Gregor Mendel Institute

The Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology stands on the edge of Vienna’s third district, part of the Vienna Biocenter campus. Founded in 2000 by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, it focuses on molecular plant biology. About 130 researchers work there, led by Liam Dolan as scientific director. The institute takes its name from Gregor Mendel, the 19th-century scientist who studied at the University of Vienna and is known as the father of genetics. Eight independent research groups investigate epigenetics, cell biology, plant pathogens, developmental biology and population genetics. Frédéric Berger studies chromatin architecture while Yan Ma examines insect-induced plant galls. Magnus Nordborg leads work on population genetics, and Silvia Ramundo researches chloroplast biogenesis. An international Scientific Advisory Board meets each year to review the institute’s research quality. Visitors find a modern research campus shared with other institutes such as IMBA and IMP. The Vienna BioCenter Core Facilities provide advanced tools like high-throughput plant phenotyping and next generation sequencing. The institute also offers science communication activities including mobile games and a children’s information platform called gmi4kids.