European Molecular Biology Organization

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional organization of more than 1,800 life scientists.[4] Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds courses, workshops and conferences, publishes five scientific journals and supports individual scientists. The organization was founded in 1964 and is a founding member of the Initiative for Science in Europe. As of 2020 the Director of EMBO is Maria Leptin,[1][5][6][7] a developmental biologist at the University of Cologne, Germany.[4]

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
MottoExcellence in the life sciences
Formation1964
PurposePromote life science research in Europe and beyond
HeadquartersHeidelberg, Germany[1]
Membership
1800 members[2]
Director
Maria Leptin[1]
Key people
Websiteembo.org

Conferences and journals

EMBO funds or co-funds over 90 meetings attracting more than 11,000 participants every year.[3]

EMBO publishes five peer-reviewed scientific journals: The EMBO Journal,[8] EMBO Reports,[9] Molecular Systems Biology,[10] EMBO Molecular Medicine,[11] and Life Science Alliance.[12]

Awards and fellowships

EMBO confers several awards and prizes including:

  • EMBO Membership is a prestigious award; there are now 1800 Members. [13][14][15]
  • The EMBO Gold Medal is awarded annually in recognition of significant contributions of European researchers to the advancement of science.
  • EMBO also awards grants to scientists. These include post-doctoral fellowships (over 2500 fellowships awarded since 2001), young investigator grants (over 300 group leader grants awarded since 2001) and travel grants.[3][16]
  • The FEBS/EMBO Women in Science Award highlights major contributions by female scientists to life sciences research. Winners of the award are inspiring role models for future generations of women in science. The award is a joint initiative of EMBO and the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS). The winner receives 10,000 euro, a bronze statue by Dutch artist Marloes Eerden and the opportunity to give a plenary lecture at the FEBS Congress.[17]

History

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) was officially launched in July 1964 after a group of European biologists had discussed the idea earlier at a meeting Ravello.[4][18] 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.[18] At the Ravello meeting, Max Perutz was elected as the first EMBO Chairman and John Kendrew as Secretary General.[18]

Initially, 140 biologists were elected EMBO members and in 1969, the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC)[19] was set up as a political body with 14 countries as initial members.[18] Since 1964,[20] scientists have been elected annually as members of EMBO[21] based on excellence in research. There are currently more than 1800 Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization, 88 of whom have received the Nobel Prize.[22] As of 2018, the EMBC has 30 member states, two associate member states (India, Singapore) and two co-operation partners (Chile (CONICYT), Taiwan (MOST and Academia Sinica)).[23]

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 (EMBO Reports), 2005 (Molecular Systems Biology) and 2008 (EMBO Molecular Medicine). In 2009, Maria Leptin was appointed fifth Director of EMBO.[24]

In 2011, EMBO established the "Science Policy Programme" which interacts with policy makers and provides analysis of concerns emerging from advances in scientific research.[4]

Closely affiliated organisations to EMBO include the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), The Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) which like EMBO, primarily operate in the European Research Area (ERA).

References
  1. Anon (2015). "EMBO Council". Retrieved 2015-12-04.
  2. Ashburner, Michael (1993). "EMBO membership list". The EMBO Journal. 12 (2): i23–i44. PMC 413273.
  3. Anon (2015). "EMBO Overview" (PDF). embo.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
  4. Ferry, Georgina (2014). EMBO in perspective: a half-century in the life sciences (PDF). Heidelberg: European Molecular Biology Organization. p. 145. ISBN 978-3-00-046271-9. OCLC 892947326. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-24.
  5. Leptin, Maria (2010). "Spreading the Spirit of EMBO" (PDF). Science. 327 (5962): 126. Bibcode:2010Sci...327..126L. doi:10.1126/science.1185865. PMID 20056858.
  6. Sanderson, Katharine (2009). "Helping Europe's molecular biologists: The new EMBO director speaks to Nature News about her plans". Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2009.657.
  7. Ferry, Georgina (2014). "History: Fifty years of EMBO". Nature. London. 511 (7508): 150–151. doi:10.1038/511150a.
  8. Rørth, Pernille (2005). "Authors, reviewers and editors at the EMBO Journal". The EMBO Journal. 24 (22): 3831–3833. doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7600851. PMC 1283950. PMID 16453402.
  9. Gannon, Frank (2000). "A new journal-in more than one way". EMBO Reports. 1: 1. doi:10.1093/embo-reports/kvd007. PMC 1083683.
  10. Aebersold, Ruedi (2005). "Molecular Systems Biology: A new journal for a new biology?". Molecular Systems Biology. 1: E1–E2. doi:10.1038/msb4100009. PMC 1681461. PMID 19444219.
  11. Caldeira, Sandra (2009). "Welcome to EMBO Molecular Medicine!". EMBO Molecular Medicine. 1 (1): 1. doi:10.1002/emmm.200900010. PMC 3378109. PMID 20049694.
  12. http://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/1/1/e201700001
  13. Bulgatova, Larisa (2016). "Members". embo.org. Heidelberg: European Molecular Biology Organization. Archived from the original on 2016-05-09.
  14. Kießling, Tilmann (2016). "58 life science researchers elected as new EMBO Members". embo.org. EMBO. Archived from the original on 2016-08-15.
  15. Anon (2016). "Find people in the EMBO Communities". embo.org. Heidelberg: European Molecular Biology Organization. Archived from the original on 2016-04-18.
  16. "Funding and awards". embo.org.
  17. "Women in Science Award" (PDF). embo.org. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  18. Anon (2015). "History". EMBO. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
  19. Tooze, John (1986). "The Role of European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC) in European Molecular Biology (1970-1983)". Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. 29 (3–2): S38–S46. doi:10.1353/pbm.1986.0017.
  20. Nurse, Paul (2014). "EMBO at 50". Science. Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science. 343 (6167): 117. Bibcode:2014Sci...343..117N. doi:10.1126/science.1247701.
  21. "Find an EMBO member". embo.org.
  22. Bulgatova, Larisa (2016). "EMBO Nobel Laureates". embo.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  23. "The European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC)". embc.embo.org. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  24. "Timeline". Retrieved 2015-12-04.
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