Translational Plant Sciences Center
Training the next generation of scientists devoted to the discovery and application of the sustainable production of food, feed, and biomaterials
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Welcome to the Translational Plant Sciences Center at Virginia Tech! The Translational Plant Sciences Center (TPSC) is a community of researchers committed to advancing basic knowledge in the plant sciences and translating this knowledge into improved crop production. Supported by the Fralin Life Sciences Institute, the center provides unique career growth opportunities for affiliate faculty, graduate students, postdocs, undergraduate students, and alumni.
Our research is diverse, with locations that range from the atmosphere to the rhizosphere, at scales that range from cellular networks to ecosystems. What unites us is a sense of urgency that new tools are needed to ensure that global needs for food, feed and fiber will be met in an ecologically sustainable manner.
We believe that basic molecular research is an important component of this imperative, as are projects that translate new knowledge into practical solutions for sustainable agriculture. Such research requires interdisciplinary collaboration, and much of our research takes place in teams within and beyond Virginia Tech. We are also committed to training students for diverse career opportunities in academia, industry, agriculture, and government. These commonalities underpin a remarkably strong, cohesive community that spans six departments and three colleges.
Featured News
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Virginia Tech graduate students, postdoctoral fellows join Edward Bouchet National Honor Society , articleKaren DePauw, vice president emerita for graduate education and dean emerita of the Graduate School, also was honored at the induction ceremony with the Bouchet Society’s inaugural service award for her service to and impact on graduate education.
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New Destination Area 2.0 grants fund four interdisciplinary research projects , articleAs Destination Areas transform, the focus shifts to investing in societally significant projects, including work on pandemic prevention, invasive species, public interest technology, and human systems integration in health care.
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Virginia Tech researchers to investigate transcriptional regulation of cannabinoid synthesis in industrial hemp , articleIndustrial cultivation of hemp is seeing a massive expansion in the United States due to new federal laws and consumer demand. Researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have received a $600,000 grant to study the regulation of the genes that are responsible for cannabinoid biosynthesis.
Catalyzing leading-edge research in plant science