Our Mission

The GMI is a research institute devoted to plant biology. Plants created our atmosphere and sustain life on earth. Our goal is to make fundamental discoveries that help us understand how plants function — discoveries that may be essential to address global challenges like climate change. Our research ranges from molecules to ecosystems, involving a wide variety of plants — all depending on the question. We believe in enabling researchers at all levels to pursue big questions in an intellectually stimulating, diverse, and collaborative environment. Key to our success are minimal hierarchy and bureaucracy, outstanding facilities, and core funding.

 

About us

The GMI is part of the Vienna BioCenter, a leading life science cluster comprising several research institutes, universities, and start-up companies and located close to the center of Vienna. The institute is owned and funded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). Research topics include basic mechanisms of epigenetics, cell biology, plant-pathogen interactions, developmental biology, and population genetics. The GMI provides a lively, international working environment with around 130 people, embedded in a campus with over 1700 people from more than 70 countries. The working language is English. We strive for a friendly, inclusive environment, and provide an on-campus child care center.

Duckweed differentially marks old and new transposons
Discovering the genetics of climate adaptation 
Balancing the pressure: how plant cells protect their vacuoles
Unprecedented protein quantification in single cells using advanced proteomics
Juan Carlos De la Concepción receives Biochemical Society’s Early Career Research Award
Angelina Gross joins BOKU as a principal investigator
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship for Florian Mattenberger
EMBO workshop: "Plant evolution: from origins to diversification on land"

de Luxán Hernández C, Ammitsøe TJ, Kanne JV, et al. (2025) A moss N-Acetyltransferase-MAPK protein controls 2D to 3D developmental transition via acetylation and phosphorylation changes. bioRxiv:2025.05.02.650421.

Spencer V, Casey C, Mosiolek M, et al. (2025) The cytochrome P450 enzyme MpCYP78E1 inhibits meristem initiation and activity in Marchantia polymorpha. bioRxiv:2025.04.28.651025.

Cheng C, McCauley BS, Matulionis N, et al. (2025) Histone H3 cysteine 110 enhances iron metabolism and modulates replicative life span in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sci Adv 11(15):eadv4082.

Gandhivel VH, Sotelo-Parrilla P, Raju S, et al. (2025) An Oryza-specific histone H4 variant predisposes H4 lysine 5 acetylation to modulate salt stress responses. Nat Plants 11(4):790-807.

Son N, Kim H, Kim J, et al. (2025) The histone variant H2A.W restricts heterochromatic crossovers in Arabidopsis. PNAS 122(14):e2413698122.

Capparotto A, Salvucci P, Ciampanelli A, et al. (2025) Plant genetic and root-associated microbial diversity modulate Lactuca sativa responsiveness to a soil inoculum under phosphate deficiency. bioRxiv:2025.04.02.646582.

Walker J, Zhang J, Liu Y, et al. (2025) Extensive N4 cytosine methylation is essential for Marchantia sperm function. Cell [epub] preprint bioRxiv:2021.02.12.428880.

Husremović T, Meier V, Piëch L, et al. (2025) PHLPP2 is a pseudophosphatase that lost activity in the metazoan ancestor. PNAS 122(14):e2417218122.

The GMI is part of the Vienna BioCenter, one of the leading international life science research centers worldwide that has established itself as the premier location for life sciences in Central Europe.

viennabiocenter.org