Mattias Thelander

I graduated from Uppsala University with a Master's in Biology 1998, defended my doctoral thesis in Molecular Genetics at SLU in 2003, and was appointed Docent in Molecular Biology at the same University in 2010. I have been a reseacher and independent group leader at SLU since 2012 and from the first of January 2025 I am acting Head of the Department of Plant Biology. 

I am interested in the origin and evolution of molecular mechanisms controlling plant development. In particular, my group is focused on developmental processes related to the defining trait of all land plants, the alternation between two multicellular generations. Our main study system is Physcomitrium patens, a model moss separated from flowering plants by roughly 450 million years of evolution. I am also doing applied research aiming to promote the vigor of cereal seeds.

I have been the main organizer of a Cell Biology course for first year students from the Biotechnology and Agronomy programs for 6 years and have given well over 100 lectures mostly on first and second cycle courses at SLU. I am also actively engaged in PhD education as a former coordinator and current chairman of the Research School Organism Biology and as a former departmental director of PhD studies. Finally, I have had the great pleasure of supervising 7 postdoctoral students, 6 PhD students and numerous project students over the years.