The new 'Chromosome Biology 2026' calendar, now available to download from the IPK Leibniz Institute website, offers fascinating insights into the world of chromosomes.

Just in time for Christmas, the latest edition of the IPK Journal has been published. As always, it contains a variety of articles about the research at IPK. Topics covered include potato research at the Groß Lüsewitz site and a new discourse project by IPK and the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle.

The event featured keynote speakers from Germany, Denmark and Switzerland, as well as a laudatory speech on one’s own behalf and a Star Wars parody concerning the IPK Leibniz Institute’s Galactic Genebank. The farewell symposium for Evelin Willner, Andreas Börner and Frank Blattner at the end of November certainly had plenty of highlights and surprises to offer.

On Wednesday evening, the Rudolf Mansfeld Prize 2025 was awarded as part of the ‘Science - Explained Simply’ lecture series. Zsa Zsa Boyny, a doctoral student at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, won the award, which is endowed with 1,500 euros. The prize money comes from the Association for the Promotion of Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben (Gemeinschaft zur Förderung der…