About UPSC

Green non-flowering Arabidopsis plantsPhoto: Mattias Pettersson sweden_greySammanfattning på Svenska

Welcome to Umeå Plant Science Centre!

UPSC is one of the strongest research environments for experimental plant biology in Europe and we conduct research of both basic and strategic importance. Research at UPSC covers a wide range of disciplines in plant biology including ecology, genetics, physiology, biochemistry, cell biology and molecular biology. The common goal shared by scientist within UPSC is to understand the mechanisms driving plant development and plant adaptation to environmental changes. Our work is carried out at all organization levels of the plant, and through integrating the different research fields and areas of expertise. We aim to describe the plant as a complex organism in dynamic interaction with its environment.

How we are organised

Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC) was formed in 1999 when the Department of Plant Physiology at Umeå University and the Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) joined to create a strong common research environment. UPSC is an umbrella organisation administered by a board that is appointed by the two universities. The board is responsible for the strategic development of UPSC, for common infrastructure and technical platforms, and for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral training. Although the two departments have their own administration and head of department (prefekt), the two departments share this common scientific environment and all research facilities.

More about the research we do

Our research is organized in individual research groups, each led by an independent principal investigator (PI), who is either a full professor, an associate professor (universitetslektor) or an assistant professor (biträdande universitetslektor). You can find the research profile of all research groups under Research Groups. In addition to the PIs employed at the two departments, who are the core of UPSC, several researchers are affiliated to UPSC as “associated PIs”. You will find their research group profile under Associated Research Groups. We have organized the infrastructure and equipment into common resources and technical platforms that are available to all UPSC researchers. Most of these are financed by external grants, and UPSC has successfully competed for several large “Centre of Excellence” grants. Information about collaborative research projects, facilities as well as our educational programs is available under the respective rubrics.

History of UPSC and Plant Science in Umeå

The Department of Plant Physiology started its work at Umeå University in 1967 – eleven years before its sister department at SLU, the Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, was established. Both departments joined their forces in 1999 and created the Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC), first “virtually”, and in 2001 also physically. The research at UPSC today is fundamentally different from the science of 1967. Today, over 200 persons from about 45 different nationalities work at the UPSC - in contrast to the handful of people that started in August 1967.

The history of Plant Science in Umeå is summarized in a booklet that was printed for the “50years of Plant Science in Umeå” symposium that took place in August 2017. This booklet is based on a more detailed book with the title “Från King Alfred till grangenomet: 50 år av växtforskning i Umeå” (in Swedish) that was published in 2018. In case you are interested in reading more about the history of Plant Science in Umeå, have a look into the English booklet below or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in case you would like to receive a copy of the book.
pdf50years_Plant_Science_in_Umea.pdf

Are you interested in coming in contact with us?

You are welcome to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you would like to visit us or if you would like to experience our international scientific environment during a shorter or a longer research stay or for an internship. To a limited extent, we also offer guided tours to our facilities. Just get in touch with!