RESYDE: Building a virtual flower
One of the community’s research groups, the Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, was awarded a prestigious ERC Synergy grant, as part of a research consortia, to investigate fundamental aspects of plant development from diverse angles, paving the way for advancements in biotechnology and plant engineering.
The highly competitive ERC Synergy grants are designed to support collaborative research efforts that address complex, ambitious scientific challenges beyond the scope of individual researchers. Professor Henrik Jönsson is part of the RESYDE project which has received €10 million in funding over six years.
The project will tackle the question how multicellular organisms generate their intricate forms. The focus of the RESYDE project is on symmetry breaking during flower development – a process by which two initially identical cells adopt different cell fates – leading to diverse forms and functions. This fundamental phenomenon is crucial in all multicellular organisms and starts with an asymmetric cell division.
This research collaboration is a six year partnership between Professor Kerstin Kaufmann, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Germany), Professor Stephan Wenkel, Umeå University (Sweden), Professor Henrik Jönsson, Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge (UK) and Professor Marcus Heisler, University of Sydney (Australia).