Dr Roosa Laitinen from Finland has won an international competition, whose aim was to select the leader of the research team of a new laboratory funded by the Max Planck Society.

Being an affiliated unit of the Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology and Małopolskie Centrum Biotechnologii, the laboratory will conduct research on molecular biology of plants.

Fourteen candidates entered the competition including experts from Finland, Greece, Bangladesh and China. Eventually the Committee responsible for selecting the leader chose Dr Roosa Laitinen from the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology. The selection followed the procedures implemented by the Max Planck Society.

The leader of the research team is officially employed by the Max Planck Society and holds the office for five years with the option of extending this time up to nine years.  Dr Roosa Laitinen will be responsible for forming a research team and obtaining grants for research.  In two years time the laboratory will have been located in the Małopolskie Centrum Biotechnologii which is to be built at the JU Campus. For the time being it will be housed in the building of the Centre for Biological and Environmental Sciences.