Once every five days. That’s how often our researchers have published papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, on average, since the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology (PEB) was founded in 2005.
The world-leading Australian plant research Centre recently hit a milestone 1000 publications, representing 1000 significant contributions to plant and related sciences
To celebrate, we’re recounting some of the biggest, weirdest, most impactful and most surprising discoveries of the last 15 years.
We’ll be sharing some of our discoveries throughout November on our website and across social media, showcasing research into salinity, epigenetics, stress, drought, plant proteins and more.
PEB Director Professor Harvey Millar said it was incredible to mark such a significant achievement.
“A thousand papers is a remarkable number of quality publications for a research Centre in just 15 years.”
“We’re proud of the huge contribution we’ve been able to make to the field of plant science,” he said.
The 1000 PEB publications have, collectively, clocked over 80,000 citations by other researchers from around the world.
“From top publications in leading journals such as Cell and Science to quirky findings that captured people’s imagination, each paper marks a unique and significant step in our quest to understand more about the world around us.”
PEB is focused on understanding the way plants capture, convert and use energy in response to environmental change, with a view towards improved plant energy efficiency.
Professor Millar said the Centre’s research has big impacts in food security and climate adaptation.
“We largely use taxpayers’ money as we explore the world of plants around us,” he said.
“It is essential we honour the trust society has placed in us and use our discoveries to make a difference in the immediate society we live in, and the global society we depend on.”
PEB has seen hundreds of plant scientists working together across Australia over the last 15 years, with research nodes at the University of Western Australia, the University of Adelaide, the Australian National University, La Trobe University and, historically, Flinders University and the University of Sydney.
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full list of PEB’s publications can be viewed here. Follow #1000discoveries across social media on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram channels.