European Molecular Biology Organization


The European Molecular Biology Organization is a professional organization of more than 1,800 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It organizes courses, workshops and conferences, publishes five scientific journals and supports individual scientists and projects. The organization was founded in 1964 and is a founding member of the Initiative for Science in Europe. the Director of EMBO is Maria Leptin, a developmental biologist at the University of Cologne, Germany.

Conferences and journals

EMBO organises over 90 meetings attracting more than 11,000 participants every year.
EMBO publishes five peer-reviewed scientific journals: The EMBO Journal, EMBO Reports, Molecular Systems Biology, EMBO Molecular Medicine, and Life Science Alliance.

Awards and fellowships

EMBO confers several awards and prizes including:
The European Molecular Biology Organization was officially launched in July 1964 after a group of European biologists had discussed the idea earlier at a meeting Ravello. In that meeting, the initial goals of EMBO were set, which consisted of creating a central European laboratory for life sciences and increase scientific interactions between researchers in Europe. At the Ravello meeting, Max Perutz was elected as the first EMBO Chairman and John Kendrew as Secretary General.
Initially, 140 biologists were elected EMBO members and in 1969, the European Molecular Biology Conference was set up as a political body with 14 countries as initial members. Since 1964, scientists have been elected annually as members of EMBO based on excellence in research. There are currently more than 1800 :Category:Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization|Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization, 88 of whom have received the Nobel Prize. As of 2018, the EMBC has 30 member states, two associate member states and two co-operation partners, Taiwan ).
In 1982, the EMBO Journal was launched, in 1986, the EMBO Gold Medal was established, an annual award for young scientists. The "Young Investigator Program" which awards grants to young professors was established in 2000 and three additional journals were launched in 2000, 2005 and 2008. In 2009, Maria Leptin was appointed fifth Director of EMBO.
In 2011, EMBO established the "Science Policy Programme" which interacts with policy makers and provides analysis of concerns emerging from advances in scientific research.
Closely affiliated organisations to EMBO include the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, The Federation of European Biochemical Societies which like EMBO, primarily operate in the European Research Area.