The research division "Integrative Plant Biology" encompasses 16 groups and is world-leading in the analysis of the molecular processes that regulate plant growth, plant architecture and the defense mechanisms of plants to environmental cues, in particular drought and oxidative stress. The division has also major activities in the optimization of plants as renewable sources of bio-energy.

The research division "Bioinformatics and Systems Biology" is a center of excellence in gene and genome annotation, comparative and evolutionary genomics, and (top-down) systems biology. In particular, the development and application of bioinformatics approaches to study the structure and evolution of genes, gene families, genomes and genetic networks in plants and other organisms.