Ten CEPLAS graduate students are spending their introductory week at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben. During their stay, they will explore the institute’s research infrastructure and meet with more than 20 scientists.

How did wild barley become one of humanity’s oldest cultivated plants? Dr Yu Guo has used genetic evidence to trace this history. On 6 October 2026, he was awarded the Gatersleben Research Prize for his outstanding doctoral thesis as part of the IPK’s Institute Days. The Gatersleben Association for the Promotion of Crop Research (Gemeinschaft zur Förderung der Kulturpflanzenforschung Gatersleben e. V.) awards the €...

Anne Krapp was a keynote speaker at “Nitrogen 2026”. In this interview, she talks about the conference, the importance of this field of research and her experiences at INRAE in France.

The IPK is set to take the next major step in the much-needed refurbishment of its research campus. Funding of 22.5 million euros has been secured for a new greenhouse complex in the Genetics Department. Saxony-Anhalt’s Minister for Science, Armin Willingmann, presented the grant notification today.

Students from Leibniz University Hannover recently completed a student internship at the IPK. Hardy Rolletschek, head of the ‘Assimilate Allocation and NMR’ research group, explains what they did, how the collaboration came about, and what he hopes to gain from it.

Verbessertes Referenzgenom unterstützt die Züchtung von Roggen und Weizen 

Improved reference genome supports the breeding of rye and wheat

Just in time for the start of the summer holidays, the latest issue is now available. Once again, it is full of stories from the research campus in Gatersleben, offering insights into our research and the people behind it. In this issue, we spoke to wheat researcher Friedrich Longin from the University of Hohenheim. We also caught up with our former colleague, Murukarthick Jayakodi, for our regular feature, 'Whatever...