On 23 October the FOR2581 Quantitative Plant Morphodynamics research unit held its kickoff meeting at the Centre for Organismal Studies in Heidelberg. More than 30 researchers (PhD, postdoc & PIs) from Heidelberg, Cologne, Munich and Göttingen had the opportunity to meet and exchange. The day was started by a guest seminar by Arun Sampathkumar from MPI Golm on Mechano-chemical basis of cell and tissue level morphogenesis in plants. Each project and first results were presented and the schedule of the research unit activities for the next months fixed. The next joint meeting is planned for April 2018 in Cologne.