS MolPlant are pursuing their doctorate in groups at the University of Potsdam (UP), the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPI-KG), or the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ).
The illustration above gives a rough overview of the IMPRS MolPlant faculty and their research approaches. You can find detailed information about our faculty and PhD supervisors, their research interests and links to their websites on the IMPRS Faculty page.
How to Join the IMPRS
The next application round for the IMPRS MolPlant will open by 24 January 2025, for PhD positions to start in the second half of 2025. The call will be open until the end of February.
Talented graduate students join the IMPRS MolPlant throughout the year, either via the yearly IMPRS application call or via application calls for individual positions.
An overview of how to join the MPI-MP and the IMPRS is given at How to join us for a PhD.
The procedure for our yearly IMPRS application call is explained on the IMPRS Application page. It is worthwhile informing yourself about the application procedure well before an application call opens. The IMPRS application call is usually open between late December and January, for doctoral fellowships to start between early summer (May, June) and autumn (October to December). The IMPRS does not have a fixed start date, but successful candidates should start their position in the year they were interviewed in, if possible. You need to apply via an online application portal. We announce here when the application portal is open - have a look at the column on the left!
You have started a PhD position in the research group of an IMPRS faculty member at collaborating institutes - the MPI of Colloids and Interfaces, the Institute of Biochemistry at UP and the Leibniz Institute for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops - outside the IMPRS application call? In this case, you can join the IMPRS MolPlant through an interview procedure for association with the IMPRS. More information about "IMPRS association" can be obtained from the Doctoral Programme Coordinator.
The IMPRS MolPlant is a joint initiative of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP) and the University of Potsdam (UP). Candidates who are accepted into the IMPRS register as doctoral candidates with and receive a doctoral degree from the UP Faculty of Science.
Funding
Funding for IMPRS MolPlant doctoral researchers comes from the MPI-MP, the University of Potsdam and other institutions that our Faculty members are affiliated with. PhD positions are fully funded and are awarded for 3 years, with a possibility for extension. The PhD contracts include German public health insurance and social insurance, and are subject to German income tax. The monthly net income after the deduction of taxes and payments into health and social security insurance is roughly 1,900-2,000 EUR . The details of the PhD contract may vary, depending on the institution that is primarily responsible for the contract (MPI-MP, MPI-KG, University of Potsdam, or IGZ). Funding for scientific consumables, the attendance of conferences, seminars, or lab visits is provided by the research groups that the doctoral project is based in.
Registration as doctoral candidate with the Faculty of Science at University of Potsdam is free of charge. Enrolment of doctoral candidates as student with the University of Potsdam (UP) is optional. UP charges a Semester Fee for enrolment as doctoral student (currently around 325 EUR per semester). The Semester Fee includes the "Deutschland-Semesterticket", a 6-month public transport ticket that is valid all over Germany (corresponding to the “Germany Ticket” /Deutschlandticket). There are no further tuition fees.
About the IMPRS Initiative
The International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS) aim to support and promote junior scientists in the doctoral phase. The IMPRS initiative was launched by the Max Planck Society together with the German Rectors' Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz) in 1999. The IMPRS offer structured PhD programmes in English that provide the doctoral candidates with excellent research and educational possibilities. All IMPRS are a cooperation between Max Planck Institutes and Universities. To learn more about the IMPRS initiative and all IMPRS programmes, explore the link 'Information about all IMPRS' on the left.
The IMPRS at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology and the University of Potsdam was founded in 2007, as IMPRS ‘Primary Metabolism and Plant Growth’ (IMPRS-PMPG). We took on our new name, IMPRS for Molecular Plant Science (IMPRS MolPlant), in 2022. In 2025, the IMPRS MolPlant became a permanent graduate programme, supported by the Max Planck Society.