Research

Our work is challenge-focused and impact-driven.

Solutions Start Here

Just as plants are integral to a wide breadth of our daily lives, from agriculture and climate change to energy and human health, so too must the plant sciences be dynamic and interdisciplinary in order to solve the grand challenges of our time. The plant sciences require the collaborative effort of great minds across all disciplines, approaching applied research through bold curiosity, academic barrier-breaking, multi-sector partnerships and technological innovation.

Increasing yields
Creating new varieties
Extending growing seasons
Enhancing agricultural and environmental sustainability
Producing new and improved technology

Preparing farms to keep pace with a fast-moving future to help ensure a healthier, well-fed world.

3 Research Platforms:

Plant Improvement

Data-driven Plant Science

Resilient Agricultural Systems

Anna Stepanova and a researcher in a growth chamber

Research Programs

Interdisciplinary research teams address plant improvement, data-driven plant science and resilient agricultural systems.

A fully conditioned rooftop greenhouse provides individually controlled light, temperature and humidity growth environments to replicate many different climates for focused research.

Research Facilities

Top-notch research facilities provide a direct competitive advantage for our innovative research.

Enabling next-generation science

Jack Wang and Rodolphe Barrangou in Greenhouse

Research Expertise

Our faculty have diverse and complimentary research expertise to tackle agriculture’s grand challenges.

Explore

Student and professor in a cucumber field with a spider-like robot.

Commercialization

We help entrepreneurs get great ideas to market.

Where startups get their start

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Thriving Together

Connecting the brightest minds in academia, government and industry to drive vital research and innovation.

Explore a Partnership

Preparing for a Future that Matters

For North Carolina State University Ph.D. candidate Sina Jamalzadegan, 2024 has been a big year. Not only has the engineering student made headway in using artificial intelligence (AI) to create…

Counting Down N.C. PSI’s Top Five Hits of 2024

2024 marked Adrian Percy’s third full year as executive director of the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative, and with the new year approaching, he shared a list of what he sees…

Two people in a lab with electronic devices

Researchers Pit Lasers Against Sweetpotato Pest

With vinegar flies increasingly impacting sweetpotato storage, N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative researchers are exploring a novel management strategy with lasers to combat the pests.