About us

The School of Botany is renowned internationally as a leading department for research and training. The School offers an exciting and stimulating research environment to study plants and plant processes. Programs cover the broad spectrum of basic, strategic and applied research. Active collaborations are with Universities and Research Institutes within Australia and overseas, the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, State and Federal government agencies, and industry.

As a leading research department, our focus is on three major areas of importance to Australia:

Sustainability of the environment

Ecological research allows us to understand how ecosystems work, the risks associated with human impact, and how to fix environmental problems for a sustainable future.

• Plant Ecophysiology
• Plant Ecology
• Environmental Risk Assessment
• Conservation Biology

Bioresources - Plant Biodiversity

Plants, fungi and seaweeds are Australia’s natural bioresources upon which the Nation’s wealth largely depends. Knowledge of species, their genetics Research and their interrelationships is basic to the use of these plants and their genes in agriculture, biotechnology, forestry and tourism, and for conservation and environmental management.

• Marine Botany
• Palaeobotany
• Biogeography
• Systematics and taxonomy of Australian Flora

Plant Cell Biology and Biotechnology

Expertise in molecular and cellular biology is directed to advancing knowledge of the genome, structure, products and processes of cells.Research is directed to advancing human health and agriculture, through linkages with industry and commercial applications.

• Plant Cell Biology Research Centre
• ARC/GRDC Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics
• Victorian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics
• CRC for Bioproducts
• Cell Evolution
• Plant Diseases