Dundee Root Medal 2025

Please join us on 25th November 2025 for the Dundee Root Medal Lecture given by this years’ awardee, Professor Simona Radutoiu from Aarhus University in Denmark. In addition, there will be a programme of talks on the theme “Harnessing plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere for plant and ecosystem benefits”.

Following the root medal lecture there will be 5 presentations from Professor Uta Paszkowski (University of Cambridge), Professor Corne Pieterse (Utrecht University), Dr Connor Fitzpatrick (University of Calgary), Dr Davide Bulgarelli (University of Dundee) and Dr William King (University of Southampton).

As part of the event, we will be holding a virtual poster session and would welcome virtual poster submissions on the topic for the event, “Harnessing plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere for plant and ecosystem benefits”. When putting your poster together, please contact Lawrie Brown (lawrie.brown@hutton.ac.uk) for a guidance document which includes some useful tips and further information on the format requested. Please be aware that he deadline for submissions will be Friday 21st November!

Biography for this year’s awardee:

Simona Radutoiu is Professor of Plant Molecular Biology and Genetics at Aarhus University, Denmark. Her research explores the molecular mechanisms that govern plant–microbe interactions, with a particular focus on the signalling, recognition, and accommodation of beneficial microbes inside roots and in their rhizosphere. Holding a PhD in Plant Physiology from the University of Agronomical Sciences in Bucharest, Dr. Radutoiu has, over the past two decades, played a central role in building a collaborative and internationally recognized research environment at Aarhus University.

Her work has led to landmark discoveries of key plant receptors involved in root nodule symbiosis and revealed the molecular strategies plants use to distinguish between beneficial and harmful microbes. These findings have significantly advanced our understanding of how plants engage with symbiotic microbes and how they contribute to the assembly of complex microbial communities in the rhizosphere.

Dr. Radutoiu’s research has been supported by major national and international funding bodies. She has contributed and leads several interdisciplinary and visionary research programs, including ENSA, InRoot, and the Wheat Alliance. She has published in leading scientific journals and holds multiple patents related to plant receptor engineering.

Professor Radutoiu has supervised numerous students and postdoctoral researchers and remains strongly committed to fostering inclusive, collaborative, and diverse scientific communities. She is a member of EMBO and Academia Europaea and serves on editorial boards and review panels for prominent scientific journals and funding agencies.