Department of Plant Sciences

Image of Plant Science's Teaching Lab by Barbara Landamore

The Department of Plant Sciences coordinates plant science research and teaching at the University of Cambridge.

The Department is situated in the Botany Building on the Downing Site in central Cambridge. It has a vibrant research community that carries out internationally important research across a range of Plant Science fields. This research contributes to tackling the major global challenges of protecting the environment, global food security and growing a sustainable bioeconomy. The Department maintains research collaborations with institutions within the University of Cambridge and beyond and jointly runs the Crop Science Centre with the National Institute of Agricultural Botany.

The Department supports undergraduate teaching across all years of the Natural Sciences Tripos, contributing to broad modules including Biology of Cells and Ecology, and running a dedicated second-year course in Plant and Microbial Science. Final year students can specialise in Plant Science, with around 25 choosing to do so every year. The department also supports post-graduate research, hosting MPhil and PhD students in its many research groups.

The Cambridge University Herbarium and the Cambridge University Botanic Garden are both managed by the department (the latter in partnership with the Museums and Botanic Garden service), as are two libraries - the Plant Sciences Library and the Cory & Herbarium Libraries.