Professor Yiliang Ding, Group Leader, is one of the first scientists announced as a recipient of a Faraday Discovery Fellowship, a prestigious long-term award worth £8m over 10 years to support exceptional mid-career research leaders in the UK.

Like DNA, RNA is a fundamental molecule in all living organisms, carrying genetic information through its sequence and intricate structures. Using RNA structure profiling methods and Artificial Intelligence-powered models, Professor Ding’s research seeks to decode this ‘RNA language’ to uncover how the sequence and structure of RNA determine its functions in plant cells.

Dr Phil Carella’s group received funding from the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) as part of its Programmable Plants opportunity space.

The Carella group investigates the core principles that underpin plant immunity across the Plant Kingdom, including non-seed-bearing plants reminiscent of the first plants to colonise the earth. Increasingly, the group is expanding its scope to investigate immune strategies across other domains of life (including bacteria, fungi, and animals) to see if they can be redesigned and incorporated into plant immune systems, including major crops.

Dr Miguel Montez, a postdoctoral scientist in Professor Caroline Dean FRS’ group, has received £1.4m over five years to fund a project titled: ‘Understanding how local 3D chromatin structure determines gene regulation and environmental responses.’

Chromatin is the macromolecule comprising DNA and proteins which make up chromosomes, the genetic information-carrying components of the cell. Better understanding of how chromatin changes in response to the environment may allow us to develop more climate resilient crops and to develop therapies for a range of human diseases.

Professor Mark Buttner, Emeritus Fellow at the John Innes Centre, has received the Microbiology Society’s Marjory Stephenson Prize for 2026. This career award, given for exceptional contributions to microbiology, was presented at the Microbiology Society Annual Conference.

For most of his influential career at the institute, Professor Buttner and his group studied the development of spores in Streptomyces, bacteria that are a source of antibiotics. As part of this work, he pioneered a new model system for these bacteria

Professor Myriam Charpentier, Group Leader, received this prestigious international award from the Academia Europaea for her groundbreaking research into plant-microbe interactions. The Adam Kondorosi young investigator award specifically recognised her research into plant calcium signalling pathways allowing root endosymbioses.

The European Academy of Sciences (EurASc) is a non-profit, non-governmental, independent organisation of the most distinguished scholars and engineers performing forefront research and developing advanced technologies. Professor Anne Osbourn OBE FRS NAS’s advances have redefined the interface between genomics and synthetic biology, opening new frontiers in the sustainable production of valuable molecules.

Professor Saskia Hogenhout, Group Leader, became President of the British Society for Plant Pathology (BSPP) in January 2026, following her tenure in the BSPP board and Fellowship Committee. The annual Plant Pathology and Early Careers Plant Pathology will be hosted in Norwich in September 2026.

Professor Hogenhout and her group dissect complex molecular interactions between plants, microbes and insects. Her work on phytoplasmas has revealed how microbes manipulate plant development and defence. Her group also uses functional genomics to understand how aphids, whiteflies and other sap-feeding insects colonise plants and transmit pathogens.