The IMPRS for Molecular Plant Science is embedded in a vibrant research community. Around 80 doctoral candidates study under the guidance of our faculty, their groups, and departments.
The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology is an internationally leading centre for basic plant research, especially in the areas of plastid biology, plant development and cell biology, plant-microbe interactions, and metabolism. Around 20 PhD researchers and guest students join the MPI-MP every year for their doctoral research. Watch some of the short videos in the MPI-MP's media library to learn more about the institute and our research.
The University of Potsdam ranks within the top 250 universities worldwide for the subject area “Life Sciences” in the 2023 Times Higher Education World University Ranking. The University of Potsdam has about 21,000 students, more than 15% of them international. Several faculty members of the IMPRS are professors of the University of Potsdam's Faculty of Science, at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biology which is located at the Potsdam Science Park in Potsdam-Golm.
The Potsdam Science Park hosts the University of Potsdam, three Max Planck Institutes, two Fraunhofer Institutes, and a centre for start-up companies. This provides an excellent infrastructure for cross-disciplinary training, discussion and exchange of ideas. The Science Park management offers a welcome service and language school, and it organises networking and interdisciplinary training events. Several sports and other cultural activities take place on campus – for example, students can join the MPI's football team or enjoy a game of beach volleyball.
Within the University of Potsdam, the Potsdam Graduate School (PoGS) unites many individual doctoral candidates and more than twenty PhD programmes in different disciplines and faculties under one roof and offers support, for example, through seminars and transferable skills courses.
The Welcome Center at the University of Potsdam provides information, support, and service for international scientists at the University of Potsdam. Their activities include a monthly newsletter, a buddy programme, and excursions.