The sustainability of our global society ultimately depends on biodiversity and the ecosystem services that result from ecological functions such as primary productivity and nutrient cycling. Past studies on the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationship have focused primarily on diversity in artificial grasslands and its impacts on functioning of primary producers; thus, there is an urgent need to experimentally test and further develop BEF research in natural ecosystems with explicit consideration of multiple functions and higher trophic levels, including humans. We propose an organized oral session in order to present and synthesize the most recent empirical and theoretical findings from global BEF research, facilitate international collaborations among researchers, and discuss pressing issues and future directions. This session will present current empirical and theoretical results from the US, Europe, and China, from leading researchers and rising stars in the field. Presentations include current BEF topics such as the impacts of re-assembly in empirical studies, optimal measurements of functional diversity, theoretical support for consideration of food web structure and tradeoff structures, as well as initial results from a species removal experiment in a natural grassland representative of the Eurasian Steppe, the largest grassland in the world. This experiment uses stoichiometrically defined plant functional groups to test the magnitude of niche complementarity and its influence on changes in ecosystem function using a newly developed equal disturbance treatment, and will present findings related to key ecosystem processes. This organized oral session will provide a forum for presentation of recent findings from new and established research programs, enabling a synthesis of current BEF research from which we can identify remaining uncertainties and plan future directions.