In a career which began before anyone had a computer and no plant gene had been isolated, I have graduated from, or been employed by, six universities and four research institutes on four continents, and have witnessed some truly staggering advances in plant science during that time. But I have never before encountered anything like the ARC Centre of Excellence for

Captivated by carnivorous plants from a young age, Francois Barbier never doubted that he would one day become a plant scientist.  Years later, with a PhD on the role of sugars in triggering shoot branching in the rose, he had a chance encounter with Prof. Christine Beveridge in Paris, which led to him taking up a post-doctoral position in 2015

Reproductive failure in maize has long been studied in plant science. Now, for the first time, it has been quantitatively synthesized. Maize is the most important food crop in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, and is a key Asian crop. By 2050 the demand for maize in the developing world is expected to double, while yields are expected to decline due

Parsimony and biological reality are often seen as antagonistic goals in plant modelling. Hammer and colleagues argue that isn’t always the case, and combining the two approaches could bring benefits to scientists as well as plants. Plant modelling is speeding up crop improvement by testing outcomes in silico, but how can these models be made more effective? Some argue for more