Research at the department (MBG) ranges from basic to applied research within molecular biology. The department is organised in five research sections (Plant Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Neurobiology, RNA Biology and Innovation, Protein Science, Cellular Health, Intervention, and Nutrition), a number of centres of excellence and various interdisciplinary centres.

Scientists from MBG are or have beeen leaders or partners in seven centres of excellence funded by major Danish funding agencies and the department further hosts DANDRITE, the Danish node of EMBL’s partnership with the Nordic countries (most recently extended with a 75 million DKK grant from the Lundbeck foundation). The department conducts research at the highest international level as evidenced by the number of external grants awarded to MBG’s researchers as well as the 177 peer reviewed research papers published in 2021. In the past two years, MBG has received 350 million DKK in external funding, including 15 DFF grants, 3 EU network grants, 2 ERC grants, 3 career grants for new PIs. The department ensures continuous international recruitment though an annual talent development program (Young Investigator Program).

Research largely takes place in collaboration with researchers from other laboratories, both in Denmark and abroad, and often in collaboration with researchers from other research areas. Several of the department's researchers also have a collaboration with industry.

The Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics strives to ensure that new knowledge generated by researchers is communicated to a wider group in society, and as far as possible leads to the development of new products and technologies. Among other things, this is reflected in collaboration with companies, patents, entrepreneurship, industrial PhD's, collaboration with secondary school pupils as well as dissemination of knowledge to the general public.