The size control of multicellular organisms is an biological question that has always fascinated scientists. Growth, per definition is a dynamic process and it becomes more and more evident that its regulation is highly coordinated in time and space. Our long-term goal is therefore to decipher the dynamics of the molecular pathways and networks that determine plant organ size, using maize as a model system. We combine physiological (growth analyses in mutants or natural variants) and molecular analyses (e.g. transcript and metabolite profiling, protein-protein interactions, multiplex genome editing, single cell approaches) to investigate the mode of action of growth-promoting genes and to identify new potential growth regulators. Next, we investigate their function in more detail and identify their targets and/or interacting proteins to expand the growth regulatory network. We are very much interested to understand how this plant biotechnological knowledge translates into applications that are relevant under agronomic conditions.