The laboratory is well established in the fields of photosynthesis research and plant stress physiology, covering a broad range of scientific topics and plant species. The research team focuses on a wide spectrum of vascular plants (Arabidopsis thaliana, tobacco, and model crop species), as well as mosses, lichens, green algae, and cyanobacteria, which are investigated using fluorometric, gas-exchange, and biochemical methods.

Currently, the laboratory's activities are focused on four main research areas: (1) stress physiology of photosynthesis and the physiology of lichens and their autotrophic symbionts, namely green algae of the genus Trebouxia and cyanobacteria, (2) photosynthesis of poikilohydric autotrophic organisms, particularly mosses, and the activation of their protective mechanisms during desiccation, (3) physiological principles of plant frost resistance, and (4) analogue astrobiological experiments.

The laboratory team forms an integral part of the research on Antarctic vegetation oases conducted within the framework of the CAPR infrastructure (Czech Antarctic Research Programme; EEL Laboratory – see the laboratory structure below, Extremophilic Organisms). The laboratory maintains long-term collaborations with Czech and international institutions engaged in research on extremophiles from polar regions and other extreme ecosystems on Earth.

Using sophisticated cultivation facilities and modern biophysical measurement techniques, the laboratory primarily investigates the photochemical processes of photosynthesis, particularly the function of Photosystem II under various limiting conditions (drought stress, photoinhibitory stress, low-temperature stress, osmotic stress, and exposure to toxic substances). Special emphasis is placed on photoinhibition and photoprotective mechanisms at the level of pigment–protein complexes within the chloroplast thylakoid membrane, including PSII photoinactivation, non-photochemical quenching of excitation energy and its components, activation of xanthophyll cycle pigment conversion, and proteomic changes. The laboratory also studies the physiological effects of herbicides and heavy metal ions, as well as the mitigation of their negative impacts on Photosystem II through the addition of growth-promoting bacteria to cultivation media, biochar, nanoparticles, and a variety of other substances within the framework of current research topics.

Formally, the laboratory is organized into three research groups:

1. Extremophilic Autotroph Physiology Research Group (Head: Prof. M. Barták)
2. Cryobiology and Cryoresistance Research Group (Head: Assoc. Prof. J. Hájek)
3. Experimental Algology Research Group (Head: Dr. P. Váczi)