Construction of EMBL Heidelberg in 1974. From the EMBL Archive. EMBL Grenoble 40th Anniversary material, 2015. DE 2324 C-ANN-2-A
Photographs can help capture important milestones and memories in an organisation’s history. Here we’ve curated a sampling of photos of people, places, and discoveries from different time points in EMBL’s story. We look forward to adding to this collection in the coming years.
EMBL Heidelberg
The Membrane Team at EMBL in 1981. From the EMBL Archive. EMBL Strategy and Communications material. DE 2324 COM-A-6
Construction of the EMBL Advanced Training Centre began in 2006. Credit: EMBL
Foundation stone laying ceremony for the EMBL Imaging Centre in 2019. Credit: EMBL
EMBL Hamburg
Ken Holmes adjusting the first ever X-ray beamline at DESY. Credit: EMBL
Beamlines circa 1997. Credit: EMBL
Roelof Silfhout in 1998. Credit: EMBL
Council delegates visit Hamburg ‘Outstation’ Petra III in November 2012. Credit: Marietta Schupp/EMBL
EMBL Grenoble
The EMBL Grenoble ‘outstation’ in 1978. From the EMBL Archive. EMBL Grenoble 40th Anniversary material, 2015. DE 2324 C-ANN-2-A
EMBL Grenoble 1991 Lab Ski Day. From the EMBL Archive. EMBL Grenoble 40th Anniversary material, 2015. DE 2324 C-ANN-2-A
Christoph Müller conferring with colleagues at EMBL Grenoble in 1998. Credit: EMBL
Team Leader Andrew McCarthy shows EMBL Council the Grenoble beamline in 2006. Credit: Marietta Schupp/EMBL
EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI)
Princess Anne at EMBL-EBI’s opening ceremony 1994. From the EMBL Archive. EMBL Grenoble 40th Anniversary material, 2015. DE 2324 C-ANN-2-A.
EMBL-EBI Main Building under construction. Credit: EMBL
Graham Cameron, developed concept for EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute. Credit: EMBL
(L-R) Rolf Apweiler, Janet Thornton, and Ewan Birney in 2015. Credit: Jon Mold/EMBL
EMBL Rome (Monterotondo)
Christine Gurniak-Witke, lab member of the Witke Group in EMBL Rome in 2000. Credit: Udo Ringeisen/EMBL
Grand opening of the extension to the Monterotondo mouse facility, 2003. Credit: EMBL
Outside the Monterotondo Building in the early 2000s. Credit: Marietta Schupp/EMBL
After a long career in science and eight years as Head of EMBL Rome, Phil Avner retired in 2020. Credit: Horst Hamann
EMBL Barcelona
At EMBL Barcelona’s signing ceremony in 2017, officially establishing EMBL’s sixth site. Credit: Ivan Paulick
The first conference held at EMBL Barcelona (2017) with the theme: morphogenetic engineering. Credit: Carla Manzanas/EMBL
The site’s first outreach activity in 2018: a school visit on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Credit: Carla Manzanas/EMBL
Collaboratively supported in 2023, µFabLab is a ‘makerspace’ to build micro- and macro-fabricated parts through rapid prototyping. Credit: Albert Català
Inauguration
Outside the EMBL inauguration, held at Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik. From the EMBL Archive, Frieda Glöckner material, DE 2324 P-GLO-B-1
Sir John Kendrew at the opening ceremony in the auditorium of the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, From the EMBL Archive. Frieda Glöckner material, DE 2324 P-GLO-B-1
A post officer stamps specially designed envelope on the inauguration day of the Laboratory. From the EMBL Archive, Frieda Glöckner material, DE 2324 P-GLO-B-1
Inauguration of the Heidelberg Laboratory envelope and cancellation stamp. From the EMBL Archive. Keith Williamson material,1978-2005. DE 2324 P-WIL-3
Directors General
John Kendrew, EMBL Director General, 1974-1982. Credit: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Lennart Philipson, EMBL Director General, 1982-1993. Credit: EMBL
Fotis C. Kafatos, EMBL Director General, 1993-2005. Credit: Penelope Masouri
Iain Mattaj, EMBL Director General, 2005-2019. Credit: EMBL
Edith Heard, EMBL Director General, 2019-2025. Credit: Kinga Lubowiecka/EMBL
Peer Bork and Ewan Birney, Interim Directors General (2025 and 2026). Credit: Jeff Dowling / EMBL