The Centre in Plant Agrobiology and Molecular Genetics (PAGEN) is organised in Poznań, the heart of the Wielkopolska Region (Great Poland). The region is located on a big plain and - both traditionally and contemporary - it is the leading agricultural region in Poland. Wielkopolska Region is well known of its competitive and high intensity agriculture, higher average yields of cereals and other agricultural crops and a relatively good technical basis for agricultural production. A great part of this success is due to good quality of management and highly education standard of farmers, as the quality of soil and climatic conditions are not favourable.

Due to the leading position of the Wielkopolska Region in modern and sustainable agriculture, many scientific institutes dealing with basic and applied research in agriculture are located in Poznań, and serving as the centres of research and development for the whole territory of Poland. The Institute of Plant Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences (IPG-PAS) was established in Poznań, with the aim of genetic improvement of agricultural crops. The Institute co-operates with other scientific institutes created by the government and it also closely co-operates with plant breeding stations in solving some basic problems connected with agrobiology. In the last few years the Institute has also gained a high position in molecular studies of model and agricultural plants (grade 'A' according to the classification adopted by the Committee for Research Projects).