Nicolaus von Wirén is a German-Swedish agricultural biologist. He is researching how to improve the utilization efficiency of nutrients in plant production. The genetic basis of plant adaptation reactions to suboptimal nutrient supply is being elucidated and used to improve the breeding of crops. Currently, Prof. Dr. Nicolaus von Wirén is the Managing Director and Head of the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology at the publicly funded Leibniz-Institute for Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben, Germany. After studying agro-biology at Hohenheim University, he was trained in molecular biological techniques at the Universities of Tokyo and Tübingen, Germany, and in biochemistry at the ENSAM-INRA in Montpellier and at King’s College London before taking over the chair for Plant Nutrition at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, in 2001. His research group focuses on acquiring and transporting mineral nutrients in roots, the impact of nutrients on phytohormone regulation as well as their roles in physiological and morphological adaptations to stress or agricultural production conditions. Research includes nutrient-sensing mechanisms with special emphasis on root developmental processes either in response to local nutrient supplies or systemic plant signals.