Given ongoing global challenges such as climate change, the soil salinization, the disappearance of species, and the loss of usable agricultural land, plant sciences will become increasingly important. The Dahlem Centre of Plant Sciences (DCPS) is contributing to a better understanding of these problems and their solutions through a wide spectrum of plant research, in both content and methods. The center, opened in 2009, comprises several research areas, that have mostly worked separately, and offers a platform for collaboration. More than 150 scientists in about 20 working groups dedicate themselves to the topics of Diversity and Function and Plant and Environment.