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Fachtagung Dialog Grün 2025

Join us on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at ETH Zurich (Audimax, HG, F30) for the Fachtagung Dialog Grün (in German), where experts from research, practice, and policy come together to bridge knowledge gaps and explore innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture.

Discover groundbreaking approaches to reduce environmental impacts of crop protection and connect with key stakeholders and foster collaboration.

📢 Present your research with a poster contribution – showcase new ideas, methods, or approaches, even if not yet field-tested! Submission deadline for poster abstracts: May 5, 2024

📌 Participation is free, but registration is required.

See the program and register now.

PSC Annual Report 2024

We are pleased to announce the publication of the Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center’s Annual Report 2024!

This past year has been a dynamic and productive one, marked by groundbreaking research, innovative education initiatives, and impactful outreach efforts. Discover how the PSC has advanced plant and environmental sciences and fostered dialogue between science, policy, and society.

📖 Read the full report here:PSC Annual Report 2024 (PDF, 9 MB)

PhD Student Experimenting Lab: Explore the Responsible Use of AI in Generating Scientific Texts, Images, Audio and Code

Curious about using Generative AI in your scientific work—ethically and effectively?
This 4-day hands-on course equips PhD students with practical skills to integrate AI tools into their research workflows. From writing and coding to creating visuals and understanding ethical implications, this course combines practice with critical reflection.

📅 May 5, 6, 13 & 14, 2025 | 1 ECTS | 🏛️ Open to all ETH PhD Students as well as for PSC PhDs from UZH and UNIBAS

Registration Link

PSC Newsletter

The PSC Newsletter offers information on latest research highlights, education, network events, new members, and outreach activities.

PSC Newsletter latest edition (PDF, 10 MB)

previous PSC Newsletter

subscribe to PSC Newsletter

Science Highlights

Global influence of soil texture on ecosystem water limitation

Wankmüller, F.J.P., Delval, L., Lehmann, P. et al., Nature 635, 631–638 (2024).

Soil texture is a key factor in shaping ecosystem responses to water stress. This study shows that sandy soils make ecosystems more sensitive to drying, while clayey soils increase sensitivity to atmospheric demand. These findings emphasize how soil properties shape plant resilience to climate change.

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Trade-off between investment in plant defense repertoires and growth

Giolai, M., Laine,A., Science386,677-680(2024).

This study highlights the trade-off between growth and immune defense in wild plants, revealing that species with larger molecular defense repertoires exhibit slower growth. However, this trade-off is not observed in agricultural plants, emphasizing the impact of domestication on plant defense strategies.

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A landscape-scale view of soil organic matter dynamics.

Doetterl, S., Berhe, A.A., Heckman, K. et al., Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 6, 67–81 (2025).

Understanding soil formation and biogeochemical complexity at the landscape scale is essential for improving predictions of soil organic matter dynamics and carbon sequestration. Addressing data gaps and incorporating diverse soil processes into models will enhance global projections of soil carbon stocks and their role in climate change mitigation.

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Plant pattern recognition receptors

Snoeck, S., Johanndrees, O., Nürnberger, T. et al., Nature Reviews Genetics (2024).

Advances in genomic and pangenomic analyses are deepening our understanding of plant immune receptors (PRRs) and their role in plant–pathogen co-evolution. Leveraging these insights, along with protein structure prediction and receptor engineering, offers new opportunities to enhance disease resistance and promote sustainable agriculture.

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Landscape diversity promotes landscape functioning in North America

Mayor, S., Altermatt, F., Crowther, T.W. et al., Commun Earth Environ 6, 28 (2025).

Landscape-level diversity, measured by the number of ecosystem types, enhances primary productivity, stability, and long-term greening trends across North America. These effects occur independently of local species diversity, highlighting the importance of ecosystem interactions at broader spatial scales.

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Weiterführende Informationen

Join us for the Fachtagung Dialog Grün that will be held on June 10, 2025 at ETH Zurich, Audimax (in German).

The Fachtagung aims to bridge knowledge gaps between research, practice, and policy while promoting innovative approaches, collaboration, and sustainable agricultural systems. It will showcase solutions to reduce environmental impacts from plant protection products and farming practices.

📌 Present your research on sustainable plant protection with a poster at the Fachtagung.
Ideas, methods, or approaches that have not yet been field-tested are also welcome.
Submit your poster abstract (max. 300 words) via email to Romy Kohlmann and take the opportunity to showcase your work to a broad audience.